This page contains information about the Waikato / Bay of Plenty Charity Golf Tournament Project.
Kiwanis Charity Golf Tournament
The project was started by the Kiwanis clubs of Matamata, Morrinsville, Oceanside B.O.P., Te Awamutu and Westside Hamilton. Today it is carried on by the Kiwanis clubs of Matamata, Morrinsville, Te Awamutu and Roto Whenua. These clubs hold a charity golf tournament in about September (previously March) of every year. To date, the tournaments have raised over $150,000 for children and young people in our community.
Every dollar donated goes to children and any expenses incurred for the tournament are paid for by the Kiwanis Clubs of the area.
Our tournament is held at Walton Golf Club each year and has become very popular, with many of the teams coming back each year. Special thanks must go to the Committee and members of the Golf Club; without their support we could never have achieved all that we have since the first tournament in 2007.
The success of this event owes a great deal to our sponsors, who lend their names and financial support to the event, and of course everyone who donates prizes or plays in the tournament also plays a large part. The picture shows the cornucopia of prizes awaiting players in the clubhouse as they return from their rounds.
Come and join us – email kiwanisgolf@hotmail.com
The Golf Tournament Beneficiaries
Beneficiaries are selected in advance of each year's tournament from the applications received by the division. Here's where the monies collected went since the project's inception:
| 2007 | $30,000 |
Hugh Douglas receiving the MicroMaxx
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| 2008 | $22,000 | 15 Eflow nebulisers and an oxygen concentrator for The Cystic Fibrosis Society. |
| 2009 | $14,000 |
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| 2010 | $12,000 | A DCA Vantage analyser and scanner for the Child Health Unit of Waikato Hospital. |
| 2011 | $15,000 | Sports uniforms for Parafed Waikato and B.O.P., and in addition we sent ten young people to the Sir Edmund Hilary Outdoor Pursuits Centre. |
| 2012 | $16,000 | Help in equipping the new Waikato air ambulance with specialist incubators. |
| 2013 | $14,000 | Grief support, Tauranga, plus a cough assist machine for Ward 53 Waikato Hospital and breast pumps to assist young mothers with babies in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit of Waikato Hospital. |
| 2014 | $16,000 |
Jane & Carol from Oceanside handing
the Lancer over to Headway's Dianne. |
| 2015 | $15,000 |
Marathon ironing session
to get logos on pyjamas. We raised more than $15,000 this year. Over the nine years the tournament has been running, this brings the total donated to support children and young people in our area to more than $150,000. |
The Kiwanis Charity Golf Tournament is a fun-filled day for everyone. Players are supplied with morning tea, a sausage halfway around the course and lunch at the finish, and to date we have been able to find a prize for everyone. Great value for only $35 per player!
Kiwanis Charity Golf Day - a Player’s View
What a start to the day! Our golf team had little idea as to where the Waharoa Course was and after a 45 minute tour through the back blocks of the Waikato we came across a multitude of Kiwanis Flags… must be here then! The rain had stopped and the sky was trying to clear, not trying too hard though. We were welcomed onto the course with a cup of coffee and ‘crumpet’, but it was only Sally and Diane from Matamata Kiwanis offering crumpet, so I had a muffin. A quick word to President Mike and other Division Two dignitaries (and Jim Kyle) and it was time to tee off. The course looked in splendid condition and the weather was on the mend, we hoped. The walk around the course was eventful and loads of fun; fortunately I had good players on my (well planned) team, and they carried me and my wayward golf around the course. There were sponsorship signs all over and a great chap in a little golf cart tearing around the course dishing out cold cans of beer. On our fifth fairway we had to take shelter under the trees as ‘Huey’ upstairs decided to send down a deluge, but after ten minutes he’d had enough and kept it clear from then on.
At the nine-hole break we were welcomed with a perfectly burnt sausage, onion and bread, congratulations Don and Mike! We continued on our merry way and completed the 18 holes four under par (eat your heart out Michael Campbell!) but we thought that with all the ‘sharks’ around we might be out of the prizes. We headed into the clubhouse and were promptly fleeced of extra dollars by Kingsley (Westside) selling raffle tickets, all for a good cause. The barbie boys had prepared hamburgers for all so we had to wash them down with an ale or two naturally. After a short wait (two hours, so Kingsley could empty the majority of the wallets in the room with his raffles), it was prize giving. You would not believe the huge pile of prizes available, it looked like Xmas at Farmers. The official part of the day was started with a donation to the Waikato Hospital Anaesthetic Unit of a cheque for $14,000; the doctor on the receiving end was speechless. At the end of prize giving, (my team actually came 4th) everybody in the room was laden down with amazing items from the prize table; that was each member of the 26 teams that entered, 144 players and there were still items on the table.
Overall, this was one of the most successful and well run golf tournaments I’ve been involved with; the players were happy, the golf club was impressed, and the sponsors all got positive exposure. The Kiwanis name was out there in the little gift packs each player received, on the course, on the road, on the tables in the clubrooms and on the badges and clothing of the Kiwanis Members who had selflessly given up a day to help out. The organisers need a huge pat on the back. I know the Kids’ Unit at Waikato Hospital love Kiwanis now, as do the 144 players who will all be back next time.
A great day!
--- Grant Gardiner, Te Awamutu, reporting on the 2007 tournament
Past service projects of Division 2
For a list of completed projects carried out by the division, see here.
