JP McManus charity event launched
Howard Lake | 20 November 2008 | News
Irish Tycoon JP McManus has enlisted the support of golfer Padraig Harrington for the fifth JP McManus Invitational Pro-Am tournament which will take place in 2010 and to date has raised €56 million for local charities.
The lucrative charity event is set for the Adare Manor in July of 2010 and Tiger Woods has also promised his attendance.
McManus referred to the tougher economic times during the launch of the Pro-Am. National optimism has dipped sharply since the last event, held in the summer of 2005 and raising €30.5 million.
McManus told the Irish Times it would be “foolhardy” to predict topping that, but was cautiously optimistic about what the months between now and the charity extravaganza may mean for the Irish economy.
“It is a challenge and maybe that makes it more interesting,” McManus said.
“In 2005, we had 8,600 participants who played in the qualifiers. And it is more important than ever we get these people back to play. When they play, the various charities charge different prices for their team.
“And the last time what happened was, for every €10,000 raised they got a team into the grand qualifier, and for every 10 teams that got into that, one team went on to play in the main event. We do have a completely open draw. It is transparent, believe it or not. So anybody who plays and qualifies has an equal chance of playing with Pádraig or Tiger or whoever. And I think that makes in interesting,” McManus said.
The tournament takes place at Adare Manor Hotel and Golf Resort on the July 5th-6th, 2010. The event has a prize fund of €1 million. The format is 56 teams of four players (one professional and three amateurs per team).
Tickets – in the form of baseball caps based on a county allegiance – will go on sale from April 2009 in a number of outlets in Limerick city. They will also be available at jpmcmanusproam.com. Since the inaugural event in 1990, the tournament has been held every five years and has attracted the leading golf lights of the day.
The aim of the event is to support mid-western charities and groups and proceeds are donated in their entirety towards the relevant services. Beneficiary charities will organise pre-qualifying tournaments throughout the country in the hope of entering teams in the main event. Over 49,000 spectators showed up for the last tournament in 2005.
www.jpmcmanusproam.com
About Howard Lake
Howard Lake is consultant editor of UK Fundraising. He founded the site in 1994 and successfully sold it in 2022. As director of Giving X Ltd he is exploring growing giving on a massive scale.
He is the founder of Fundraising Camp and co-founder of GoodJobs.