Andy DevaneyStuburt returned to Kingswood G.C. to support an annual golf day that brings familiar football names onto the course for a considerably more important contest: raising money for bowel cancer research.
Charity golf can occasionally become a parade of embroidered polos, optimistic handicaps and conversations that last rather longer than the average backswing. The Bobby Moore Golf Day, though, has a more serious centre of gravity.
Held at Kingswood G.C., the annual event is dedicated to the memory of England and West Ham footballer Bobby Moore and raises money to fund research into bowel cancer.
Stuburt has supported the day for several years, and this time Graeme Souness, Tony Cottee and Dean Ashton were among the football names taking part wearing Stuburt/Bobby Moore Foundation co-branded Urban Performance polo shirts and Stuburt caps.
The clothing makes the sponsorship visible. The reason for everybody being there matters rather more.
Football provides the names, golf provides the setting
There is something particularly natural about football figures finding their way onto a golf course for charity. The two sports have shared plenty of dressing-room conversation over the years, although golf possesses the useful ability to expose competitive instincts without requiring anybody to chase a centre-forward.
At Kingswood, that crossover gives the Bobby Moore Golf Day much of its character.
Souness, Cottee and Ashton bring recognisable names to the event, while the golf day provides a platform for a cause closely connected to Moore’s memory.
Nobody needs to pretend that putting on a branded polo is an act of heroism. The important part is what the gathering helps support: continued fundraising for bowel cancer research.
Stuburt’s support has become more than a one-off
For Stuburt, the association is now an established one rather than a single appearance with a box of caps and a photographer nearby.
“We’ve supported the Bobby Moore Charity Golf Day for a few years now,” commented Graeme Stevens, Managing Director of Stuburt. “The charity raises vital funds for research into bowel cancer, the illness that took Bobby’s life all too early.
It makes me very proud to play a small part in making this day such a resounding success and we look forward to supporting the charity for many years to come.”
There is a useful distinction here. Sponsorship is at its best when the brand is visible enough to contribute without mistaking itself for the story.
The co-branded shirts and caps put Stuburt around the event, but Stevens’ commitment to continuing the relationship is the more meaningful detail.
Charity golf days rely on people and businesses returning, rather than treating the occasion as another square on the corporate calendar.
The number that matters isn’t on a scorecard
The broader scale of the fundraising puts the afternoon’s golf into perspective.
The Bobby Moore Fund for Cancer Research has raised more than £31 million since Moore died in 1993, aged 51. That figure has been built over decades rather than during one afternoon at Kingswood, but it explains why events such as this continue to carry weight.
For the football names involved, the golf provides the occasion. For Stuburt, it provides an opportunity to continue an association it has maintained for several years.
And for the Bobby Moore Fund, it is another chance to keep bowel cancer research in view and fundraising moving.
There will always be scorecards at a charity golf day. Here, the more useful measure is what remains after the final putt has dropped.
Readers wishing to learn more about the Fund or support its work can visit Cancer Research UK’s Bobby Moore Fund page.
