Golf tournament to support helicopter

Boyd Warren felt cold and dazed. It was a day on Mount Owen that he would never forget.

Warren had slipt on ice near Sunrise Peak in bad weather and made a big fall down the slope.

An Airforce Iroquois helicopter arrived to help him first, followed by a transfer to Nelson Hospital with the Nelson Marlborough Rescue Helicopter.

‘‘[I was] bloody sore, bloody cold, bloody scared, bloody thank- ful,’’ Warren said.

The incident took place 23 years ago, but he still keenly jumped at the opportunity to support the helicopter during the Charity Golf Tournament.

The inaugural Nelson Marlborough Rescue Helicopter Charity Golf Tournament took place at the Nelson Golf Club yesterday, with 88 people placed in 22 teams ready to put a ball in one of the 18 holes.

The event was sponsored by Summit Real Estate, Fairfax Media and Nelson Golf Club.

Summit Real Estate Marketing Manager Sinead Ogilvie said the event went really well.

‘‘We started off with heaps of sunshine, which was a welcome sight to everybody, everyone is having an amazing time.

‘‘Crew members from the Nelson Marlborough Rescue Helicopter came down and all-round it’s been one of those days where you know everyone is here for the right reasons, to give back to the chopper and have a good time.’’

Ogilvie said $7500 had been raised prior to the auction kicking off. The total value of the items sold through auction was $7400 and Ogilvie said they hoped to raise a total of $12,000 at the end of the event.

She said every cent of the raised funds would go towards the running cost of the helicopter.

A fundraising effort of $12,000 would roughly cover one crew member for a month plus running cost.

‘‘It’s not buying a piece of expensive equipment, not giving them anything extra, it’s literally the day to day cost of going out and saving lives.’’