July 5th, 2016 | NEWS
(BELFAST, UK) More than £10,000 was raised at the inaugural Chaka Travel Charity Golf Day in aid of Sport Changes Life on Friday, July 1st. The event took place on the parkland golf course Belvoir Park, and welcomed over 70 golfers to participate.
The golf event was created by Mark Marais, Managing Director at Chaka Travel, and one of the co-founders of Sport Changes Life. Key sponsors of the event were Rhys Powell from the Mauritius Promotion & Tourism Authority, Charles Rey from Heritage Hotels & Resorts, and Onur Gull from Turkish Airlines.
The day began in the club house, and participants quickly moved on to the practice green before making their way to the tees, where live scoring was provided by VPAR. There was a ‘Beat the Pro’ challenge on the fourth hole featuring Ladies European Longest Drive Champion Rebecca McGinley. William Milne landed nearest the pin, and won a Garmin X40 watch.
On the 15th hole there was a longest drive challenge. For the men, Sheldon Coulter recorded the longest drive of 255 yds and Pam Hurley won the Ladies with an impressive 121 yds; each was awarded a £100 TaylorMade voucher.
The players finished up and returned to the clubhouse for Braam (BBQ), prize-giving, and the auction. Tasting stations showcased Gallopers Beer and Jaw Box Gin, wine was provided by Rickety Bridge Winery, South Africa, and local talent Lucy Robinson provided acoustic music. Following speeches made by Sport Changes Life CEO Gareth Maguire, the night featured a Slam Dunk Challenge and then progressed into a night of lively dancing aided by a musical performance by Impact.
The result of the competition are as follows (from Chaka Travel):
1st prize was won by ‘Global Golf’ which was made up of our friends Louise Larkin, Patrick Kiernan and Jeremy Gray from VPAR – the team won a bottle of Jaw Box Gin, a pair of Brax golf trousers and an Eterna polo shirt from Bogart Menswear.
2nd Prize was won on a countback by Michael Morland’s fourball including himself, Ian McMillan, Sam Beckett and Bryan Kearney. They won a bottle of Jaw Box Gin, a special Chaka Travel glass and a Heritage Resorts trilby hat each.
3rd Prize was won by the ‘Sport Changes Life Team’ made up of Rory Kirk, Alan Barron, Gary Barron and Dave Brady . They each won a bottle of Jaw Box Gin and limited edition Jaw Box mugs.
In addition to the prizes awarded to the golfing winners, there were a number of auction prizes, as follows (from Chaka Travel):
Auction prizes included a Mauritius Holiday for 2 with flights from Turkish Airlines, a stay at Chaka favourite Rickety Bridge Wine Estate, South Africa and a Rory McIlory Golf Experience at Robinhall House (kindly donated by LuxuryLet.com). Other items included signed sporting memorabilia including a Real Madrid signed shirt (kindly donated by Emirates) and a one of a kind ‘Tee Amigos’ collage signed by Rory McIlroy, Graeme McDowell and Darren Clarke (kindly donated by Jonathan Finlay of Finlay Wealth Management).
Overall, the day was a great success for all involved. Says CEO of Sport Changes Life, Gareth Maguire, “I personally would like to thank everyone involved in this fantastic day of fundraising for our Sport Changes Life Foundation. Thanks to the Chaka Travel team and to all of the sponsors of the event as well as the participants who played on the day. Your much needed donations will help change the lives of young people across Island of Ireland and help us raise the aspirations of young people throughout our local communities for years to come.”
Needless to say, all are already looking forward to Chaka Travel Charity Golf Day 2017!
