Kipp Popert – a truly special golfer at the Austrian Alpine Open

Kipp Popert in Kitzbühel

Kipp Popert isn’t competing in the Austrian Alpine Open in Kitzbühel as a symbolic figure, but as a competitive athlete. The successful G4D Tour player wants to prove that his game is competitive at the highest level—regardless of his disability.

Many people know that golf is a great sport for people with disabilities. But hardly anyone knows that there’s even a dedicated international tournament format for it: the G4D Tour. The dominant force on this G4D Tour for people with disabilities is Kipp Popert. He is so good that he has already qualified for prestigious tournaments for people without disabilities.

Kipp Popert will compete in this year’s Austrian Alpine Open in Kitzbühel with a wild card from Schön Kliniken. We accompanied him in April at the Kitzbühel-Schwarzsee-Reith golf course. In doing so, we learned: He isn’t here as a symbolic figure, but as a golfer.  Because we witnessed the 27-year-old Englishman during a practice round, we understand: This isn’t someone standing on the tee who deserves sympathetic attention. This is a player who plays golf at a level that commands respect.

Popert is likable, open, polite, and thoughtful. He’s someone who laughs a lot, explains things patiently, and never gives the impression that his story is more important than his game. But after 18 holes of practice together, one sporting impression stands out above all else: Kipp Popert is an incredibly talented golfer.

Not a single tee shot on this round goes wrong for him. Not a single ball slips from his hand. Not a single drive that makes you think, “That’s where his disability caught up with him.” Popert and his coach Steven try out a lot of things, discuss lines, test different approaches, and deliberately keep playing from difficult positions. But never because they need to recover. Never because a shot was truly bad. Always just as a simulation. As preparation for situations that might arise in a DP World Tour event.

Kipp Popert doesn’t want pity. Kipp Popert wants to use this stage.

A wild card with symbolic significance

That Popert is receiving a wild card for the Austrian Alpine Open presented by Kitzbühel Tirol is therefore far more than a nice gesture. It is a far-sighted and, from a sporting perspective, highly interesting decision. The Schön Clinics are thus sending a message whose significance extends far beyond this tournament.

For Popert brings a moving life story with him to Kitzbühel. But he also brings performance and an enormous amount of ambition. And he brings the real possibility of making history at a regular DP World Tour event—a story the golf world will be talking about.

Yes, compared to the absolute superstars, he lacks distance. His driver lands at around 240 meters. That’s good, but at this level, it’s simply not outstanding. The longest players in the field will have different clubs to reach the greens on many holes, different angles, different options. But golf has never been just a matter of distance.

But golf isn’t decided solely at the tee. Popert can hit the fairways, read the lie, control his shots, and stay calm under pressure. That’s exactly where Popert doesn’t seem like a stranger in a foreign world. On the contrary: he knows exactly what he’s doing.

After this round in Kitzbühel, one thing is clear: Kipp Popert could be one of the big surprises of this tournament.

This isn’t just wishful thinking. His golf is good enough to make exactly that possible.

Shoes Like a Superhero Suit

If you only watch Popert swing, you don’t immediately notice his limitations. His swing is controlled, the moment of impact is clean, and the ball flight is stable. It’s only during the follow-through that you realize his weak legs can’t sustain the swing. When you see him walking, it becomes clear just how much effort lies behind this seemingly effortless golf swing.

Popert has cerebral palsy, specifically spastic diplegia. His muscles are extremely tense. Without shoes and insoles, he can barely stand upright. What is equipment for other golfers is a necessity for him.

“My shoes are like a superhero cape to me,” he explains.

It’s one of those statements that sticks with you because he says it so matter-of-factly. His shoes give him stability and make movement possible. They allow him to do what life means to him: play golf.

But they don’t change the fact that his body is under different strain. Kitzbühel is no walk in the park.

The course has elevation changes, long distances, and challenging transitions. Walking 18 holes would be a health risk for him.

“The buggy isn’t an advantage, but a necessity for my health,” says Popert.

In a sport that holds fairness, rules, and tradition in such high regard, Popert wants to make it clear that he isn’t receiving any special treatment that saves him strokes. He needs an accommodation so that he can even compete at the level his golf has long since reached.

The boy who preferred to feel pain on the golf course

Popert has been playing golf since he was four years old. He never wanted to be the best disabled golfer. He wanted to be the best golfer he could be. That is a small but crucial difference.

His parents are doctors. They taught him early on that hard work and passion can make a big difference. And Popert took that message radically seriously. His story isn’t one of a sudden miracle, but rather of years of repetition. Of pain. Of surgeries. Of training while others would have given up long ago.

He has undergone twelve surgeries. These included major foot reconstructions at ages 16 and 19. To walk better, to have less pain, but also to play golf better.

As a teenager, his father would drop him off at the golf club at six in the morning before driving on to the hospital in London. Popert trained all day.

He was picked up again in the evening. His feet hurt. All the time. So he decided he’d rather have them hurt on the golf course.

At lunch, the bar staff brought him a bucket of ice so he could cool his feet. In the afternoon, he went back out.

Maybe that explains why he seems so calm today. Those who learn as children and teenagers that pain doesn’t automatically mean the end develop a different relationship with pressure.

Major winner in adaptive golf

Popert has long set the standard in adaptive golf. Four major titles. Three consecutive US Adaptive Opens. Records. Dominance. Results that show this isn’t just a nice side event, but top-level sport.

In 2024, he shot 14 under par over three rounds at a championship. A year later, he returned after major foot surgery, was still on crutches 48 hours before the tournament, and opened with 11 under par—despite a bogey. That was followed by rounds of six under and seven under. 24 under par for three rounds. He won.

By his own estimate, Popert has won 60 to 70 percent of the tournaments in which he has competed in disabled golf. He was the first player with a disability to qualify for the British Amateur three years in a row. Three times via playoffs. Eight-man playoffs, four-man playoffs—high-pressure situations that would wear others down.

“I love these high-pressure situations,” he says.

You get the genuine impression that he needs this pressure to perform at his best.

Kitzbühel as a Door-Opener

The Austrian Alpine Open could be a turning point for Popert. Perhaps even for the entire sport of golf for people with disabilities.

He himself states his goal clearly: He wants to draw attention to the community of people with disabilities. But he also knows that in competitive sports, attention doesn’t come from good intentions—it comes from results.

“Good golf takes care of everything,” he says.

Popert doesn’t want to explain to everyone how good he is. He wants to show it: on the big stage.

That’s why the wildcard is so valuable. It doesn’t just give one player a chance. It forces the sport to take a closer look. At a man who, at 240 meters off the tee, will be shorter than most of his competitors, but who can make up for a lot with precision, control, and mental strength.

When he talks about Christopher Schön, the tears come

The most emotional moment of the conversation isn’t when Popert talks about pain, surgeries, or crutches, but when he talks about Christopher Schön, his first major sponsor.

“Christopher Schön always saw me as a serious athlete with serious goals.”

When Popert says this, his voice breaks. The tears come.

The Schön Clinics gave him the support he needed to really take his golf to the next level: funding, friendship, backing, and belief.

This wildcard isn’t just a token gesture. It doesn’t just support Kipp; it supports an idea: that golf for people with disabilities doesn’t have to be merely a marginal form of inclusion.

More than just the Paralympics every four years

Popert talks a lot about structures during our round. When you listen to him, you understand why it’s such a concern for him.

Golf for people with disabilities has made enormous strides in recent years. The G4D Tour has raised its profile. The US Adaptive Open has gained prominence. The best players are getting more opportunities than before. But from Popert’s perspective, the crucial next step is missing: a professional path.

He draws a comparison: If women’s golf had been judged by whether the best female players could hold their own against the tallest and strongest men on full-length courses, many careers would never have taken off. The talent would be there, but without the structure, you can’t showcase it.

That’s exactly where Popert sees adaptive golf today.

There are wheelchair golfers who play under par. Blind golfers who deliver scores that are hard to fathom. Players with neurological impairments, amputations, or other disabilities who compete at the highest level. But they lack a tour that treats them as professionals.

Popert doesn’t want handouts. He demands a professional structure for professional performance.

And he’s leading the way himself. For his own tournament, the Kipp Popert World Invitational, he has raised £145,000. Every participating player with a disability receives £3,000. Hotel accommodations are covered. In addition, school buses for children with disabilities are funded, and golf lessons are provided for 50 children.

That is remarkable. A single player has shown within a few months what is possible when you don’t treat golf for people with disabilities as a niche topic, but as a topic of the future.

The message: show, don’t just tell

Many people with his diagnosis can barely walk—they believe they couldn’t possibly play golf. “And that’s exactly why you have to show them,” he says with a smile.

Golf is a sport that could be accessible to many people with disabilities. Not everyone will play tournament golf; not everyone can walk 18 holes. But for many people with disabilities, golf can be exercise, a challenge, and a social space all at once.

Popert shows what is possible. Every perfect shot is part of an image campaign, more powerful than any brochure.

When a boy with a disability sees Popert in Kitzbühel, he doesn’t just see a man with similar limitations. He sees someone teeing off at a DP World Tour event. He sees someone who doesn’t explain why something isn’t possible. Instead, he sees someone who shows just how far you can go.

No Fear of Failure

Popert says he isn’t afraid of failing. But he isn’t afraid of winning either.

That sounds simple. But it isn’t.

Because Kitzbühel will be an enormous challenge for him on the course. The holes are longer, the competition is tougher, and mistakes are punished more severely. On the DP World Tour, playing good golf often isn’t enough. It takes excellent golf—from the best players for four straight days. Under pressure. Add to that the crowd, the cameras, and a level of attention he may never have experienced before.

But Popert knows pressure. He’s played on the big stage, narrowly missed cuts on the Asian Tour, fought his way through playoffs, and won after surgeries. He knows that elite golf isn’t for the faint of heart. Travel, stress, 25 tournaments a year—all of that is hardly realistic for his body.

But the Austrian Alpine Open isn’t a full season. It’s an opportunity.

Why this story fits in Kitzbühel

The Austrian Alpine Open aims to be more than just another tournament on the calendar. Kitzbühel stands for elite sports. For iconic images. For emotion. For the combination of international competition and a unique setting. In winter on the Streif, in summer now on the golf course.

That is exactly why Popert fits in here. Because his story is great, but his game could be even greater. Because he doesn’t deserve attention out of pity, but through quality. Because he proves that inclusion in elite sports doesn’t just mean “you’re allowed to participate.” It means “you can keep up.”

Maybe Kitzbühel will be a tough tournament for him. Maybe he’ll ultimately lack the distance. Maybe the greens are too firm, the par-5 holes too long, to keep pace with the big names.

But maybe something else will happen.

Maybe Popert will hit every fairway at the end of May. Maybe he’ll stay patient. Maybe he’ll sink the putts he needs to sink. Maybe he’ll save strokes where others get impatient. Maybe the wildcard will become a story told far beyond Austria.

After 18 practice holes with him, one thing is clear: this possibility is real.

A golfer who wants to stay

At the end of this encounter, what remains is not the impression of a man who just wants a brief moment on the big stage. Popert wants to stay. Not necessarily on the DP World Tour every week. But in the consciousness of the golfing world. As a player. As a driving force. As someone who opens a door and doesn’t let it slam shut behind him.

He says that if something changes because of Kitzbühel, that would be great. If not, he’ll wake up the next day and keep going.

That might be the most honest description of his career: Kipp Popert keeps going.

He has carried on after surgeries, kept training through pain, and bounced back from setbacks to win again.

And perhaps Austria will witness more than just a special performance by a special player at the end of May. Perhaps Kitzbühel will witness the moment when a golfer with a disability shows the golfing world that he hasn’t come to receive applause for his courage, but because he can compete with the best.