Almost 150 golfers turned out Saturday for the first tournament of the season, the RBC Big Hole Charity Golf Tournament.
Held at the Williams Lake Golf and Tennis Club, the tournament was a fundraiser for the Boys and Girls Club of Williams Lake and District (BGCWLD) and was organized by Crystal Wells, the BGCWLD program co-ordinator and her husband, Cody Wells.
“The feedback was awesome,” Crystal said. “We had 149 golfers which is the most this course has seen.”
In total, $8,700 was raised for the BGCWLD.
At the tournament, participants had the choice of entering into one of three divisions: a competitive division, a mixed division and a fun division.
In the competitive division it was Morgan Day, Jordan Siegmueller, Jared Golightly and Mark Berg firing to top honours.
Cody, Crystal, Gord Simms and Kevin Guenther took down the mixed division and Troy Walters, Todd Byer, Kaleb Boyle and Shane Boyle nabbed the fun division.
Adding some fun to the tournament, aside from holes the size of dinner plates, were some quirky rules.
“There were a couple of different rules in the fun division,” Crystal said. “You could throw a ball, so I think that made it really fun for some of the newer golfers. We had a ton of non members out and people who don’t really golf so that was really good to see.”
There was also a fundraising ball toss off the restaurant deck for a chance to win a TV.
Everyone who played in the tournament also received lunch and dinner at the Fox’s Den Restaurant, and got a prize.
“The support of the community was huge,” Crystal said. “It was incredible. We had more than 200 prizes so I started combining them.”
Also at the tournament, the BGCWLD used some informational material to help educate players on what they do within the community.
“We had questions on certain holes, like how many youth we serviced in 2015, things like that, just to create awareness, which I think helped,” she said.
In 2015 the BGCWLD provided service to 469 youth. They offer harm reduction, an after school program, a summer program and operate a drop-in youth centre.
Crystal added a special thanks is in order to everyone who helped out with the tournament.
“Thanks to everyone in the community who helped support it and all the golfers who came out,” she said.
