The chance to raise some money for a good cause and have some fun shooting a few holes on a warm summer afternoon brought a crowd of people to TS&M Woodlawn Golf Course last Thursday.
The 83 golfers helped raise upwards of $8,000 for the Canadian National Institute for the Blind in the Estevan Lions Club's CNIB 21st Annual Golf Tournament July 9 at TS&M Woodlawn. In appreciation for their philanthropy, the host Lions and CNIB and various sponsors from the community treated the attending golfers to a barbeque, four hole-in-one prize opportunities, contests for longest putts and drives, best team scores and a fun take on 18-holes of golf.
Bob Abernethy, chairman of the golf tournament and a member of the Estevan Lions, said the round even featured one hole where golfers shot blindfolded for a chance to win an award for best short and long drive. He said most people missed the ball completely, although the odd person hit just as well blindfolded as they would do normally.
“It's a novelty thing,” said Abernethy. “People seem to enjoy it.”
Abernethy said the turnout of 83 golfers for the tournament is on the lower end of what they were hoping for, but they did make their goal of raising about $8,000 for the CNIB and can consider the day a success. He said the annual tournament usually sees 80 to 100 participants with a haul of $5,000 to $10,000 for the charity each year.
“I'm satisfied,” he said. “We sort of lucked (out). We've never been rained out. We got flooded out that one year, but we've never been rained out which is sort of remarkable.”
Scott Blackstock, who partnered with his wife Kathy for the round, said they have played the annual golf tournament on a number of occasions. He said they come out for it because it's for a good cause and the tournament is always a fun day of golf.
“It's a charity to be involved with and help out as much as you can,” said Blackstock. “They don't have a lot of tournaments down here like this, so when they do have something like this, we like to get out and support it.”
Abernethy said tackling vision problems is and always has been a main priority of the Lions and this annual golf tournament is one of the Estevan club's major events towards helping that cause. He said it takes of lot of work on behalf of the Lions, as well as their friends and families, to stage this tournament every year and it couldn't be done if it weren't for the support of the business community and the attending golfers.
