- Birdies for Wishes campaign raised €37,000 after 37 birdies at 18th hole
- Title sponsors Horizon Therapeutics significantly bolstered fundraising efforts with a €50,000 one-off donation
- Funds raised will make wishes a reality for children living with life-threatening conditions
A grand total of nearly €121,000 was raised at the 2022 Horizon Irish Open for Make-A-Wish® Ireland, helped by the Birdies for Wishes campaign which meant that every birdie at Mount Juliet Estate’s 18th hole resulted in a €1,000 donation to the children’s charity.
Horizon came on board this year as title sponsors of the island of Ireland’s national open in a six-year deal, and subsequently appointed Make-A-Wish Ireland as the tournament’s Official Charity with the aim of raising crucial funds to grant wishes to children living with life-threatening conditions.
The Birdies for Wishes campaign was one of many fundraising initiatives across the site at the Horizon Irish Open, where Adrian Meronk made history as the first Polish player to win on the DP World Tour.
Every one of the 37 birdies at Mount Juliet’s final hole had initially resulted in a €500 donation to the charity from the DP World Tour’s Golf for Good campaign, but that figure was increased two-fold by
Horizon chairman, president and chief executive officer, Tim Walbert, who personally pledged to double that amount having spent the week at Mount Juliet in the company of the Make-A-Wish Ireland team.
Horizon then further elevated the incredible success of their first edition as title sponsors by pledging an additional €50,000 to the children’s charity, while the Pro-Am invitees collectively contributed upward of €13,000 to the cause.
Additionally, there were cash and contactless collection points across the site at the Horizon Irish Open – including at the Make-A-Wish Ireland MegaPutt Challenge and Horizon Interactive Zone in the spectator village – as fans readily contributed to the worthy cause as they learnt more about the charity.
The funds, which totalled exactly €120,706.25, will help to grant wishes to children between the ages of three and 17 years living with life threatening medical conditions. Make-A-Wish Ireland will continue to serve as the tournament’s Official Charity until 2027.
Tim Walbert said: “It was a great week at the Horizon Irish Open with our partners at Make-A-Wish Ireland. The significant amount of money raised is going to change children’s lives and make many wishes come true. I look forward to this ongoing partnership and our continued success.”
Susan McQuaid O’Dwyer, CEO of Make-A-Wish Ireland, said: “This is a wonderful result, especially for our first year in partnership with the event. It shows the potential that can be achieved over the next five years.
“These funds make a huge difference to our annual fundraising efforts and go a long way in granting truly memorable wishes for our wish children and their families. We hear time and again how the impact of a wish forms part of the treatment process and recovery. We are extremely grateful to our partner Horizon Therapeutics, the DP World Tour and all of the attendees at this year’s Horizon Irish Open, who contributed so generously to this total.”
Simon Alliss, the DP World Tour’s Championship Director for the Horizon Irish Open, said: “The 2022 Horizon Irish Open was an incredible success and we could not be more thrilled with the first chapter of our six-year partnership with both Horizon Therapeutics and Make-A-Wish Ireland.
“This partnership brought a whole new dimension to our tournament this year, not only through the fundraising initiatives but also through the life-affirming stories we have been able to tell. We look forward to helping Make-A-Wish Ireland tell more of those stories in the coming years.”
To raise the profile of Make-A-Wish Ireland’s life-changing work, Horizon and the DP World Tour also extended an invite to Peter McEnery – whose dreams came true as a 14-year-old by playing alongside Horizon and Make-A-Wish Ireland ambassador Pádraig Harrington at the 2010 Irish Open thanks to Make-A-Wish Ireland – to play once again in the Pro-Am alongside his golf hero.
McEnery, who lives with Cystic Fibrosis, was 14 years old when his wish came true to play alongside the three-time Major winner at Killarney Golf Club 12 years ago, when he also received a once-in-a-lifetime VIP experience at the historic national open.
Now 26 and a four handicap golfer, McEnery credited his experience 12 years ago through Make-A-Wish Ireland as the primary reason for his continued love of the game, and he once again relived his dream at the Pro-Am alongside Pádraig Harrington.
–ENDS–
Make-A-Wish® Ireland Media Contact:
Harte Media
Catherine Monaghan
catherine@hartemedia.ie
Horizon Media Contacts:
U.S. Media Contact:
Geoff Curtis
Executive Vice President, Corporate Affairs & Chief Communications Officer
media@horizontherapeutics.com
Ireland Media Contact:
Gordon MRM
Ray Gordon
ray@gordonmrm.ie
DP World Tour Media Contact:
Neil Ahern
Senior Press & Communications Officer
nahern@europeantourgroup.com
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About Make-A-Wish® Ireland:
Make-A-Wish® Ireland is a registered charity that grants wishes to children between the ages of 3 and 17 years living with life threatening medical conditions. Despite the impact of COVID-19 we are proud to say that we have continued to grant wishes to these incredible children. These children and their families need the hope, joy and lasting memories that a wish can bring. Researchers have studied the effects of granting wishes on children with cancer and found significant improvements in hope, positive emotions, health related quality of life and anxiety. To date Make-A-Wish® Ireland have granted 2,800 wishes.
About Horizon
Horizon is focused on the discovery, development and commercialization of medicines that address critical needs for people impacted by rare, autoimmune and severe inflammatory diseases. Our pipeline is purposeful: We apply scientific expertise and courage to bring clinically meaningful therapies to patients. We believe science and compassion must work together to transform lives. For more information on how we go to incredible lengths to impact lives, visit www.horizontherapeutics.com and follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram and Facebook.
About the DP World Tour
The DP World Tour is the main men’s professional golf Tour of the European Tour group, with a global schedule featuring a minimum of 45 tournaments in 25 different countries across the 2022 season.
Formerly known as the European Tour, which was established in 1972, the 2022 DP World Tour schedule includes five Rolex Series events, along with four Major Championships, two World Golf Championship events and three tournaments co-sanctioned with the PGA TOUR, as well as tournaments staged around the world with a minimum prize of $2million for all events solely sanctioned by the DP World Tour.
The season concludes with the final Rolex Series event, the DP World Tour Championship, Dubai, where the winner of the Tour’s season-long competition, the DP World Tour Rankings, will be crowned.
DP World, the leading provider of global smart end-to-end supply chain and logistics solutions, is the title partner of the DP World Tour, which is administered by the European Tour group.
About the European Tour group
The European Tour group is the overarching corporate brand which administers four competition brands: the DP World Tour, the Challenge Tour, the Legends Tour and, along with the PGA of America, is the Managing Partner of golf’s greatest team contest, the Ryder Cup.
Established in 1972, the European Tour group is committed to ‘Driving Golf Further’ through our guiding principles of being innovative, inclusive and global.
Innovative: We are driving innovation in golf through the creation of award-winning content, pioneering tournament formats and the use of the latest technology and inventive fan engagement. We are committed to attracting new audiences whilst respecting the tradition of our sport.
Inclusive: We are committed to include all who share a love for the game of golf. We are passionate about a closer collaboration with the women’s game, golf for the disabled and promoting the many physical and mental health benefits of playing golf.
Global: Since 1972, players from 37 different countries have won tournaments on our main Tour, while our live broadcast reaches more than 490 million homes in more than 150 countries every week, generating in excess of 2,200 global broadcast hours for each event. We also enjoy the support of many of the world’s leading business brands with DP World, Rolex, BMW, Callaway, Emirates, Fortinet, Hilton, Velocity Global and Zoom as Official Partners.
The European Tour group has Strategic Alliances with the PGA TOUR, the Sunshine Tour and ISPS Handa PGA Tour of Australasia, while we also drive positive community impact through our overarching CSR programme, Golf for Good.
#GolfforGood
Golf for Good is a commitment to Driving Golf Further in an environmentally and socially sustainable way, ensuring we have a positive long-term impact on the courses, countries and the communities we visit. Through our competition brands we pledge to operate responsibly, collaborating with our host venues, partners, promoters, broadcasters and fans in three key areas:
- Environmental responsibility through our Green Drive initiative
- Inclusivity through our relationship with EDGA and continued collaboration with the women’s game creating mixed tournaments.
Enriching communities to leave a lasting legacy in the communities we visit, through charitable initiatives and support of grassroots golf