The Friends of Canterbury Golf Launch Tournament was held last Friday on a stunning afternoon at Harewood Golf Club.
A wide cross section of members, club representatives, and businesses from the golf community turned up to play and support this new fund raising initiative from Canterbury Golf. Hellers Brand Manager Brydon Heller was on hand to welcome players and support the tournament with some of their famous sausages.
The tournament was played in teams of four based on a best 3 out of 4 stableford scores on each hole. There was some notable scoring with Waimak Gorge's John Allan having his first hole-in-one on the Par 3 15th hole at the ripe old age of 69. Canterbury and NZ Rep Kazuma Kobori also shot an impressive nine under par 63 to help his team into the prizes.
The NZI/Templeton Golf Club team of Peter Fridd, DJ Glen, Wayne Huddy, and Collin Berkett topped the scoring with an impressive 131 points. Second went to the E-Megastore team of Greg Shepherd, Mike Worley, Martin Stockley-Smith, and Andy Beck on 127. Then the BDO team of Kazuma Kobori, Warwick Neutze, Chris Bird, and James O'Gorman on 126. They were third on a countback from the B & D Doors team of Mark Rippin, Nick Saunders, Blair Norton, and Douglas Strang on the same score.
After the prize-giving Immediate Past President Steve Kilpatrick led the launch of Friends of Canterbury Golf (FOCG). He spoke about how the initiative was formed based on a conversation between Todd Heller and Kevin Hughes, and the concept of many people being able to make small contributions to support golf development. FOCG will assist Canterbury Golf to continue to provide engaging experiences and opportunities for young people and families as well as raise the profile of golf in Canterbury.
FOCG Ambassadors Sir Bob Charles and Stephen Parkyn spoke about their support for the development of golf in Canterbury. A special presentation was made to Sir Bob, Stephen, and Marion Heller (in the absence of Todd) of the first bag tags #1, #2, and #3 and caps that all FOCG members receive as part of joining. They are pictured here with Canterbury Golf President Mike Rondel.
Canterbury Golf are now open for people to join Friends of Canterbury Golf.
Click here to see more photos of the event and a link to join this great initiative to support golf in Canterbury.
A huge thanks to Hellers for sponsoring the tournament, and to Harewood Golf Club for hosting. Thank you also to The Elmwood Trading Company, and Saunders Robinson Brown for sponsoring prizes.
