General News
13 February, 2020
Large field shines for Samuel
LAST Saturday’s Shine for Samuel day ended with a “fairytale finish” on what was the biggest staging of the event to date.
LAST Saturday’s Shine for Samuel day ended with a “fairytale finish” on what was the biggest staging of the event to date.
One hundred and twenty golfers took to the Camperdown Golf Club for the occasion which raises money for the Stillbirth Foundation.
Co-ordinators Darren and Samantha Fox were thrilled the support they received on what was a great day.
“We still had the full field but we also had the community support with friends and family and with obviously the prizes and stuff donated by businesses as well,” Samantha said.
“It was up there again with everything we could possibly imagine.”
The pair did not have the final figures on the amount raised when the Camperdown Chronicle went to print.
However by their own estimates they believe close to $8000 would have been raised, taking grand total close to $34,000.
“Before this event I think we had raised over $26,000 since we did the first event in 2016,” Samantha said.
“We’re still waiting on numbers but it should be around $8000 depending on those final costs which would take it up to about $34,000.
“It’s pretty remarkable and it’s a lot of work but when you look at what you’re building on each year and to now say you’re looking somewhere in the vicinity of $34,000 that’s gone towards a charity and research, it’s a pretty good effort.”
Samantha said this year’s event also highlighted just how much the awareness of stillbirth had grown within the local community.
“I think apart from the dollar value that has come out of it, the awareness within the local community and even the greater community has grown,” Samantha said.
“It’s also giving people that have had the tragedy of stillbirth in their lives the ability to be a part of a day which gives them the opportunity to talk about it freely, which they don’t get day-to-day.
“That’s something we noticed this year that’s a bit more paramount.”
The day again had a fitting result, with former Camperdown local Chris White’s team beating a team featuring his father Allan and brother Jay on a countback.
Chris played with Dave Holscher, Adam McCosh and Matt Conheady, with the quartet recording a score of 56 3/8 points to narrowly win from Allan, Jay, Stephen Sinnott and Murray Lucas who recorded 56 6/8 points.
Darren said it was good to have strong participation for the golf but added the day’s play was not the main focus of the event.
“There were some pretty good teams in amongst the field and there was a pretty good mixture (of players) again,” he said.
“There was a few that had not played before that played this year and that’s the same (as other years). You’ve probably got a bit of a core there with golfers being local and travellers that are playing.
“But then there is still that group, maybe 25 per cent of people that are not necessarily regulars and they’re getting in and having a go which is still part of what we want the day to be about; it’s not just about golf.
“We want the participation to not just be about prizes and money and stuff like that, it’s about people enjoying a day and being able to at least feel free on that day to talk about stillbirth and how it might have affected them.”
The Fox family said they would now take the time to reflect on the success of the event before starting to consider how to run next year’s day and were thankful for the helping hands received from a large team of volunteers this time around.
“We’re probably looking at gauging that commitment from those people as well because we don’t do it all our own, there’s a big team that goes into it,” Samantha said.
“And we’ll see what we can do differently and whether we need to change it up. We’re certainly looking at that, if we need to change it up and if next year is completely different, it might be.”
Results: 1st Chris White, Dave Holscher, Adam McCosh and Matt Conheady 56⅜, 2nd Algie White, Steve Sinnott, Justin White and Murray Lucas 56¾, 3rd Ian Urquhart, Nick Welsh, Greg Welsh and Greg McGlade, 4th Mel Fox, Andrea Hughes, Sam Walsh and Jamie Horan.
Nearest the pins: David Thomas and Leanne McMahon (2nd), David Absolom (9th), Nick Welsh and Maree Finlay (15th) and Andrew Keane and Margaret White (17th); best approach shots Chris
White (7th) and Phil Beasley (16th).
Longest putt: Chris Farmer (9th) and Gerard Gill (18th).
Straightest drive: Greg Welsh, longest drive: David Absolom and Marg White.