Golf and Whisky in the Office

Office employees who spend their working hours dreaming of the golf course are set for a welcome interlude to their nine-to-five tedium with the launch of the Glenlivet Office Putting Championships.

The event, organised and sponsored by whisky makers Glenlivet, is encouraging London companies to host their own office tournaments, with winners progressing to the June 8 final.

Imaginative use of office space is encouraged with fax machines, photocopiers, pot plants and telephone directories set to provide interesting obstacles for competitors.

Entrants will be supplied with a kit containing a set of rules, basic equipment, and a bottle of 12-year-old whisky for the final hole.

The event was first held in Chicago two years ago, and has since enjoyed great success in the United States where even Playboy magazine has been among its supporters.

The Glenlivet Office Putting Championships make their London debut this year and the organisers expect around 20,000 office workers to take part. The final will be held at The Ark, in Talgarth Road, Hammersmith - a nine-storey building which won the Office of the Year award in 1998, and will have a differently themed hole on each floor.

Any company can enter, but competing teams asked to make a �20 donation to the Great Ormond Street children's charity.