Thanks to the inspiration and help of Golf Foundation President and Sky Sports Golf lead Presenter, Nick Dougherty, three amateur golfers have earned a spot in the prestigious BMW PGA Championship Pro-Am after winning the Golf Foundation’s Unleash Your Drive Final. The prize has been generously provided by BMW and the DP World Tour and is the culmination of a fundraising campaign by the Golf Foundation, which saw 147 clubs registering to run a qualifying competition with 3,552 golfers taking part.
Nick was on site at The Grove to meet all of the 60 players and to present the winners with their prizes, generously donated by TaylorMade, along with the news that they will be teeing the ball up alongside many of Europe’s Ryder Cup Team at Wentworth in September. The 3 players to compete in the popular Pro Am will be: Thomas Peachey, 13, from Peterborough Milton Golf Club; Paul McHugh, from Royal Blackheath; and Colin McGee, from Pine Ridge Golf Club. The Golf Foundation is also the nominated charity for the BMW PGA Championship for the first time this year.
Completing his third year as President of the Golf Foundation, Nick Dougherty commented: “It’s such a privilege to work with the Golf Foundation, a charity that helped me in my formative junior days, and is now aiming to provide all young people in schools with the development tools and opportunities that this sport taught me through its Unleash Your Drive programme. Why wouldn’t we want to give our young people the valuable life skills that golf is uniquely placed to provide”.
Thomas’s mother, Carly, shared her excitement, saying, “It was such a wonderful day and of course Thomas’s result was just the icing on the cake! … He hasn’t stopped smiling.”
For Colin McGee, winning was particularly special. “Winning a place to play in a pro-am at Wentworth is the best thing that has happened in my 51 years of golf,” he commented. “I am now 71 years old, so I doubt I would ever have this opportunity again.”
The winners finished with Stableford scores of 43, 41, and 41, respectively.
This is the second time the Golf Foundation has run the competition, and The Grove proved to be a brilliant venue for 2025, with the course in excellent, if challenging, condition. The Customer Team was incredibly welcoming to all the finalists and made the occasion special for everyone, regardless of where they finished on the leaderboard.
Joel Westwell, Director of Golf at The Grove, said, “We were delighted to welcome The Golf Foundation, Nick Dougherty, and the winners of the Unleash Your Drive qualifying competitions to The Grove. It’s been a fantastic day both on and off the course, and we’re proud to have hosted such a memorable event and to support this important campaign.”
With pristine course conditions and blue-sky weather, the event was an incredible celebration of golf. The winners now look forward to the challenge of Wentworth’s West Course in the upcoming Pro-Am.
To find out more, please visit www.golf-foundation.org
