Participation Support Services (PSS) held its annual golf tournament at Burford Golf Links on Thursday, September 12, 2024.
Around 60 players arrived at the club ready and eager to participate in the 18-hole scramble style tournament.
Doug Hunt, Director of Marketing, Fundraising and Volunteers for PSS, said the tournament is held every year in an effort to raise essential funds and awareness for the local organization.
“We’re really here to help raise awareness for PSS, as well as to raise money that can directly go to the residents and their needs,” he said. “We get government funding, but there’s quite a bit of stuff that it doesn’t cover like recreational programs or if we need to pay for a new van. It’s really the stuff we all take for granted like the fun leisure activities that help with their quality of life.”
After the 11:30 a.m. shotgun start, the 15 teams made their way through the course, laughing and cheering each other along the way.
Throughout the game, many headed into the clubhouse to grab refreshments and lunch, while others took breaks to mingle before heading out to finish the tournament.
During the event, golfers had the opportunity to further support the organization by partaking in the raffle for one of the many golf related prizes, or to test their skills at the “Happy Gilmore” putting contest with local realtors, Joshua Wall and Jeff Meiusi.
Later in the afternoon, some of the Participation House residents came out to cheer the players on for the contest.
As the tournament came to an end and golfers wrapped up their games, many headed into the clubhouse to grab refreshments, dinner and listen to the award presentations.
Prizes were given out for men’s closest to the pin and women’s closest to the pin, as well as men and women’s most accurate drive.
Overall, Hunt said the day was all about having fun and supporting a good cause.
“I’m happy with how many people came out today, it’s an average turnout and we can always do better, but I always say quality compared to quantity,” he said. “Most of the people here today are our friends throughout the year so it’s nice having them come out and continue to support us. We really call this the ‘funnest little tournament around’ because the whole idea is to just have a lot of fun and support a good cause, and that’s exactly what we’re doing.”
Kimberly De Jong’s reporting is funded by the Canadian government through its Local Journalism Initiative.The funding allows her to report rural and agricultural stories from Blandford-Blenheim and Brant County. Reach her at kimberly.dejong@brantbeacon.ca.
