Golf pros drive for cancer support centre
1,000-ball challenge aids Wellspring Niagara
“Drive for show, but putt for dough” wasn’t something Wellspring Niagara was able to take to the bank Sunday.
Only balls that two golf pros launched with pitching wedges on the driving range at Lookout Point Country Club in Fonthill benefitted the organization that helps cancer patients and their families.
J.J. Alexander, the head pro at Lookout Point, and Chris Poulouski, teaching pro at the RyallKaneff Golf Academy at Royal Niagara in Niagara-on-the-Lake, took part in a 1,000-ball challenge.
Each ball was sponsored with a $5 donation to Wellspring, bringing in a total of $1,000. A dinner and elimination draw held at Lookout Point later in the day was expected to raise an additional $2,500 to $5,000.
It’s the fourth year that Alexander has taken part in the fundraiser and the second in which Poulouski has hit balls alongside him.
“It’s fun to have someone to share this with,” said Alexander, who began hitting balls at 7:30 a.m. and was averaging 125 balls an hour.
Each of the pros hit 1,000 balls, all of them aimed at a red flag designating the hole 125 yards a hole. An ace was worth $500 to the person who sponsored the ball, said Alexander, who edged Poulouski 3-1 in holes-in-one last year and was up by one on Sunday.
Unlike last year, when only bragging rights were on the line, the two friends had a side bet going this time around. Whoever drains the fewest aces in the 1,000-ball challenge has to buy the winner a case of beer.
“The most-expensive one,” Alexander said with a laugh when asked about his favourite brand.
“Because I’m a nice guy, and also because I’m behind, the least expensive,” Poulouski said.
The fundraiser started four years ago at Lookout Point to help Carole Smith, a club member who was battling a rare form of cancer and has since died.
Both of the pros have been touched by cancer. Alexander was diagnosed with thyroid cancer in 2011 and is now in remission, while Poulouski’s father-in-law Rick Kellond, 66, of Dunnville died of cancer in June.
“I’m dedicated today’s event to him,” Poulouski said.
Since its inception the 1,000ball challenge has raised $15,000 for Wellspring Niagara. The money will be used to help the agency replace its current cramped facility on Schmon Parkway in Thorold with a much-larger centre on Regional Road 20 in Fonthill.
Groundbreaking is set for some time in 2017.
It’s fun to have someone to share this with.”
J.J. Alexander, head pro at Lookout Point