Genworth Financial’s Putts for Charity initiative – an innovative way to raise money for charity – got off to a flying start today with Graeme McDowell making the first one-putt worth €5,000 at the Smurfit Kappa European Open.
The initiative aims to raise a substantial sum for The Cystic Fibrosis Association of Ireland andGOLFAID, the charity of The European Tour players. For every one putt made by professionals participating at the tournament, Genworth will donate €2 to the charities.
In addition, visitors to the tournament will have the opportunity to make a contribution by attempting their own one putt on a specially constructed three hole putting green at the Genworth stand in the tented village. Every hole completed in one stroke will contribute a further €2 to the charities.
Genworth also ran Putts for Charity at the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth Club in May, raising over £13,000. It aims to build on that success at The K Club and at other events on The European Tour International Schedule as part of a season long charitable donation.
“Putts for Charity is a fun way to link our sponsorship of The European Tour Statistics to our corporate value, Heart – this describes how we reach out and give back," said Bob Brannock, President and CEO of Genworth Financial’s international operations in Europe and Canada. “It proved to be extremely popular at the BMW PGA Championship with both professionals and the public working together to raise a tremendous amount. I’m sure that visitors to the Smurfit Kappa European Open will do even better."
Genworth Financial is the new Official Sponsor of The European Tour Statistics programme and is also sponsoring four events on The European Tour International Schedule. The Genworth Financial Statistics programme collects and distributes players’ performance data in the eight main statistical categories: Stroke Average, Driving Accuracy, Driving Distance, Greens in Regulation, Putts per Greens in Regulation, Putts per Round, Sand Saves and Scrambles.
