Players came from Saskatoon and Newfoundland to participate in the third annual Festival of Golf tournament.
Themed after Jimmy Buffet’s Margaritaville, “FOGaritaville” raised $102,000 over two days. Mike Genge, executive director of the Children’s Treatment Centre Foundation of Chatham-Kent says that is thanks to the corporate sponsors.
“We were up 30-40 per cent from last year,” said Genge. That’s all thanks to having really good corporate sponsors ... all these organizations that came in.”
High sponsorships meant prizes could be top-tier. Prize values ranged from $700 to $3,000 and golfers had a 1 in 10 shot at a prize.
Last year’s event featured a $1-million prize for the hole-in-one challenge. This year, smaller prizes were offered for hole-in-one shots including a Harley Davidson motorcycle and a trip to the U.S. Open in St. Andrews.
“These people, they don’t want t-shirts or bags,” said Grenge. “I had one guy hug me because he won a BBQ, and another guy hugging me because he won a set of golf clubs.”
In addition to the event’s theme, each hole on the course was also themed. The most popular? The hole serving margaritas, of course.
“It was a pretty rockin’ hole,” said Genge. “There were a lot of margaritas served.”
The money raised goes into the capital fund for a new Children’s Treatment Centre building.
“The biggest thing is, we’re doing this for the kids,” said Genge. “Once again, it was our best ever tournament.”
How is the foundation going to top this year’s event? Genge said he and his organizing team are going to catch up on some sleep before they start to plan the 2019 event.
“It will always be interesting. And it will always be fun.”
