As Golfbreaks.com is an Official Supplier to the PGA of Great Britain
and Ireland, and Official Golf Travel Company to the PGAs of Europe
we had the pleasure of attending the annual PGA lunch which is was hosted in the well known Grosvener House in Mayfair. 

In all honesty I was not too sure what to expect before arriving. I had a misconception that the room would be full of Golf Pro’s walking around in their golf gear! I was very wrong; it was a very formal event that was run like a military operation with the food and drink coming out so quickly there was no room for error, really well put on.

Back to the important stuff, after the welcoming speech from PGA Chief Executive Sandy Jones the special guest of the afternoon was introduced, Colin Montgomerie. Being someone who is relatively new to the world of golf, Colin was always someone I knew of and actually quite liked just through my interest in sport as a whole as he seemed a bit of a character. He was always on the TV and in the public eye but I did not know too much about him other than that. I won’t go into detail about his achievements as I am sure those reading are all well aware. What surprised me were his achievements away from the course.

In 1991 Colin lost his mother to Cancer and has since gone onto set up the Elizabeth Montgomerie foundation to raise money and awareness to those affected by the disease. Money has been raised through events such as golf marathons to walks in tough terrains by both fund raisers and Colin himself, along with support from Monty’s celebrity friends to endorse and support the foundation. This charity is obviously very close to his heart, and to see the amount of investment and energy put into a charity by a full time professional golfer was really refreshing to see. The PGA also donated a cheque to the foundation, showing their full support to Colin and his charity.

The Scot also revealed to the audience how he had recently visited the war torn country of Afghanistan, with PGA captain Eddie Bullock and former captain Parnell Reilly through the Tickets for Troops Charity. The well known military base of Camp Bastian was one of the locations visited by Monty, and through the donations of several golf manufacturers the troops had been kitted out with equipment such as clubs and matt’s providing them with an opportunity to enjoy the sport whilst putting themselves on the front line. Follow this link to show a short video highlighting the trip and some words from Monty and the troops.

I will end this entry here, but a point to note is that there are plenty of well known celebrities and sports stars in today’s society but we rarely hear of those who dedicate so much of their time to worthy courses that really help others in need whilst still being in the game. Monty we salute you!

Photograph courtesy of golfbytourmiss.com/gbtm