POWERPLAY GOLF IGNITION RAISES £10,000 FOR HELP FOR HEROES

Some of golf’s most recognisable world stars took part in the inaugural PowerPlay Golf event at The Celtic Manor Resort last month, as the innovative two-flag nine-hole format was unveiled to a global TV audience.

The stellar line-up that included legend Gary Player; 2010 US Open Champions Graeme McDowell and Paula Creamer; and Ryder Cup stars Ian Poulter and Paul Casey, all had risk-reward decisions to make on each tee to decide whether to take one of their limited PowerPlays and attack the black flag for double points.

A key role in the presentation of the new format was to keep the crowds at Celtic manor aware of which flag each player was playing to on each hole. Six soldiers representing Help for Heroes were on hand as flag bearers carrying giant flags behind each player throughout the tournament.

WO2 (CSM) Scotty McQuillin has been in The Royal Regiment of Scotland for 17 years, and as a keen golfer, he jumped at the opportunity to be alongside some of his soldiers to attend PowerPlay Golf driven by Saab: Ignition at Celtic Manor last month.

His fellow flag bearers were Cpl Steven Gibson, Lcpl Richard Buckley, Pte Chris Walker, Pte Greg Ritchie and Pte Greg Maitland.

“It was a fantastic experience to be up close and personal with some of the best players in the world and great to be able to take part in aid of Help for Heroes,” commented McQuillin.

To thank the soldiers for their services at Celtic Manor, PowerPlay Golf donated £10,000 to Help for Heroes. PowerPlay Golf’s Executive Director Peter McEvoy met up recently with Scotty McQuillin to present the cheque.

“The job the Armed Forces do for this country is truly remarkable so we are delighted to be able to support such a worthy cause. It was great to get Scott and the soldiers so involved in the event and they seemed to really enjoy the experience.”

Help for Heroes (H4H) has raised over £100 million since its launch in October 2007. All the funds raised to date are either allocated or spent on the direct, practical support of those wounded, sick or injured since 9/11.

To date, H4H has funded a variety of projects including the £8m Rehabilitation Complex at Headley Court, a new £3.5m treatment centre for Combat Stress, adaptive adventure training through the Battle Back programme and the creation of a £6m Quick Reaction Fund to support individuals in need.

In total PowerPlay Golf donated £65,000 to charity from the inaugural event. Each of the three official Ignition event charities: Help for Heroes, The British Lung Foundation, and Leukaemia & Lymphoma Research all received £10,000 each.

Plus, each Ignition competitor named a personal charity, with PowerPlay Golf donating a total of £35,000 (an amount equivalent to 10% of each player’s winnings) to the players’ twelve nominated charities.

After the success of PowerPlay Golf driven by Saab: Ignition won by rising LET star Caroline Hedwall, PowerPlay Golf is taking its Tour pro series to two further continents – Asia and North America later in 2011.

As with Ignition, both events will feature an eclectic twelve-person field of male and female Tour stars of all ages and once again nominated charities and golf unions will benefit from significant financial contributions from PowerPlay Golf and the competitors.