Laois ‘Town Cup’ golf tournament has raised €55,000 for two local charities

THE local charity golf event titled The Town Cup is a biennial event and 38 avid golfers teed off at Portlaoise Golf club on Saturday 11 April to mark its ten-year anniversary in what has become a proud fundraising tradition, which, to date, has raised a whopping €55,000 for two local charities.

Over the last decade, the lads have divided themselves into two teams, the northside and the southside of Portlaoise. For the first four events, the group competed against each other to raise funds for the Cuisle cancer centre. However, due to its ongoing success year-on-year, they decided to add the Kolbe Special School in 2024 and, since then, they divide the funds equally between both local worthy charities.

This year was the sixth edition of the Ryder Cup-style competition and, true to their nature, the lads continue to go from strength to strength and they raised over €17,000 this year, which is up by more than €3,000 on the €14,125 which they raised in 2024.

James Furlong is one of the event organisers. Speaking to the Laois Nationalist about the event and how the Portlaoise Town Cup came to be, said: “The Town Cup started with a group of friends having a chat over a few drinks over ten years ago following one of our friend’s mothers sadly passing away. She used the Cuisle centre facility and we wanted to do something to give back to them for all the good work they do.

“We decided to host an event similar to the Ryder Cup. We began by splitting the town of Portlaoise down the middle and started with ten lads from the northside of town taking on ten lads from the southside. This number increased to 16 lads on each side in 2024 and it increased again to 19 on each side this year. We couldn’t have imagined that it would still be going ten years later and growing at the rate that it is.

“In the past events until 2024, all sponsorships collected went directly to the Cuisle cancer centre, but because it has become more successful each year, we decided two years ago to divide the funds equally between the Cuisle Cancer Support Centre and the Kolbe Special School.” James said that the format saw teams go head-to-head in matchplay, adding a competitive edge to what was ultimately a day centred around community spirit and charitable giving.

He said: “We are all delighted with the fantastic support that we have got over the years. By the time the event concluded, an impressive €17,384 had been fundraised, contributing to an overall total of more than €55,000 raised across the past decade. The southside took the honours on the day to make it 3-3 overall, but the result is secondary to the lads who went above and beyond to raise over €17,000, bringing our total to over €55,000 over six events held so far. This just shows the work that all the lads put in to raise this amount.

“The organisers once again received fantastic backing from the local community, with numerous charities and businesses donating prizes and lending their support. The main sponsors were Portlaoise Golf club and DS Sports continued its valued sponsorship of the event, whose ongoing contribution has been instrumental in our success.” On behalf of all 38 golfers, James outlined businesses that the group wishes to thank for their much-appreciated contributions. Those businesses are: Ballyfin House, Doonbeg Golf club, Rosapenna Golf club, Tulfarris Golf club, Moyvalley Golf club, Glasson Golf club, Killenard Golf club, Ben Dunne Gym, Hughes Pharmacy, Cedar Clinic, Eddie Doyle Golf Academy, Mulhall’s SuperValu, Bovine, Druids, Lana Restaurant, The Heath Golf club, Mountrath Golf club, Rathdowney Golf club, Midlands Park hotel, Abbeyleix Manor hotel, Maldron Hotel, Square Coffee, Adora, Bunclody Golf club, Wexford Golf club, Craddockstown Golf club and Cill Dara Golf club.