GOOD Friday was a great day for the 144 golfers who descended, once again, upon Hawks Nest Golf Course for the annual Police and Community Charity Golf Day.

Leaden skies did not dull their keen enthusiasm, who assembled on the putting green in rain shooting down at 45 degrees, then zipped off on the carts to begin the four-man Ambrose with the shotgun start at 9am.

Local Lockup Keeper Trent Moffat personally barbecued fresh local mullet burgers to feed the masses, saying, “We are optimistic about the rain, thanks to everyone for coming to what is the last Police and Community event of its kind in NSW.”

“The Police and Community Charity Golf Day has been running since 1988, only missing one year to COVID, making this the 35th anniversary,” Trent explained.

Event organiser Steve Mount told NOTA, “We’re sold out again, twice over, and the majority of contenders are locals.”

“We get so much local support, people realise that every cent goes to the local community, none of it is lost in admin.”

“The money stays local,” he said.

“This is the longest-running Charity Golf Day in town, with more than $300,000 given out over the years.”

“We set ourselves a fundraising minimum goal of $20,000, to be donated to the community each year, and we work hard to achieve it with many months of organising,” Mr Mount said.

Last year’s event dispersed $10,000 for Tea Gardens Public School P&C, $2,500 for Hawks Nest Preschool, $2,500K TGHN Boxing Club, and $5000 for the Westpac Chopper, with this year’s beneficiaries soon to be announced.

The fact that much of the raised funds have gone to schools and preschools means it also has a multiplier effect, helping the local kids get a better start in life, too.

The rain eventually cleared up, rewarding the golfers with a gentle breeze along the fairways, where they encountered special chances like string-shot extensions on the fifth, and a ‘hole-in-one’ chance to win a car on the tenth, which jackpotted.

Special Guest Garth Allen, local born-and-raised, and currently ranked world number 52 on the WR4GD circuit, also took to the course, just before heading out to compete across the state, and later in London.

After the 18-hole slog, all teams fell in at the Clubhouse for lunch and family fun, hoping to win from the amazing cornucopia of raffle prizes, including professional golf bags, a lawnmower, kayak, camping gear, several bottles of wine, and even ‘stay’n’play’ vouchers to courses around the state, including Karuah Golf Course.

The day’s competition was won by Craig Shaw, Anna McHugh, Brad Patmore, Josh Slade, but the real winners, as every year, are the local community.

By Thomas O’KEEFE