One of English golf’s leading tour players has donated his entire winnings from the recent PowerPlay Golf event at Celtic Manor to The English Golf Union, in recognition of the support he received from the EGU throughout his amateur career.
In making the £20,000 donation, current world #15 Paul Casey also emphasised PowerPlay Golf’s strategy of encouraging and supporting golf at grass roots level.
Casey played a lead role in May 2011’s inaugural PowerPlay Golf event at The Celtic Manor Resort, alongside fellow world stars Gary Player, Graeme McDowell, Ian Poulter, Paula Creamer and John Daly’ as the innovative 2-flag 9-hole format was unveiled to a global TV audience.
He said: “I had great support from the EGU when I was coming through the ranks as a junior so I am very happy to help them with their player development programme. They have had tremendous success in recent years bringing through the best young talent in England and I hope this donation can contribute to more great players coming through in the future.”
EGU Chief Executive John Petrie was delighted to receive the cheque. “This is a fantastic gesture by Paul. He is a great example of an English player who made a successful transition from elite amateur to world class tour professional with some solid support from the EGU along the way – and he is by no means the only example. Tom Lewis’s performance at The Open was just one of a number of very strong performances this year by EGU squad members, and further evidence that the EGU’s efforts play an invaluable part in contributing to the continued success of English golf.”
PowerPlay Golf’s Executive Director Peter McEvoy met with Casey and Petrie at Royal St George’s at the recent Open Championship for the cheque presentation, and to discuss further how PowerPlay and the EGU can work together in the future.
A key part of PowerPlay Golf’s strategy is to proactively work with national governing bodies on grass roots programmes and McEvoy can see great potential for PowerPlay Golf to work alongside the English Golf Union.
“As major stakeholders in golf, PowerPlay Golf and the EGU share some common goals: to attract new people to the sport, and to encourage ‘lapsed golfers’ to return. We hope to work closely with the EGU in the future,” he said.
More PowerPlay Golf events, again featuring Tour superstars, will be shown on live TV over the next 18 months, starting in Asia in November. The format’s growing visibility is driving golf clubs worldwide to become PowerPlay Golf Official Venues, and golfers to sample the exciting format for the first time.
PowerPlay Golf www.powerplay-golf.com