The royal and ancient game of golf is becoming more inclusive for people with disabilities.
Players today include physically and mentally handicap Australians, many of whom never thought they'd be swinging golf sticks.
Clinics giving them a chance to embrace the game are the inspiration of golf enthusiast James Gribble, a former investment banker who became a quadriplegic himself after an accident in Africa nine years ago.
The founder of Empower Golf, Gribble says the game is a psychological challenge, mainly played between the ears.
"There's this little white ball sitting on the ground, like no other sport it's looking at you saying, 'don't mess it up'," he said.
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The technology in adaptive equipment such as the Para Golfer wheelchair has helped enable a former Paralympic basket-baller, Gerry Hewson, to fall in love with golf, almost four decades after losing the use of his legs in a motorbike accident.
"I hadn't stood up in 36 years so that was something that was interesting, kind of out there," he said. "So yeah, quite used to it now. It's fun."
The latest round of clinics coincide with an push for the game to be included in the Paralympics.
"I'd say talking to the guys who represent disabled golf in Europe and America and parts of Asia that they're pretty confident in 2024 we'll see disabled golf in some form," Gribble said.
