The Psalm 23 Transition Society’s Million Dollar Charity Hole-In-One Contest ended June 16 with no cash prizes being handed out for sinking an ace, but contestants did go home with other great prizes and bragging rights.
Jay Scott of 108 Mile Ranch was declared the winner after surviving the elimination rounds and then landing his lone shot in the finals closest to the hole at 14 feet, 9 1/4 inches away.
Reg Haggard and Gabe Pukacz were the other two finalists who joined Scott teeing off for the $1 million prize on hole No. 10 at a distance of 170 yards. Haggard landed his ball 22 feet, 4 3/4 inches from the hole, and Pukacz’s shot ended up off the green and did not count.
The trio were the top 3 shooters in the semifinals, which also included John McNeil, Char Wahnschaff, Jordan Purcha, Bryant Hollins, Al Sidor, Joe Batalha and Billie Scott, who shot a hole-in-one in the preliminary rounds.
Mike Boyd also shot a hole-in-one in the preliminaries, but he did not make it past the quarter-finals. An ace in the preliminaries did not qualify for cash.
The event saw 63 people compete in the quarter-finals after qualifying in the top 10 of daily preliminaries, which ran June 7-15.
The quarter-finalists had a shot at winning $10,000 for an ace and semifinalists were shooting for $100,000. Only the top 3 finalists were eligible to win $1 million and they just had one shot apiece.
Psalm 23 executive director Marvin Declare says he is happy with the response to the contest, which raised $6,942 for the society.
“It’s really all about building relationships.”
The tournament final round managed to go rain-free, but skies opened up during the awards presentation. More than $8,000 worth of donated prizes were given away throughout the contest.
“It was a great day until the rains came,” says Declare.
The 10-day competition experienced several days with rain, hail and thunderstorms.
The contest also featured the Business Cup Challenge and Team Ainsworth finished first, aided by a hole-in-one by Batalha. Team Psalm 23 was a close second and Bell-E-Acres Recreation was third.
On Seniors Day, Spence Henderson was the top shooter and B. Scott was the winner of the Ladies Day challenge, with her hole-in-one.
The Youth Day winner was Chance Bourassa.
