8 March 2010

Fota Island will host the first event in an innovative new golf tour created especially for Ireland’s top amateur club golfers.

TopGolfer, Ireland’s new community for the top ten percent of golfers, has announced details of its TopGolfer Tour which incorporates thirty scratch cups, the first of which will take place at the prestigious Cork club on Sunday March 21st. The initiative aims to provide low handicap golfers with a series of competitive events and an online community of their own.

TopGolfer is represented by Ronan Rafferty. “I’m really excited to be a TopGolfer Ambassador”, said the ex-Ryder Cup star and European Tour Order of merit winner, “If you’ve managed to get your handicap down to nine or better, then you’ve earned the right to compete on the TopGolfer Tour and register as a member of the TopGolfer Community. This is a unique way to meet and compete with top golfers across Ireland and feed your competitive spirit.”

The Tour will run from March until September with events spread throughout the four provinces. Tour venues include Enniscrone and Westport in the North West, Galgorm Castle in the North, Lee Valley and Fota in the South, Faithlegg, Rosslare and Mount Wolseley in the South East, Glasson and Dunmurry Springs in the midlands, and St Margarets, Bray and Castle in the East.

Each event will offer the chance to win some impressive prizes from big brands such as Callaway, ECCO, Motocaddy and Kartel. Every competitor at every event is also assured of a player pack which includes a sleeve of the latest Callaway tour golf balls amongst other things. Of particular interest though is that the winner of each event will receive an invite to compete in the TopGolfer Tour Championship, a three day finale which will take place at the end of October.

TopGolfer sponsors include Andalucía, Betfair, Callaway, Citizen, Ecco, Jointace, Kartel, Motocaddy, Nature Valley, Setanta and Wellington Eye Clinic.

Dermot Synnott of TopGolfer, himself a 2 handicapper, says the response to the new community from all sectors has been hugely encouraging.

“Our aim is to bring together passionate golfers who are dedicated to the game and love competition. This is the one club where it doesn’t matter how much money you have, who you know or what you do for a living. If you’ve managed to get your handicap down below ten, then you’ve earned the right to call yourself a TopGolfer and so far we’ve had a huge response from across the country with over a thousand members joining on our first day.”

“We have great venue partners for our events, all of whom have been incredibly enthusiastic about getting involved and tour event entry fees are from as little as €20.”

“Our sponsor partners have been fantastic with helping us pull it all together and I think it shows there’s a real appetite amongst everyone for new golf initiatives in Ireland.”

It is free to join the TopGolfer Community online which not only provides information on all thirty tour events but also provides access to a members’ forum, blogs, competitions and tour news. New members are also in with a chance to win a very special Callaway driver and tour bag autographed by Ernie Els.”