Rotary prepares to tee up for 33rd Am-Am
Oban Rotary Club is planning the annual charity golf Am-Am competition on Sunday June 3.
This competition – this year is the 33rd – is keenly anticipated by golfers both locally and from as far afield as Dunblane, Crieff, Glasgow and Stirling.
The competition is the main fundraising event in the Rotary Club calendar and, since 1985, more than £175,000 has been distributed to support local activities.
There are many regular events supported, including the Highlands and Islands Music and Dance Festival – held in Oban and which runs from today (Thursday May 3) until Sunday – the Laurinburg school exchange, and many primary and high school outdoor activity trips.
This year, and for the next two years, the club has entered into an arrangement with North Argyll Carers to support the provision of respite care for young carers in the community.
The club policy leans towards youth and sporting activities, with junior golf, rugby, shinty, football and tennis coaching, and equipment having all benefited on many occasions.
These funds raised at the Am-Am event are available to support a wide range of activities and requests for funding support are received regularly.
The competition is dependent on the co-operation of the members of Glencruitten Golf Club, who make their facilities available, and the very generous contributions offered by many local businesses which sponsor the event.
In addition, a raffle is held on the day in aid of Mary’s Meals, which supports children throughout the world. All of the members of Oban Rotary Club turn out to organise and run the event, and as a result the running costs are minimal, meaning all funds raised go straight into the charity account. The Am-Am came about as a result of a friendship between Oban Rotarian Terry Macnair, and Roy and Shirley Erskine, who are the grandparents of Andy and Jamie Murray, the internationally renowned tennis players.
This led to an invitation from Dunblane Rotary to send a team of four to their inaugural Am-Am and, on their return, it was decided that Oban Rotary could do likewise, and the Oban Am-Am was born.
From these modest beginnings, Oban Rotary’s golf Am-Am has gone from strength to strength, having raised more than £175,000 for local causes.
More than 100 sponsors and nearly 200 players are expected for this year’s event.
‘We raised just short of £11,000 in 2016,’ said Rotary senior vicepresident Iain MacIntyre.
‘If we raise between £10,000 and £11,000 this year, I will be delighted.
‘The Am-Am accounts for about 60 to 70 per cent of our total funds raised each year.
‘The Rotary Club motto is “Service Before Self”, and there are a great number of worthy local causes out there. We are spreading our money quite wide, so we manage to cover a lot of projects that bigger sponsors can’t. For many causes, especially for children, small amounts such as £50 or £300 is a lot of money, so we try to make funds available. That’s what this is all about.’
The funds raised at the event are dispersed to a variety of local causes, with an emphasis on youth-oriented activities, such as school trips, junior golf development, shinty, football and rugby coaching and the likes of the Oban High School Pipe Band.
In addition, Oban Rotary continues to support the local senior citizens’ annual Christmas lunch.
Funds from the Am-Am have enabled Rotary to make a contribution towards the acquisition of a therapeutic chair for Oban Hospice, support the renewal of the tennis courts at Atlantis, and provide continued support for the Highlands and Islands Music and Dance Festival.
Am-Am funds also helped to fund the purchase of a specialised bicycle to aid the mobility of a disabled teenager, contributed to the acquisition of a second carriage for the Argyll RDA Driving Group in Benderloch, as well as helping the Healthy Options and Green Shoots initiatives in Oban.
‘Coverage in The Oban Times has brought to everybody’s attention – the players and the sponsors – that this money is being raised on a voluntary basis for local good causes within the Oban and Lorn area, and, as a result, the event has doubled in size over the past few years,’ Mr MacIntyre said.
‘The feedback we get every year is great and it’s always a very enjoyable day. It’s become part of the culture of the town.’
According to this year’s convener, David Mudie: ‘Because The Oban
Times publicises the work that we do, we get requests just about every week from people or organisations with needs.
‘We can’t cover them all, but we are able to support a variety of worthy causes.’
The event also enjoys the support of local youngsters, who give their time for ball spotting.