The World's First Ever Five-A-Side Golf tournament goes off with a Bang.

The roar of New Zealand artillery cannon marked the start of the World’s first ever Galfcuig/Five-A-Side Golf tournament in Auckland this February.

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One hundred and fifty “golfers” took to the tees and were later entertained at a post-match green tie dinner, auction and hooley.

The Ireland Fund of New Zealand organised the event to raise funds in aid of New Zealand Special Olympics. In the end, it raised $50,000 for the team that will be competing at the Special Olympics in Dublin in June.

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).

How it's played
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.

Galfcuig 2003 was such a success that half the teams are already sold for next year's event.

We wish all the team at Special Olympics New Zealand the very best of luck in Ireland this June.