Young Leeds golfer raises over £1.5k for breast cancer research in social media sports challenge

A 12-year-old golf star from Leeds has raised over £1,500 for breast cancer research through an innovative sports themed challenge.

Tilly Bordman, from Batley, is donating £10 for every birdie she makes during October, and challenging her thousands of followers to support the cause.

The challenge is part of luxury golf brand G/FORE’s Play for P.I.N.K campaign taking place throughout breast cancer awareness month.

“I was looking on G/FORE checking out new products and saw the Play for P.I.N.K campaign [and] I wanted to join in so dad messaged one of the G/FORE team. They gave us the go ahead and we began filming the series the next day,” Tilly told the Yorkshire Evening Post.

“G/FORE have supported me and I wanted to support them back.”

Tilly’s passion for golf began at an early age and the youngster has built up over 137k followers on Facebook and 54.7k followers on TikTok.

The Leeds lass has been sharing videos from the challenge on social media while kitted in pink to represent breast cancer awareness.

Despite her young age, Tilly is already quite the accomplished golfer with three international titles under her belt in the past year alone.

But for her dad Rob, it’s been a particularly proud moment to see his daughter’s dedication to the Play for P.I.N.K challenge.

Rob said: "It's great to see Tilly take part in the challenge. Tilly has different levels of focus and she showed the same level of focus for the challenge as she does her international events, so it obviously means something to her.

“She has had very good experiences with people supporting her, and so is encouraged to give back at every opportunity she has, whether it be supporting other younger juniors or events like this.”

Set up in 1990 by golfer Laura Lassman, Play for P.I.N.K. has raised over $92 million for the Breast Cancer Research Foundation.

The grassroots non-profit organisation pushes for prevention, immediate diagnosis, new technology, and knowledge within breast cancer research.

So far, Tilly’s challenge has raised over £1,500 to support the cause, a figure which she described as “amazing”.

Playing out of Howley Hall Golf Club in Morley, the 12-year-old found golf at an early age after watching a junior golf documentary.

After watching a junior golf documentary, she became “obsessed” with the sport and the rest is history.

Tilly said: “I love travelling, meeting new friends and playing amazing golf courses on my trips or even local courses, and of course being able to have these amazing opportunities to team up with people like G/FORE and doing donations for people who need help.”

In the future, Tilly aspires to become a pro-golfer, playing the sport around the world and improving junior golf too.

But right now, her focus is on her birdie-themed challenge and ensuring she makes as big of an impact on breast cancer awareness and research as possible.

To support Tilly’s Play for P.I.N.K campaign, donate to her online GoFundMe page.