Golfers, celebrities and businessmen joined icon and Grand Slam champion Gary Player to help raise over $100,000 for children’s charities during the annual Gary Player Invitational at London’s historic Wentworth Club on Monday, 22 July.
The European leg of the global Gary Player Invitational series, presented by Berenberg, was won by the team of Grant Horsfield, DJ Spoony, Leslie McCormack and Peter Scrivener as some of the biggest names in golf, entertainment and business came together in aid of BerenbergKids and The Player Foundation.
The field also included Irish singing sensations Ronan Keating and Brian McFadden, former England and British Lions rugby star Martin Bayfield, and professional golfers Carly Booth, Tano Goya, Oliver Fisher, Henrietta Zuel, Helen Alfredsson and Brandon Stone.
The Player Foundation, currently celebrating its 30th anniversary, has raised over $50 million towards improving educational standards and helping children from impoverished communities plagued by disease and crime. Continuing the support for children in need, Monday’s Gary Player Invitational event benefits Demelza Hospice Care for Children, as nominated by the BerenbergKids organization, to care for over 700 life-limited children and their families.
“I am humbled by this response to our charity drive,” said Gary Player. ” From my lifetime spent in golf, I have seen how it is the greatest game in terms of its people and their desire to give back to society. Anytime we can share some of the success we have had, then we are making a big difference in the world.”
“Bringing together friends, businessmen, and our corporate partners to help change the lives of young children makes everything I have achieved in golf more worthwhile.”
The Gary Player Invitational series now travels to China and South Africa in its ongoing bid to make a difference in the lives of underprivileged children.
“We are extremely grateful to those who have supported our GPI events over the years,” said Marc Player, CEO of Black Knight International. “We have a wonderful family of friends, business partners and sponsors who all contribute significantly to the work of this series and The Player Foundation.”
-ENDS-
For further information, please contact:
Meagan Sickle, Black Knight International (South Africa)
E: meagan@garyplayer.co.za or T: +27 (0) 21 448 7777
Grace Lipscomb-Vine, Black Knight International (US)
E: grace@garyplayer.com or T: + 1 864 477 2720
Notes to Editors
Gary Player Invitational 2013 Series
United States – Georgia
Dates: 14-15 April 2013
Champions Retreat, Augusta
United Kingdom – England
Dates: 22 July 2013
Wentworth Golf Club, Surrey
China – Shanghai
Dates: 4-5 November 2013
Shanghai Links
South Africa – To Be Announced
Dates: To Be Announced
To Be Announced
About The Player Foundation
The Player Foundation was established in 1983 by Marc Player. What began as an effort to provide education, nutrition, medical care and athletic activities, for a small community of disadvantaged children living on the outskirts of Johannesburg, South Africa has now blossomed into an organization that circles the globe bringing aid to underprivileged children and impoverished communities.
The Foundation is funded primarily by four Gary Player Invitational events presented through Black Knight International. Pairing celebrities and professional golfers from the PGA and Champions Tours with businessmen and international sports figures, the annual tournaments are staged in the United States, China, Europe and South Africa. The proceeds of these tournaments and other special events provide funding for an ever- expanding number of institutions around the world, including the Blair Atholl Schools in South Africa, the Pleasant City Elementary School in Palm Beach, the Masizame in Plettenberg Bay, South Africa, and AIDS infected children in Baoshan, a drug-infested city located on the China-Burma border. Since its establishment, The Player Foundation has donated over $50 million dollars to the support of children’s charities, the betterment of impoverished communities and the expansion of educational opportunities throughout the world.
Gary Player, acknowledged as a world class humanitarian, believes that the strength of our future depends upon the abilities of our children. “I have found that the opportunity to make a difference in the lives of others does not thrust itself upon us,” Player says, “But we do not need to look hard for it either. When you spot the chance to give back to the world, act on it. You will have made life better, for others, and for yourself.”
The Gary Player Foundation is a non-profit 501 C (3) organization managed by Black Knight International in Palm Beach, Florida.
About BerenbergKids
Formed in 2007 and then established as an official foundation in 2009, BerenbergKids supports underprivileged children through different fundraising and volunteering activities, which range from social events to physical challenges and competitions.
Many of the children and young people supported by the programme lack access to one or more of life’s fundamental rights: shelter, food, education, health care and social support.
The foundation has raised close to $1 million for its chosen charities.
About Demelza Hospice Care for Children
Demelza Hospice Care for Children cares for over 700 life-limited children and their families. The charity offers respite, symptom control, end-of-life care and bereavement support for families with children who are either life limited or suffer from conditions that mean they need a lot of specialist care.
The philosophy of the charity is that palliative care is not solely about dying but is more about quality of life irrespective of how long or short that life will be.
Contact: