By Roger Green sport@algarveresident.com
A UK-based charity group, dedicated to helping ex-servicemen who were handicapped by war injuries to become involved in golf in the Algarve, has raised in the region of €10,000 in its first project in southern Portugal.
The On Course Foundation organised a three-day event in which three four-ball competitions were played at Pinheiros Altos, Vale da Pinta and Boavista golf courses. Among those taking part were Gregg Stevenson, who lost both lower legs while serving as a sapper with the Royal Engineers 59 Commandos in Afghanistan in 2009.
The money was raised by raffles and donations by the three golf clubs that hosted the competitions, in which a number of war casualty ex-servicemen participated.
The project is the brainchild of ex-serviceman and former helicopter pilot Guy Piltcher-Clayton, also a war casualty, who is resident in Lagos and a member of Boavista, and UK-based resident Martin Small, stepfather of Gregg Stevenson.
A spokesman said that the concept of the On Course Foundation is to recruit and introduce ex-servicemen to the golf industry, either to be coached as players or in other areas of the game such as green-keeping or related employment. “We definitely hope to build on the success of this year’s event and bring as many servicemen as possible to the Algarve next year”, added the spokesman.
