- Six-year deal with charity runs concurrent to Horizon’s title sponsorship of historic national open
- Peter McEnery, whose wish came true by playing with Pádraig Harrington at 2010 Irish Open aged 14, to play alongside him again 12 years later
- Make-A-Wish Ireland celebrates 30th anniversary this year
Make-A-Wish® Ireland has been announced as the Official Charity of the Horizon Irish Open until 2027, with the tournament’s title sponsor Horizon Therapeutics committing to long-term support of the charity which brings hope, strength and happiness to children with life-threatening conditions through granting their wishes.
The deal will see an annual fundraising drive at each of the next six editions of the island of Ireland’s national open, with Horizon promising to provide a match to the donations raised on site at Mount Juliet Estate for Make-A-Wish Ireland – which celebrates 30 years of granting wishes in Ireland.
To launch the partnership, Horizon and the DP World Tour have extended an invite for Peter McEnery – whose dreams came true as a 14-year-old by playing alongside Pádraig Harrington at the 2010 Irish Open thanks to Make-A-Wish Ireland – to play once again in this year’s 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, McEnery is a four handicap golfer and credits his experience 12 years ago through Make-A-Wish Ireland as the primary reason for his continued love of the game. He will represent the charity at the Horizon Irish Open Pro-Am with the hope of raising awareness of its incredible work.
There will be multiple fundraising activations on site at the 2022 Horizon Irish Open, which takes place at Mount Juliet Estate from June 30 – July 3, including the Mega Putt Challenge in the Championship Village.
Fans will also be given the opportunity to donate when they purchase tickets for the tournament through the DP World Tour’s official ticketing website.
Timothy P. Walbert, Chairman, President and CEO, Horizon Therapeutics, said: “We are incredibly proud to introduce Make-A-Wish Ireland as the Official Charity of the Horizon Irish Open for the next six years.
“Having officially opened our new Dublin Headquarters today, one of Horizon’s key objectives as title sponsors of this great tournament is to make a difference to communities and worthy causes around Ireland, through the power of sport.
“Make-A-Wish Ireland does incredible work for children living with life-threatening conditions by making their dreams come true and providing them with hope and inspiration. We have partnered with Make-A-Wish Ireland for more than two years and are hopeful that this long-term commitment will continue to make a huge difference to so many children around the country.”
Susan McQuaid O’Dwyer, CEO of Make-A-Wish Ireland, said: “The longevity and magnitude of this partnership is hugely important for Make-A-Wish Ireland and, after a difficult couple of years due to the pandemic, it provides us with the stability to continue our hard work in inspiring children who really need hope and happiness in their lives. With hope, a child with a critical illness finds light in the darkness of their current circumstances. It transforms their perspective, replacing feelings of trauma with hope for tomorrow.
“We are extremely grateful to Horizon for choosing us as the Official Charity of this historic tournament. As we are not government-funded, Make-A-Wish relies on the incredible generosity of the Irish public as well as backers such as Horizon, and we look forward to changing the lives of many young children in the years ahead.”
Pádraig Harrington, an Ambassador for both Make-A-Wish Ireland and Horizon, said: “It’s great to hear that Make-A-Wish will be the Official Charity of the Horizon Irish Open for the next six years.
“My wife Caroline and I have been very proud ambassadors for Make-A-Wish for many years now and we have witnessed the incredible work they do in providing hope and strength to children with life-threatening conditions.
“I remember very well the day I met and played with Peter and it is truly inspiring to see how far he has come with his golf in the 12 years since Make-A-Wish made his dream come true. I look forward to playing alongside him again at this year’s Pro-Am and hopefully he will inspire other children who might be experiencing something similar to what he was going through at the time.”
Simon Alliss, the DP World Tour’s Championship Director for the Horizon Irish Open, said: “This is an incredibly positive announcement for the Horizon Irish Open and a meaningful commitment, and we thank our title sponsors Horizon for being the driving force behind this partnership.
“We have seen first hand the difference Make-A-Wish Ireland can make to children’s lives and we look forward to helping tell their wonderful story at the Horizon Irish Open this year and beyond.”
First played in 1927, the Horizon Irish Open is one of the world’s most famous national opens, boasting former champions such as Seve Ballesteros, Sir Nick Faldo, Harrington, Bernhard Langer, Rory McIlroy, Colin Montgomerie, José María Olazábal and Jon Rahm.
Mount Juliet last year hosted the island of Ireland’s national open for the first time since 1995 and for just the fourth time in the event’s history, with Australia’s Lucas Herbert triumphing in front of sell-out crowds at the County Kilkenny venue.
After that hugely successful hosting, the tournament returns to Mount Juliet this summer, with Sunday tickets already completely sold-out after unprecedented demand. Harrington will join his fellow countrymen Séamus Power and Shane Lowry in the field, with many more names to be announced in the coming weeks.
–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
EUROPEAN TOUR GROUP COMMUNICATIONS
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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, 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