Good cause, fresh air and many stars

It’s high noon. Right at 12:00 hrs. the fourth edition of the VELUX EHF FINAL4 Charity Golf at the Golf & Country Club Velderhof, supported by adidas, was teed off. Sport celebrities, handball legends, EHF officials, auction winners and passionate golfers started their round for the 18 holes on the fringes of the VELUX EHF FINAL4 - with perfect weather conditions.

“It’s my first time here, so I hope I am good enough facing those opponents,” said Grit Jurack, the first German to win the Women’s EHF Champions League. Jurack started in the same flight with the wives of EHF President Jean Brihault and EHF Secretary General Michael Wiederer.

Others are much more experienced on the Golf & Country Club Velderhof - like the official ambassador of the charity event, Daniel Stephan, first German World Handball Player of the Year. Traditionally Scandinavian handball stars are also close to perfection in golf - proved by Lars Christiansen, Staffan Olsson and Nicolaj Jacobsen.

The Danish Jacobsen, who will become coach of Rhein-Neckar Löwen from next season on, started with the best of all handicaps among the former handball players, a fantastic 5,5. Christiansen is not that far away by a 9,9 - and in contrast to last year, the Danish record national team player did not impress mostly by his clothes.

“New year, new match, new trousers,” was his reply, why he did not wear again his purple trousers he had worn the year before. “This year I want to impress by my performance as a golf player - I am playing to win,” Christiansen said, who will for the first time see his former club SG Flensburg-Handewitt at the VELUX EHF FINAL4.

Three times world champion Staffan Olsson this year misses his regular handball and golf counterpart Ola Lindgren, with whom he coaches the Swedish national team. “Last year he was among the winners, so he stayed at home this time to give others the chance,” Olsson said.

Among the players were much more big names in handball like German 1978 world champion Kurt Klühspies, the former national team player Frank von Behren, Kay-Sven Hähner, manager of German women’s record champion HC Leipzig, or officials like Wiederer, Brihault or Gerd Butzeck, managing director of the Forum Club Handball. And even football was represented by former German Bundesliga player Holger Fach.

All started at high noon for a good cause in 16 flights, playing for the VELUX EHF FINAL4 Charity Partner German Cancer Aid.

“This golf tournament has become an essential part of the VELUX EHF FINAL4 by now and an essential event to support the German Cancer Aid. Handball is rooted in every day life and it is important for all of us, who are healthy to help those, who are not. It is pleasure to help - mainly as you can help a good cause in fresh air,” EHF President Jean Brihault said, adding: “Fortunately for some of us, we do not have 20.000 spectators here on the golf course like we will have in the LANXESS arena tomorrow. But I fully have focused on this charity event and trained very hard in the past three weeks.”

The Charity Golf tournament was officially started by the first tee of players of three of the four participating teams: Niklas Ekberg represented THW Kiel, Lars Kaufmann from SG Flensburg-Handewitt, Michael Robin from FC Barcelona and Tamas Mocsai from Veszprem missed the official start.

The final ranking will be known later this afternoon. The winner of the tournament, which is supported by adidas, gets a personal golf club fitting at the TaylorMade Center of Excellence in Herzogenaurach, Germany, including a brand new TaylorMade iron set and many other prizes.