The Neil Kish Memorial Golf Tournament remains an important event for the Estevan Fire Rescue Service.
Eighty-seven golfers entered this year’s tournament, which raises money for the Estevan Firefighters Association.
“This is a good way for us, as a group to have a fun day together with people in the community who come out and join us, and obviously it’s in memory of Neil Kish, so we celebrate that, too,” said deputy fire Chief Rick Davies.
The winning team was Cameron Spenst, Jeremy MacKenzie, Clark Driedger and Mike LaCoste. Their score was -17 in the Texas scramble format.
There were numerous hole prizes, and golfers could also purchase marsh mellows to use for their tee shot on the first hole. Davies said the marsh mellow promotion was popular.
“The person with the longest drive of a marshmellow won a prize, too,” said Davies.
A final figure for the amount of money raised has not been announced. Proceeds from this year’s tournament will be used to purchase a new quad for the fire department, which will help with their scene response.
Captain Kyle Luc said the fire department will be making a presentation to the firefighters association in the next week or two.
The tournament has typically had around 90 golfers each year, Luc said, and it has been growing in terms of the prizes received.
It is not only a good social event for the firefighters, but it’s also a good opportunity for the firefighters to interact with the public.
Among the other highlights of the day was the firefighters’ 50/50 draw, which happened during a supper at the golf course’s clubhouse. Regan Sands was the winner this year, and took home $20,000.
“It was nice to see the winner of the 50/50 was present at the golf course when we drew the name as well,” said Luc.
The 50/50 draw sold out earlier that morning, and the firefighters were excited when they sold that final ticket.
The tournament is held in memory of Neil Kish, who was not only a well-known member of the community, but a valuable member of the fire department. He died in March 2015 at the age of 39.
“Neil was very important,” said Davies. “He was very well liked and very well respected here at the fire hall. He had a lot of knowledge that he liked to share. He was a very good leader, and … he was good friends with everybody and always willing to help everybody out.”
