The Valero Golf Society, based at the company's refinery at Pembroke, raised some £2,150 for the cancer charity Tenovus at its first ever charity golf tournament held at Milford Haven Golf Club last month. The funds are to be used to raise awareness of breast cancer, which had a rather colourful knock-on effect on the players - to show their support, all the men wore something pink, the colour associated with breast cancer charities.

Mike Bevan, a control operator at the refinery and secretary of the Valero Golf Society, said: "The competition was a stableford team event, with the best three scores counting on each hole, but with a twist: a pink ball multiplier was used and players with a pink ball had their points doubled, which seemed to confuse even the most experienced among the players. This confusion actually helped to swell the monies raised as many of the teams -doing everything they could to win - bought extra pink balls at £5 a go."

After the tournament, the 16 teams of four golfers retired to the 19th hole for dinner, the winner's presentation and a raffle. The president of the Milford Club, Chris Davies, welcomed the Valero Golf Society and thanked them for their continued support to charities and the local community.

Bevan said: "We are very grateful to all the people who helped to organise this, the first of hopefully many more events to raise money for charity. There are many people to thank, including the golf club, who allowed the competition to be played for free."

Lianne Toye, head of corporate sponsorship and events at Tenovus, said: "We are so grateful to everyone at Valero Energy Ltd for organising the golf tournament in aid of Tenovus. The company raised over £2,000 for the charity, which is fantastic and will make a huge difference to cancer patients and their families.

"At Tenovus, our aims are simple: to help prevent, treat and find a cure for cancer. In doing that we offer support, advice and treatment for cancer patients, information on cancer prevention and funding for research to improve the outcomes for people with cancer. We do this where it is needed most - right at the heart of the community."