Titleist and FootJoy staff showed all-round great teamwork to help make the 141st Open Championship at Royal Lytham & St Annes a great success for leading charity The Golf Foundation.
Titleist, the number one ball in golf, provides Titleist golf balls to the Golf Foundation each year for use in the charity’s events and in promotional activity.
During The Open Championship, nearly 3,000 Titleist balls were won during a special putting challenge sponsored by Titleist at the ‘R&A Swingzone’ in the tented village.
Titleist caps could be won and the youngsters who delivered the best putting performances were entered into draws to win an excellent Titleist Scotty Cameron putter each day. Every successfully holed putt won the participant a Titleist golf ball.
The Golf Foundation team was present for the whole of Open week courtesy of The R&A, working alongside the Professional Golfers’ Association and in support of the England Golf Partnership to introduce golf to new participants. The Golf Foundation team was showcasing its HSBC Golf Roots programme that is making golf more accessible to children from all backgrounds and abilities.
Titleist and FootJoy’s tour leadership team also demonstrated its support by encouraging four of its Titleist Brand Ambassadors to visit the R&A Swingzone to play high-paced, energetic Tri-Golf games with visiting school groups.
The cold and wet on the practice days were shrugged off by Spain’s Rafael Cabrera-Bello, England’s Sam Walker and Australia’s Marc Leishman and Greg Chalmers, as they each made visits to play the ‘Open Championship Tri-Golf Challenge’, a pressure-charged mix of speed and accuracy against the clock. England’s Sam Walker kept his cool to win and received applause from all the boys and girls present for his efforts.
Sam Walker said: “I really enjoyed Tri-Golf, which is a great game for the youngsters. The teamwork needed in the games is a clever part of the format.”
Marc Leishman added: “These player visits are really good. When we’re all young we get excited about seeing the players at The Open so I think this is important for the youngsters and also for the professionals. I’d have liked to play these games as a kid myself.”
Brendon Pyle, National Development Manager of the Golf Foundation, said: “We all enjoy seeing the delight on the faces of the youngsters when they get to play Tri-Golf alongside the professionals. We also enjoy seeing the real delight on the players’ faces when they post a good score, which shows just how much fun Tri-Golf can be as a team or individual format in competition.
“These guys are very busy with a lot on their minds during The Open and to show this commitment to helping us is really commendable. We would like to thank Titleist and FootJoy for their excellent support in making this happen and to personally thank Greg, Rafael, Marc and Sam for their wonderful attitude.”
During Open week, many youngsters were also taking advantage of the free lessons given by PGA professionals throughout the week. The pros were present thanks to the Professional Golfers’ Association, who sponsor the professionals to teach the young golfers as part of the organisation’s commitment to junior golf.
Golf Foundation www.golf-foundation.org
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