K Club Course Director Gerard Byrne honoured with the 2006 Texaco Sportstars Special Achievement Awards
DUBLIN, IRELAND – 22 November 2006 - Gerard Byrne, Course Director at The K Club is to be presented with this year's 2006 Texaco Special Achievement Award. The Award is presented to him in recognition of his outstanding work in preparing the popular Kildare venue for the recent playing of the 2006 Ryder Cup.
On the first occasion on which the Ryder Cup was played here, when the eyes of the world were firmly focused on Ireland and on the golfing challenges which The K Club course posed for participants, Gerard Byrne and his ground staff faced a sufficiently daunting challenge to present and maintain the course in top condition.
However, their task was not helped by the exceptionally inclement weather that prevailed throughout the competition, especially in the opening days. Despite the adverse conditions, Gerard and his team faced down wet and windy weather to present the course in a condition that won the unanimous acclaim of the golfers who participated on the US and European teams.
The award will be presented to Gerard at the annual Texaco Sportstars of the Year awards ceremony which takes place in Dublin this evening at which An Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern TD will be guest of honour.
In choosing him as winner of the 2006 Texaco Special Achievement Award, the judges praised the skill which Mr. Byrne and his ground staff bring to their role and the resolve shown by them in the face of extremely difficult conditions.
Introduced in 1970, the Texaco Special Achievement Award is presented annually to those whose contribution to Irish sport is recognised by the judging panel yet who, by virtue of their role within the world of sport, cannot otherwise qualify to win a Texaco Sportstars trophy.
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Editors’ notes
- Texaco (Ireland) Ltd. is an indirect, wholly-owned subsidiary of Chevron Corporation, which markets its fuels under the Texaco brand across Europe, among other markets. Chevron Corporation is one of the world’s leading energy companies. With more than 55,000 employees, Chevron conducts business in approximately 180 countries around the world, producing and transporting crude oil and natural gas, and refining, marketing and distributing fuels and other energy products. Chevron is based in San Ramon, California, USA. More information on Chevron is available at www.chevron.com
- There are approximately 250 Texaco-branded service stations in Ireland and more than 2,000 across Europe. Texaco Ireland also holds an equity stake in four fuel storage facilities in the Republic of Ireland. For more information, visit www.texaco.ie
For any media enquiries about the Texaco Sportstars awards, call Don Hall, Hall PR on 01 660 9377 or email don@hall.ie. For further information on Texaco Ireland, contact Daniel Schraibman on 0044 207 719 4459 or email danielschraibman@chevron.com
