The Cairns Cup, a new Ryder Cup-style team match play event between golfers with a disability from Europe and the USA, has received backing from a bluechip headline sponsor.
Amazon Web Services, the world’s leading cloud computing service provider, has been unveiled as the title sponsor for The Cairns Cup, which is being held at The Shire London from May 11-13.
The tournament will be part of week-long Disability Golf Festival, with a Charity Am-Am event taking place on May 9 and a Disability & Inclusivity Open Day on May 10.
The organisers of the event are aiming to raise awareness of disability golf and provide a platform to raise funds to promote golf as a sport for all.
Each team will bring a squad of 16 players, although only 12 will play on any given day. Each team will have players with at least six different disabilities and WHS handicaps ranging from scratch to 54, making the event truly inclusive and available to all golfers who have a disability.
The European team will contain disabled golfers from England, Wales, Germany, Holland and Portugal, the US team features players from North Carolina, Florida, Oregon, Alabama, Georgia, Michigan and Indiana.
Although teams will finance their own trips to London, they host team captain Kevin Booth has been overwhelmed by the support from a variety of leading golf brands, including adidas, PXG, Callaway and Titleist.
Adidas has provided golf shoes and trainers both teams, while Callaway Golf has provided caps, pullovers and jackets for the event. PXG is providing sponsorship from the UK through a longest drive competition at the Charity Golf Day on May 9, where they will also provide some auction prizes for the gala dinner evening. On the day, each attendee will have the chance of winning a custom fit PXG driver. Furthermore, both teams are getting ball sponsorship from Titleist. Ottobock, a leading innovator for prosthetics, has supplied both teams with polo shirts for the week.
Booth said “The support these golf companies have given is beyond belief. It was fantastic that USA vice-captain John Bell also included the European team in his thoughts when seeking partners and donations from global brands. This is another example of the camaraderie that exists and is growing between the two teams to launch this competition and in establishing a legacy. The Directors of The Cairns Cup CIC would like to thank all the golf brands who have supported the players, as well as the title sponsor AmazonPwD and AWS. Their commitment to disabilities is both inspiring and humbling. This is a perfect fit for the ethos of The Cairns Cup event and knowing we have a brand like AWS behind us, can only help raise the profile of the event, both now and in the future.”
For more information about The Cairns Cup or the Disability Golf Festival, contact Ian Mullins at Ian.mullins@mc2marketing.co.uk or call 07961 198966.
