Special Olympics Ireland athlete Rita Dunne, from Kells, Co. Meath is jetting out to New Zealand today (Saturday, March 27 2004) with her golfing chaperone Anne Campbell for the second ever Galfcuig Golf competition which takes place in Auckland, New Zealand next week.

Rita Dunne plays in Headford golf club and plays off 24. She started golf at the age of 18 in Ballyliffen in Carndonagh, Co Donegal under the watchful eye of her family, all of whom are involved in the game of golf.

Galfcuig is played by teams of five, hence the name - "galf," Irish for golf, and "cuig," Irish for five. Two teams tee off on each hole with a shotgun (in this case, a cannon start).

Before the start, each team member is allocated one different club, the players retain that club and play all 18 holes in the same order with one ball. That can mean a par three on one-hole results in the first player on the next driving off with a sand wedge and another team member getting out of a bunker with a driver. Only on the green is a putter made available. There are no handicaps involved and teams can be all-men, all-women or mixed. There is only one score, the overall score of the team. After golf, there is a Green Bow Tie dinner and an auction.

The New Zealand Special Olympics team did so well at the Special Olympics World Summer Games last year and established such strong relationships with their counterparts in Ireland, that some of the proceeds of Galfcuig Number Two will go towards funding travel scholarships to allow the exchange of Special Olympics athletes between both countries. This is an innovation which should lead not only to forging even stronger bonds between Ireland and New Zealand, but also providing life enhancing experiences to many Special Olympic athletes in both countries. Rita Dunne and Anne Campbell will return from New Zealand on April 8.