Andy DevaneyThe Els for Autism Foundation took centre stage in Vilamoura on Thursday as Ernie Els joined children for a #GameON Adapted Golf Clinic ahead of the inaugural Portugal Invitational. The four-time major champion was there to help with putting and golf skills, but the afternoon carried rather more weight than the average tournament curtain-raiser.
Ernie Els Brings a Personal Cause to Portugal
On the practice putting green at the Els Club Vilamoura, children supported by the foundation worked on their games alongside Els and members of the charity. There were smiles, encouragement and the sort of small victories that rarely trouble a leaderboard but often matter far more.
For Els, this is not a borrowed cause attached to tournament week. He and his wife, Liezl, established the Els for Autism Foundation after their son Ben was diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder. That family experience developed into a long-term commitment to improving education, treatment and support for autistic people and those who care for them.
Els said: “We all love our family and how ever we can help our family, we will do that, myself and my wife.
“Liezl was obviously a huge advocate to get the right treatment, schooling and the right environment for kids with autism, especially our son Ben, and that’s what we did. Along the way you help a lot of other families and other kids, so it’s a win-win for us and other families.”
Adapted Golf Without the Ceremonial Fuss
The #GameON clinic was designed to help participants develop golf skills in an adapted, supportive setting. Its presence during a professional tournament week gave inclusion something more useful than a polite mention in the programme.
Golf can be rather fond of ceremony. Here, the important work happened on a practice green, with children learning at their own pace and one of the game’s most recognisable figures giving them his time. Els’s involvement supplied star power, certainly, but his family connection prevented the occasion from feeling like a routine appearance between engagements.
The foundation’s broader aim is to help people with autism, across a range of abilities, pursue meaningful and fulfilling lives while also supporting their caregivers. The clinic offered a visible example of that mission in practice: participation first, spectacle second.
Portugal Invitational Begins at Els Club Vilamoura
The clinic formed part of the activities surrounding the first Portugal Invitational, with the opening round scheduled for Friday, 31 July. The three-round event concludes on Sunday, 2 August, when its inaugural champion is due to be crowned.
Its staging at the Els Club Vilamoura gives Els an unusually substantial role in the week. He is not merely a familiar champion passing through; his name sits on the course, his foundation has shaped the community programme and his presence links the competitive event to a cause rooted in his own family.
Broadcast Reach Gives the Clinic a Wider Platform
All three rounds are scheduled to be shown in the United States on GOLF Channel and in Portugal on Sport TV. PGA TOUR Champions coverage is distributed through media partners in more than 170 countries and territories.
That reach matters for a new tournament trying to establish itself. It also gives the Els for Autism Foundation a platform beyond those gathered beside the putting green in Vilamoura.
Tournament partners include Arrow Global, Vilamoura, Visit Portugal and Visit Algarve, supported by a wider commercial group. SIC Notícias, Expresso, Sport TV and JCDecaux are among the media partners.
The list is long — golf sponsorship decks seldom travel light — but the strategic point is simple enough. A debut event needs reach, local credibility and enough institutional support to survive beyond its opening week.
A Stronger Opening Statement Than a Tee Shot
Professional golf events routinely promise legacy, engagement and community benefit. Those words behave much better when somebody gives them a job.
By placing the adapted clinic inside tournament week, the Portugal Invitational linked its launch to participation rather than treating inclusion as decorative scenery. Els gave the initiative its public face, but also its credibility. His advocacy began at home, long before cameras arrived in Vilamoura.
The first competitive shot will be struck on Friday. The tournament’s most telling contribution may already have landed on the practice green.
