Ballesteros charity legacy recognised

In a week where the legacy of the late Seve Ballesteros was celebrated on the course, it was appropriate that the Spanish legend’s Foundation benefitted outside the ropes too, thanks to two sizable charitable donations.

As the final day singles in the 2013 Seve Trophy by Golf+ prepared to get underway, Ballesteros’ daughter Carmen accepted a cheque for €100,000 – donated by the event itself – from the respective captains José María Olazábal and Sam Torrance for the Fundación Seve Ballesteros in Spain.

“I am delighted to be here today and I thank everyone involved in the tournament for this wonderful donation to my father’s fund, which will help carry on the vital work it is doing back home in Spain,” said Carmen.

“Everyone knows that my father loved match play golf, which was why he so adored The Ryder Cup, but he was also very proud of this tournament and it was great to see both José Maria and Sam here today. On behalf of the family, I would like to thank both of them for being the captains this week and also all the players for giving us such an exciting tournament.”

Earlier in the week, Seve’s son Javier – who partnered Italian Matteo Manassero in the curtain-raising Pro-Am – was on hand to accept a cheque for £90,000 from Olazábal on behalf of Ryder Cup Europe to donate to the Seve Ballesteros Foundation in support of Cancer Research UK.

The amount represented funds raised from the sale of the commemorative limited edition box set of Seve coloured clothing, which was launched in the aftermath of the sensational European Ryder Cup win at Medinah last September.

To date 1,500 box sets have been sold with £60.00 from each sale going directly to the Seve Ballesteros Foundation for Cancer Research UK, a partnership personally created by the five time Major Champion to help their world class brain cancer research.

The set consisted of a white cotton polo shirt and a navy blue lambswool sweater, the colours Seve so famously wore on Sunday throughout his career and which was replicated by the European Team in Chicago. The shirt and sweater have the Ryder Cup Medinah logo on the chest but also the unique Seve Tribute embroidery on the left sleeve.

“I know my father had very happy memories of Saint-Nom-La-Bretèche and it is great to back here this week,” said Javier. “The work that my father’s foundation has done for charity is fantastic and our family very much support all that is being done, both in Spain and the UK.

“I want to thank all the players and both captains for their participation this week and I particularly want to pay tribute to José María, who was such a wonderful friend to my father, who I know would have particularly loved what Europe achieved last year in Medinah.”