The K Club’s decision to invest the bulk of its charitable efforts in the Play in Pink Day this year proved inspired after the club delivered a remarkable €40,000 for Breast Cancer Research through its recent fundraiser.
With one in seven Irish women affected by breast cancer, the memberships of most clubs around Ireland have been impacted in some way by this most prevalent disease, and the K Club is no different.
A number of K Club members bravely dealt with breast cancer diagnoses through Covid, sparking huge support for the Play in Pink Day at the club. In 2024, the K Club decided to go all-in on pink to celebrate its survivors who inspire hope in so many women dealing with breast cancer around the country.
“We set-up a Play in Pink specific committee this year and everyone bought in from the start,” says Niamh Clancy, K Club Lady Captain.
“We can’t thank the resort enough for its support, particularly our President Michael Fetherston who generously gave up the course for the day. We upped the price this year to €400 per team and we still had a full tee-sheet with every tee-box and green sponsored on the day. It was a huge team effort.”
Key to the K Club’s fundraising efforts was a new policy adopted this year to make the Play in Pink Day more accessible to sponsors than ever.
“We decided that we wouldn’t limit the number of main sponsors,” Clancy explains. “Everybody knows somebody who has their own business and we all reached out.
“We set the price at €1000 and in return sponsors were promoted on the tvs around the club in the lead-up to the event and they were further marketed and thanked on the day.”
Other innovations included on-course competitions and a well-supported raffle but it was the auction at the end of the evening’s buffet dinner that stole the show. Highest bidders could drive away with a brand-new Kia for the year, or enjoy a getaway to a member’s holiday home kindly donated in aid of the breast cancer cause.
“Some of our members are also members at other clubs so we had four-balls to be won as well,” Clancy says. “We even had donations from people who weren’t taking part on the day.
“There’s a real spirit amongst our membership and it comes to the fore around Play in Pink. It has become one of the absolute favourite days of the year at the K Club and it wouldn’t be the success it is today without everyone’s involvement.”
2023 was a record year for Play in Pink with more than €550,000 collected and donated to the breast cancer research programme at the Lambe Institute, Galway, a programme that’s delivering major success in the fight against this dreadful disease.
The Play in Pink message has always been one of hope and the K Club’s flamingo-inspired fairway festivities encapsulated just that with the club united behind this wonderful cause under one giant pink umbrella.
“We were very grateful to have Paul Earley from the NBCRI speak at the end of the evening and he delivered a brilliant speech highlighting the work of the research programme in Galway – detailing how the money is used and the impact that it has had,” Clancy explains.
“There’s definitely that element of education around the day. We gave out leaflets as well but more so just the whole occasion is a symbol of hope. You could be out there playing alongside survivors, dressing in pink to remind people that they’re not alone.
“It’s such a powerful message, and a powerful day that every club in the country should get involved in. My advice would be to start planning early, preparation is key. Organising a Play in Pink specific committee was a huge help.
“Also, make it a club-wide event, this is not just a ladies thing. It affects everyone in some way and men and women want to support it. They want to have fun with it too while at the same time raising money for something that’s very close to us all.
“From a K Club perspective, it was so special to be able to focus on such a worthy cause this year. A lot of work went into it but it definitely paid off.”
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