The Golf Foundation was the official charity of the BMW PGA Championship for the first time this year – and the activities across the week secured a £137,000 windfall to support its mission to introduce children to golf, and use the game to support mental wellbeing.
The Golf Foundation received £72,000 from BMW’s Eagles For Education initiative, thanks to the 72 eagles scored on the course – including one from eventual winner Alex Noren and two from a chasing Rory McIlroy on the final day.
Meanwhile, three activities across the spectator’s village – chipping, putting and simulator challenges – raised a further £65,000 thanks to golfing fans supporting the charity with the incentive of winning tickets to next year’s event, as well as prizes from Titleist and Shot Scope.
All of this means that the charity can now provide six weeks of mental toughness training in schools to a further 13,700 young people. Every £10 helps another pupil access the Unleash Your Drive in Schools programme, introducing golf and transferable mental toughness tools to pupils in their own school environment. Since Covid, we know that one in five young people has a probable mental health issue, so early intervention to strengthen mental wellbeing is key.
The relationship between the Golf Foundation, BMW and the DP World Tour is growing stronger every year, and this was the latest spotlight moment for the charity to benefit. Unleash Your Drive in Schools was launched at the BMW PGA Championship in 2023 as the relationship between the three was first celebrated. In 2024, BMW donated £89,000 to the Golf Foundation to celebrate the 89 eagles scored on the West Course, while the charity themselves welcomed three winners of a nationwide fundraising event to play in the Pro-Am event on the Wednesday (pictured below).
This year saw the relationship step up a level, as the Golf Foundation became the Official Charity of the BMW PGA Championship. The charity kickstarted the week with President Nick Dougherty visiting a local school to see the impact the charity provides in action. They once again welcomed three players to the Pro-Am on Wednesday – the Unleash Your Drive Final winners who earned their spots at The Grove in August – before holding the President’s Awards in the Wentworth ballroom that evening, where grassroots golf heroes were celebrated in front of 130 guests.
On top of this, an army of 120 volunteers were present throughout the week sporting bright blue t-shirts with the charity logo. This team supported three fundraising activities in the spectator’s village, with the long putt, chipping challenge and ‘nearest the pin’ simulator shot all raising vital funds for the charity in exchange for prizes from Titleist and Shot Scope.
“Thank you to our volunteers, partners and staff who helped the Golf Foundation benefit from a remarkable week at the BMW PGA Championship,” said Brendon Pyle, CEO of the Golf Foundation. “A special thank you of course goes to BMW for their incredible support and engagement and the DP World Tour, for allowing us this incredible opportunity as Official Charity Partner. When Unleash Your Drive launched back in 2023, our President Nick Dougherty talked about the golf world coming together like never before to support the next generation. This was that promise in action – with Titleist, Shot Scope, Golfway, Awesome Golf, TaylorMade and The Grove all playing a huge part in fundraising for the benefit of young people across GB&I. Our President has given so much time and effort to this cause, and helped to open new opportunities for our charity. Now we want to go further. A huge thank you to Nick for everything he has done. We see the impact we are having every day, and this money and the exposure we have had this week will help us reach so many more young people.”
To find out more, please visit www.golf-foundation.org
