Ever wanted to play at Wentworth Club? Ever wanted to play at Wentworth during the BMW PGA Pro-Am? Ever wanted to play at Wentworth during the BMW PGA Pro-Am alongside Rory McIlroy? Well, this year, just £5 could see all of these dreams come true thanks to the Golf Foundation's Play In May initiative.
The Golf Foundation's national fundraising campaign for its Unleash Your Drive initiative was launched yesterday at the House of Commons, with Golf Foundation President and Sky Sports presenter Nick Dougherty kicking things off. From today, every UK golfer is being asked to support the Unleash Your Drive campaign by taking part in a very special competition dubbed Play In May. From this, 40 golfers will be given the opportunity tee it up at the Unleash Your Drive Final at Wentworth Club in August, with the top three from that day being invited back to play in the BMW PGA Championship Pro-Am in September.
All you have to do is play a round of golf in May and donate £5 or more to support the Golf Foundation's Unleash Your Drive initiative and you'll unlock access to the Golf Foundation's exclusive competition. Registration to Play In May has now opened on the Golf Foundation website. You can enter scores into the competition as many times as you like, with your best score counting. Your contribution will go way beyond simply getting out on the course in May as every £5 or more donation will translate into practical mental well being support for one more child through the Golf Foundation's Unleash Your Drive initiative.
Launched in September 2023, Unleash You Drive is a mental wellbeing initiative that is aiming to use golf as a vehicle in schools to help children's mental health and teach them vital life skills. It uses nine mental toughness tools to help young people prepare for life's challenges. These tools include breathing techniques, self-compassion tips, confidence boosting and self-reflection guidance. With the right funding this year, the Golf Foundation is looking to provide a fully funded kit and resources to schools in areas of high deprivation, in order to help them deliver the programme. With 32,000 schools in the UK & Ireland, the Golf Foundation is hoping to get kids across both nations playing more golf and benefiting from the mental toughness skills that golf teaches.
“Mental toughness is important because all of the research tells us that mentally tough youngsters do better academically, career wise and perhaps most importantly in terms of their overall life happiness and resilience,” Dougherty said at the event yesterday. “We believe all golfers who have themselves benefited from golf would be happy to help us to increase the confidence and resilience of our youngsters through Unleash Your Drive. That is why we are asking them to Play in May and make a small donation to create a massive national benefit for young people and the wider sport.”
Most of you reading this will be playing golf in May at some point anyway, so why not do what you're already doing, support a superb initiative and give yourself a chance to tee it up alongside the world's best at Wentworth in September. Play In May registration is now open via the Golf Foundation website.
