Golfers tee off for charity at the Asia Conference Charity Golf Day.
The very first event of Asia Conference 2010—the Charity Golf Day on Tuesday, May 25—attracted 98 participants, togged up in red shirts and white caps assembling at Sentosa Golf Club. This hot but beautiful day saw big names in the marketplace and the church world playing golf for a good cause.
Organized by the Golf Fellowship, the charity event was meant to raise funds for City Harvest Community Services Association. The fellowship was set up in 2007 and regularly organizes golfing days for members to meet and network, as well as indulge in their hole-y passion.
Corinne Ng, 48, one of the organizers of the event, says, “This is the first time we’ve organized a charity event, and so far, we have 12 corporate sponsors as well as a number of other sponsors. We’re also very happy to be able to host this event at the Tanjong Golf Course, which is one of the most prestigious golf courses in Singapore.”
“We want to thank all of our sponsors for the event. We also have a raffle draw and a charity auction, and one of the auction items is a golf bag signed by Dr. Yonggi Cho, with the words ‘Blessing and Happiness’ written on it.”
The mood at the club was festive, with the bright red shirts providing a backdrop for the friendly competition. At lunchtime, the conversations revolved around handicaps, holes and recent golfing history. Terence Tan, 44, manager, said, “I occasionally participate in the Golf Fellowship’s events, and I’m definitely excited about the Golf Day.”
Marketing manager, Damien Goh, 44, was ready for today’s game. “I’ve played at this course before, and it’s one of the best courses in Singapore. It’s very challenging to play here.”
The Sentosa Golf Club is one of Singapore’s most well known golf clubs, being the home of the US$5 million Barclays Singapore Open, and golfing legends such as Ernie Els and Vijay Singh walking its greens before.
The early birds at the event had a special surprise—they managed to catch a glimpse of Yonggi Cho, who was at the club playing golf with his family and Kong Hee earlier in the day, gamely posed for a group photo.
“I felt so sad because I missed the photo-taking! I came out of the changing room, and he had just left.” said Tan.
Collin Chiew, 42, managing director for a multinational company, said, “We managed to meet Dr. Cho up close today. We’ve read his books, seen him from afar and heard his sermons, so it’s quite an experience to see him in person. He really is one of the modern giants of faith. It’s like having a superstar in our midst.”
Other interesting touches were the novelty competitions held at various holes. A golfer who scores a hole-in-one at the second hole wins a BMW 323i station wagon, while the one with the most comic candid photo taken of him wins the “Alamak Shot” prize. Despite their best efforts on the course, the golfers claimed one prize, but could not win the other—the BMW was left wanting an owner.
During the event, tired golfers were cared for by two physiotherapists from Urbanrehab, a Singapore-based therapy services company. Daisy Wong, 60, was one of the beneficiary before tee-off. “They did some exercises that really helped to relieve my golfers’ elbow. They also gave me some good advice on stretching before my game.”
After a well-played game, golfers retired to the Sentosa Pavilion for their dinner. With 12 tables set up, the Pavilion is located next to the Serapong Course. Guest of honor, Dr. Wang Kai Yuen, former Member of Parliament and Chairman of the Government Parliamentary Committee for Education, presented the prizes to the winners of the day’s event. The auction and raffle draw were held during the dinner.
CHCSA is the beneficiary of the Charity Golf Day. Established in March 1996, it champions active social care in Singapore. The social services organization has eight full-time staff and 889 volunteers, who provided 19,163 services to 14,227 unique individuals in 2009, helping children, the elderly, intellectually-disadvantaged, hearing-impaired and the terminally-ill, among others.
The event raised S$73,512.60 for CHCSA altogether. The golf bag signed by Dr. Cho fetched twice its retail price of S$299 after a spate of furious bidding.
  |
| CN PHOTOS: Gabriel Seow |
Sheryl Lim, a social worker at CHCSA was grateful to the Golf Fellowship committee for organizing the event. “We’d like to thank the City Harvest Golf Fellowship Committee for its efforts in organizing the event, as well as the sponsors and participants. We’d also like to thank our seven volunteers for helping out through the day.”
Peter Ngion, 50, another organizer of the Golf Day, said, “The response was overwhelming, we had almost 100 percent attendance, and we were lucky enough to have many sponsors. I’m glad everyone enjoyed themselves today.”
