Local golfers support local swimming club

Sixty-eight golfers took to the Gunnedah course last Sunday to support the Gunnedah swimming club, as Swim Gunnedah held its annual charity golf day.

About $8000 was raised, including $1276 in donations back from the Gunnedah Golf Club in green fees.

The number of participants was notably bigger than last year, with the 2024 event containing rain on the day before.

Many of this year’s participants were returning golfers from previous years, and there were also some new golfers while a couple of teams included Swimming Gunnedah members.

Swimming Gunnedah president Marcus Shorter said all funds would go towards running the local swimming club, purely to enable the children to continue to swim.

Mr Shorter said the local golfers were always very generous, while this year’s event was successful due to the town’s generosity and willingness to support Swimming Gunnedah.

“We can’t continue to do what we do without important fundraisers like this each year,” he said.

“We have been a club for 70 years this year and we still have people supporting us after all that time.

“It’s incredible and very much what Gunnedah is all about.”

There were prizes for nearest-the-pins and longest drives, while there were also raffles and a 100 club. Due to the number of prizes donated, those with a placing from first to 14th were able to claim a prize.

First prize in the raffle was a golf bag, and second prize was a set of putters while third prize was a hair voucher.

A new concept was $500 for a hole-in-one on the second hole, with participants enjoying the incentive although none of them could achieve the illustrious feat.

Mr Shorter said a highlight was Swimming Gunnedah’s youngsters who helped sell 100 club numbers and raffle tickets as well as helping with the barbecue.

“It’s always great to see that we have members turn up again and again on their weekend and help out,” he said.

Mr Shorter also thanked Gunnedah golf pro Tom Major for his support, advice and help on the day.

As for the golf, the winners of the 4-person Ambrose were Zak Kelly, Isaac Reeves, Jim Jewiss and Joshua Dowse with 50 5/8 while the Newton team of Simon, Leonie, Olivia and Maddison was second with 54 5/8.

Kurt Bartlett and Jess Bartlett won the straight drives while nearest-the-pin winners were Dave Grosser, Kylie Patterson, Leonie Newton, Farran Lamb (twice) and Richard Turner.