Nearly 130 players took to the fairways at the Innisfail Golf Club under sunny skies Thursday for the 2011 Innisfail Rotary 25th Anniversary Golf Tournament.
“It was gorgeous,” Club president Jean Barclay said of the weather. “Lucky us.”
Proceeds from the tournament will go towards the children’s area at the new Innisfail Library, as well as Rotary youth projects locally and abroad, and the group’s international projects in Uganda.
A final fundraising tally unavailable as of press time.
The tournament began as a celebrity tournament in 1987, changed to a pro-am for a few years, and then opened to the public. It is one of the club’s four main fundraisers for the year, joining the yearly raffle, friendship dinner, and winefest. Teams played under a 3, 2, 1 Stableford format, where golfers scored points depending on the number of strokes taken on a given hole.
Tournament chairman Bill Bugbee said this year’s tournament went quite well.
“We had a great day and lots of golfers,” he said. “We can’t complain.”
This year’s tournament champions were the foursome of Larry Verbitsky, Gerry Miller, Adam Hrdlicka and Clark Jantzie, who finished up their round with a score of 95. The other teams in the top five were R. Harrison, J. Appleyard, D. Mather and B. Marshall with a score of 91; Lyle Duncalfe, Richard Ducharme, Fred Sloan and Bob Storrs with a score of 91; Reynie Lutz, Doug Quartly, Glen Ray and Denis Hendrick with a score of 90; and Len Adair, Brent Spilak, Keith Ible and Nels Damgaard with a score of 89.
Barclay said the club received “excellent” support from local businesses and individuals. Players could also take part in a number of fundraising events throughout the tournament including a putting contest, an on-the-green raffle and a blind honey pot.
The tournament concluded with a steak dinner and awards ceremony.
With over 1.2 million members worldwide, and 56 members locally, Rotary International encourages business leaders and professionals to provide humanitarian service and spread goodwill both locally and abroad. The Innisfail Rotary Club has fundraised for a number of projects, including the STARS helipad at the Innisfail Hospital, the community bus and handi-van, Dr. Greg Ritson-Bennett Park, and the community cookhouse at Centennial Park.
“Hopefully we spread peace and understanding throughout the world through the work that gets done,” Barclay said.
