Long before the final golfer holed out at the first annual Festival of Golf today, plans for the second event were being finalized.
“It’s been an incredible day for a tremendous cause,” said Mike Genge, executive director of the Children’s Treatment Centre Foundation that sponsored the event. “While I’ve been out on the course I’ve had golfers ask if they get right of first refusal next year.”
The all-inclusive Los Vegas-themed event was designed to be a unique experience and it lived up to its billing, Genge said.
“At first, I don’t think people were able to get their head around playing 18 holes of golf and having some form of entertainment on each hole,” he said. “We spoiled them with food, refreshments and entertainment.”
One golfer went home with a brand new Ford Mustang from Victory Ford while other prizes included a western Caribbean Cruise, a Neil Young autographed guitar, trips to Chicago, Toronto, New York and Orlando, Windsor Spitfires box seats, a table at next year’s Festival of Giving and a show and night’s stay at Caesar’s Windsor.
Hole-in-one prizes include a $50,000 vehicle and a trip for four people to all four of the major golf tournaments (The British Open, the U.S. Open, the Masters and the PGA Championship) and a trip to Las Vegas.
Genge said a preliminary estimate is that the event will raise more than $50,000 to help the Children’s Treatment Centres mission of delivering specialized therapy and innovative programs to help children reach their unique potential.
He praised Willow Ridge Golf Course for its work making the event a success.
“The entire crew from ownership through golf and catering staff did everything they could,” he said.
Genge said some 100 volunteers were involved during the event.
“It was like a cruise ship,” he said. “We had 144 golfers, 50 volunteers from the Treatment Centre and 50 from Willow Ridge.”
He said the event benefitted from the Festival of Giving brand that has raised more than $2.5 million.
“People get the premise of what we’re doing and know that we deliver good value and fun,” he said.
The event concluded with a variety of musical acts.
