2011 FUNDRAISING GOLF DAY

The annual fundraising golf day was held at the Mowbray Golf Club on Friday 4 November 2011. There was a nearly full field of thirty four 4Balls and the competition got underway at 12h00 with a shotgun start.

The weather was near perfect and the early morning light rain shower left the course and greens, which were in great condition, fresh and inviting.

The competition was again a 4Ball Stableford Alliance with the two best scores to count. Prizes were awarded down to the 20th place and it was remarkable and satisfying that very few points separated the top four winning scores.

Each player again received a well stocked goody bag on registration and comment has it that this goody bag was again voted as the best one on the local golfing circuit. We thank our many donors who support the M'dala Trust so generously year after year.

The fundraising raffle was a surefire success and as all 600 tickets were sold at R100 each the profit was more than significant. The Trustees had worked hard during the year to secure the eleven excellent and valuable prizes, which had a total value of over R94,000. In future another 200 tickets will be printed to meet the demand as the Trustees are certain that another set of valuable and exciting prizes will be secured.

The auction was not as successful as it was noticeable that bidding was not as generous and enthusiastic as in previous years. Nonetheless some worthwhile sales were made. A particularly fine Larry Norton giglee of a leopard, an excellent Mana Pools oil on canvas by Guy Hammond, an oil on canvas of a baobab tree by Crystal Wynn, a pastel painting by O Barnet and four Cape golf club reciprocity voucher packs sold well. There were some packs of quality wines that were bought by the discerning wine folk.

The auction was superbly complimented by a masterful Nick Price initiative – while at the annual Augusta US Masters dinner he happened to mention to one of his colleagues, Charles Coody, that he was collecting memorabilia to donate to our golf day. Charles Coody, who was the 1979 winner of the US Masters, was seemingly impressed with the effort and the cause, and called for a Masters poster which he then sent around the dinner table for all those present to autograph. The result, according to Nick, was a rare and quite unique item, but Nick’s dilemma was whether it would fetch a fair price at our auction. The decision eventually was that it would not, so Nick sold it in the US and shortly before the golf day sent over a bank draft for US$10,000. This translated to R72,000, which was a huge injection of funds and totally unanticipated. We thank Nick for initiative, regular and always reliable annual support to the M’dala Trust.

Mark McNulty sent over six autographed pin flags, but they were withdrawn from the auction because bids were simply too low. Currently the pin flags are being placed on some selected international auction sites and proceeds of these sales will be credited to the golf day. We are grateful to Mark for his annual support.

Ralph Immerman donated a Riana Vorster framed oil on canvas, which was also withdrawn from the auction as bid offers did not do the artist or the donor adequate credit. The painting is being offered for auction to various art galleries and again proceeds will be credited to the golf day. Without the amounts that should be received for the pin flags and the Riana Vorster painting the Trust realised a profit of R194,645.05, which is a really fantastic achievement and testimony to the many months of hard work and effort put in by the Trustees. Our hope is that the magic R200,000.00 figure will eventually be reached.

The Mowbray Golf Club proved again that it is a superb venue and that their staff complement are top line performers. All arrangements at the Club were efficient and professional, which contributed enormously to the overall success and enjoyment of the events of the day.

There is no doubt that the fundraising golf day was another huge M’dala Trust success. The Trustees thank all those who supported the event so generously by financial donation or by product donation, and we express particular thanks to those individuals who assisted with the marketing and the management on golf day. And, of course, we are grateful to the players who came to spend the day with us and give us their valuable support.

The 2012 golf day is being scheduled for Friday 2 November at the Mowbray Golf Club, so it is suggested that the date be pencilled in now so that the event is not missed. We will have another excellent event.