Rawene Hospital fundraiser ready to roll
HOKIANGA. Following an absence of two years, the Hospital Golf Fun Day is set to return to the Rawene Golf Club next month.
The community tournament is set to go ahead on Saturday, March 2, where once again, whanau and friends of the club are invited along for a fun day of golf playing in teams of four.
It is the sixth time the tournament has been held since its establishment in 2011, when a handful of Rawene Golf Club stalwarts came up with an idea of staging a day to introduce people to the game of golf and encourage new members by promoting the Join a Club concept.
The very first tournament in 2011 featured seven teams, a field of 28 participants hacking their way around the 9-hole course at Rawene and concluded with a $250 donation being made to Rawene Hospital.
In 2016, the last time the event was held, more than 20 teams made up of nearly 100 competitors (mostly non-golfers) from all over the province turned up wanting to give it a go, and saw $4500 donated to Rawene Hospital. Overall, an estimated $10,000 of valuable equipment has been purchased for the hospital from the proceeds of the tournament over the years.
This year will be the first time the event has been held since 2016 thanks to the weather making for some very short seasons for the only course in the Hokianga, which has frustrated local hackers through the forcing of cancellations of this and various other annual club fixtures. The 2018/19 summer, however, has proved a very good one and the Rawene club committee hopes are the pattern will continue and allow this year’s fun day to go ahead.
Organisers emphasised this event would not be possible without the kind generosity of the local club members and the wider Hokianga community for some fantastic donations. Whanau and local businesses have generously donated towards prizes and raffles, while volunteers have freely given their time to make the day enjoyable. Organisers reminded that without this support the tournament could not be possible.
The day — which is again being supported by Hokianga Health — begins with registration at 9am followed by a 10am shotgun start. While teams are to have four players, a team will be found for anyone who does not belong to one, and golf gear will be available. There will also be multidraws and quick-fire raffles, a delicious hangi meal and a sausage sizzle on the course.
Organisers invited any other businesses/ individuals in the wider community able to sponsor an item for this day to contact Dixon Titore by phone (09) 405-7418 or (022) 680-8503 and/ or via email, dixonandsophie@outlook.com. KAITAIA WOMEN/ VETS. The Kaitaia women golfers are getting back into the swing of things after their summer break by running the final round of the Summer Cup tournament last Wednesday.
From a field of good scores, Brenda Muller was top with 46 points, followed by Mary Ann Ward 38, then Noeleen Robson 36. However, with the best six scores added for each player to find the overall winner, congratulations went to Noeleen Robson with 225 points as the winner of the Summer Cup. She was followed by Lesley Masters 208, then Mary Ann Ward 190.
The women hold their official opening day tomorrow, Wednesday. It was also noted the Kaitaia vets started playing yesterday, with both divisions looking forward to another great year.
HOUHORA. Results from the domestic Sunday competition at Houhora Golf Club over the weekend saw Cabby Johnson place first with 63 nett from Frank Hurinui 71, and Shane Godinet 72. In other news, work has begun on installing ‘pop-up’ sprinklers throughout the course. HGC president Bruce Hall made special mention of the generous grant from Pub Charity which made this possible, and said the watering system will add a new dimension to the club and greatly enhance the greens.