The Duke’s St Andrews has become the 100th golf club to sign up for the National Golf Club Challenge which will take place at golf courses throughout the UK on Saturday, 24th July 2010, in support of Help for Heroes.

The Help for Heroes National Golf Club Challenge 2010 has teamed up with some of the biggest names in the golf industry with the aim of bringing golf clubs together to raise £1million for the country’s wounded service personnel.

“The Kohler Company, owner of The Duke’s Course and The Old Course Hotel located in the ‘Home of Golf’ St Andrews, is delighted to be supporting a most worthy cause, Help for Heroes, through the National Golf Club Challenge,” comments Debbie Taylor, Managing Director of the Old Course Hotel, Golf Resort and Spa.

“We are confident that we will have a very healthy entry from our membership, knowing that all the proceeds will go to Help for Heroes.”

The Challenge will bring hundreds of golf clubs and thousands of golfers together on the same weekend to demonstrate support for the country’s injured armed forces with each participating golf club organising their own individual fund-raising activities around their golf event.

In addition to raising money, the Challenge will result in crowning the Help for Heroes National Golf Club Champions 2010. Using the stableford scoring system, clubs will be asked to play their event from the club's official competition tees on July 24th - or on the surplus day, July 25th. Each club will then be required to return their top 10 stableford scores to the Challenge organisers together with a fundraising cheque. The top six clubs, made up of the top 10 scorers, will then compete against each other at an event at The Belfry to decide the inaugural Help for Heroes National Golf Club Champions.

In addition to attracting a number of brand sponsors from within the golf industry, the National Golf Club Challenge has been endorsed by one of England’s top professional golfers, Ian Poulter.

“Help for Heroes provides incredible support for these tough and inspiring people and I am proud that British golf clubs and golfers are giving their full support,” says Poulter. “I hope the National Golf Club Challenge raises a huge amount of money and that men and women all over the country have fun participating.”

The Duke's is highly regarded as one of the finest heathland championship courses in the British Isles and a 'must play' course for any golfer. With a spectacular setting above St Andrews, The Duke's offers magnificent panoramic views over the surrounding countryside to the sea. Its style ranks alongside the great inland challenges which demand accuracy and inventive play as well as power golf and, with five separate tee positions at every hole, The Duke's has the flexibility and challenge to appeal to golfers at every level.

Charitable foundation, Help for Heroes, was the brainchild of appeal chairman, Bryn Parry, and his wife Emma who wanted to help wounded soldiers returning home from combat. The Charity is completely non-political and accepts wars happen under any government. All the charity wants to do, with the help of the British public, is to assist our wounded heroes.

Old Course Hotel Media Release