Golf ace Oliver Hirst-Greenham feels so at home on European Tour

The PING Open, an event staged for golfers with disabilities, was certainly all new territory for him.

The Morecambe ace has a condition known as congenital hip dysplasia, which means he was born with very shallow hip sockets, creating chronic issues for the muscles, tendons and bones in his hip and leg.

His disability is not that noticeable – something which had left him feeling apprehensive as he prepared to make his Tour debut.

Loads of questions were spinning through his mind – Was there anyone else like him in the tournament? Would he fit in with the other players? It was like going back to his first day at school.

He need not have worried as later in the day, he could be seen with a beaming smile on his face and twinkle in his eyes.

His fellow players on the practice round – the first a leg amputee, the other a one-armed player – had made him most welcome and they were enjoying a well-deserved post-round beer amid plenty of chatter.

When Hirst-Greenham launches a big drive down the fairway – and he can hit it miles – his golfing partners may be unaware of the pain he is having to cope with and the awkwardness of the hip, leg and back motion involved throughout his swing.

But he puts up with the pain because of his love for the wonderful game of golf and has learned to manage his mobility issues over time.

He had settled for playing club competitions at Morecambe Golf Club off his low single-figure handicap.

However, when he heard about the EDGA Tour from a friend, it certainly caught his attention.

He said: “I was born with very shallow hip sockets. Whereas you’d consider a normal person were to have a really deep socket for the bone to sit in, and it’s supported well, because mine’s very shallow, all the muscles and the tendons and everything are all very underdeveloped. And the bone moves around in the socket.”

“Then just recently, I heard about the EDGA Tour. One of my friends said, ‘Have you ever had a look at this?’ I had a look at the requirements, and I thought I’d just apply. It doesn’t hurt to apply, does it?

“I was really nervous, to be honest. The thing with me is my hips, and nobody can see inside my body; they can’t see my hip joints, whereas somebody else. I played with a chap the other day, he had two prosthetic legs.

“So you can see it there. People with one arm and things like that, they’ve got an obvious disability. It was almost like I was worried about, will they class me as being disabled?”

Hirst-Greenham – who is married to Wendy and has two children, son Matthew, 14, and daughter Olivia, 12 – has certainly made an impressive start to life on the Tour. He has risen to the higher echelons of the world rankings list after a trio of top-five performances, and in September claimed his first victory at Stratford-on-Avon Golf Club.

He carded a fine 150 from the two rounds – a fine back nine on the second 18 making up for a poor first nine holes which had threatened his victory chances.

His dream now is to earn a playing card for the European G4D Tour.

He said: “I felt so proud to win my first EDGA event.

“After being +5 after five I thought I’d let it all slip so I had a strong word with myself ready for the back nine. Two birdies from there made all the difference and the nice long putt on the 13th gave me a great change in momentum at the perfect time."

No matter where the EDGA Tour adventure takes him, Hirst-Greenham admits the sport has been a huge help for him as he copes with his disability.

“It’s fantastic sport for so many people with a disability,” he said – citing all the physical and mental health benefits, including the social confidence it brings to its players.

He also reasons that you are “playing the game against yourself”, in that all golfers are free to explore their own, personal potential, whether trying to get the very best scores in intense competition, or simply playing at your own pace, chipping and putting, enjoying the nature around you.