“The game I love”: Why Loris is supporting others to enjoy the health benefits of golf

Golf proved to be good medicine for Loris Stradi after a serious car accident, and the Italian’s passion for the game was rewarded by winning the 2023 RSM European Play-offs.

When Italian player Loris Stradi walked through the doors of North Hants Golf Club in England in September 2023, his natural smile was at its widest as he was ready to tee it up in the RSM European Stableford Play-offs.

Qualifying for the tournament was part of a sporting evolution that had helped make Loris well again after a long battle to regain his health. Today, this laid-back golfer from Emilia-Romagna in the north of Italy is in no doubt of the physical and mental health benefits afforded by “the game I love”.

In 1995, aged 28 and having just got married, Loris was involved in a bad car accident: in intensive care with fractures to the face and leg and a severely damaged diaphragm, there were fears he would die.

After two months in hospital and two years of rehabilitation, Loris was walking again and he discovered golf. “Due to my resulting disabilities, I could not play other sports. So I tried golf, full of curiosity, and started first lessons. I’ll never stop playing golf,” says Loris who, as a volunteer for the Italian Paralympic Committee, also helps others to enjoy their sport.

Qualifying for the RSM Play-offs in England in 2023, Loris was one of a quartet of Italian players present among the 16 qualifiers from around Europe – the ‘Azzurri’ blue and its attending camaraderie much enjoyed by the locals. Loris would be delighted to later win his matchplay final in the Stableford against Pentti Vaara of Finland, but playing in this knockout event and in the wider RSM golf day that followed, Loris and his companions also made many new friends as they talked together on the fairways.

“I felt very honoured to compete in the RSM Play-offs as an EDGA player,” says Loris. “When I was first working to get over my injury, golf was like a foreign country to me. When I would go to the health spa each day, I passed by a golf club; so I suddenly thought maybe I could play golf.

“Today I am a member of Argenta Golf Club and my golf handicap is currently 23 but I love to play the game, to be out in nature and to play with good friends, including competition,” says Loris, who has also travelled to Portugal, Spain and the Czech Republic in recent times to enjoy EDGA tournaments.

Loris, who organised a ‘Golf and Food Cup’ in the beautiful Emilia-Romagna region to combine two of his passions, also wants to help other people with a disability to enjoy the game. “Golf is now a very important part of my life. Since 2022 I have been on the team of the CIP, the Italian Paralympic Committee for the Province of Modena, and I collaborate to bring other people with a disability closer to sport. I know that many of my friends back home will have been proud that I got to play in the RSM Play-offs and help to grow awareness of ‘G4D’ (golf for the disabled).”

In 2024, together with his friend and teammate Cristiano, they founded the Cristiano Berlanda Foundation to promote sport as a means of rebirth after a trauma, a health condition or a difficult event, encouraging people to find a positive outlook in life.

Loris’s success as a golfer reflects the wider mission of EDGA, which works tirelessly to make golf more accessible for individuals with disabilities. By fostering an inclusive environment from ‘first touch’ golf opportunities (first chips and putts can be great in rehabilitation for example) to international competition, EDGA is reshaping the sporting landscape. Crucially, the support of organisations like RSM enables this progress.

As a long-standing partner, RSM has played a key role in driving initiatives that empower golfers with disabilities, including staff and partners in the company enjoying satisfying community volunteering roles in recent times. Sponsorship of the RSM European Play-offs has provided a vital platform for a wide range of golfers to reach their potential, while RSM’s backing extends to grassroots programmes, ensuring that aspiring golfers, regardless of their physical or mental challenges, have access to the sport.

When Loris Stradi held up his trophy for his win in the RSM European Play-offs all this support came together in a wonderful moment that Loris and his friends and family will never forget. Encouragement created the opportunity, and this smiling and generous golfer from Italy seized the day and won well, with grace and the utmost respect for his fellow players. 

With thanks to RSM for their support. Click here to find out more about the RSM European Play-offs.

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