Harrington golf sale raises €70k for charity

Padraig Harrington signed autographs for nearly seven hours and helped raise an incredible €70,000 for third world charity GOAL on Saturday. (UPDATE - Now close to €80,000 according to the charity)

Ireland's three time major winner held a charity sale of his unwanted golf equipment and memorabilia at Harvey Nichols department store at the Dundrum Town Centre in Dublin.

And it proved to be a massive success as the public snapped up over 100 lob wedges, more than 20 sets of clubs and dozens of drivers as well as nearly 100 putters, armfuls of cashmere sweaters and dozens of pairs of golf shoes.

Limited edition prints of the courses where he won his three major titles were also sold while fans made donations to charity in exchange for having their picture taken with the world No 5 and his trophies. According to GOAL:

A framed and signed picture of the competitors who played in the annual ‘Grand Slam of Golf’ event for Major winners in Bermuda in 2007 fetched €2,000, while a number of Harrington’s golf bags which have been personally used by him in professional tournaments went for over €500.

One lucky punter also took home the putter that the three-time major winner used to win the Irish Open in Adare Manor in 2007 and donated over €500 to GOAL in the process.

“On behalf of everyone at GOAL, I would like to thank Padraig, his wife Caroline and the rest of his team for helping to raise so much money for the poorest of the poor,” said GOAL CEO, John O’Shea.

“Everyone who made a contribution can be assured that this money will go towards alleviating the suffering of some of the most vulnerable people in the Developing World.”