Garden City celebrity golf classic planned

Press, 2 August 1977, Page 32

Garden City celebrity golf classic planned

By

R. T. BRITTENDEN

After seven highly successful years, the Christchurch Garden City Golf Classic was replaced at Russley last year by the New Zealand Airlines Classic as the major event on the Christchurch golf programme, and the probability is that it will not reappear.

But the splendid record of fund-raising for charity over this period by the Garden City golf organisation will not decline. This year there is to be another major tournament —* ‘The Press” Garden City Celebrity Golf Classic at Harewood on November 17 and 18. "The Press” will be the principal sponsor of the tournament, which will involve a round on each of Harewood’s courses by teams of four playing a best-ball stroke competition over the 36 holes. The teams will have ; celebrity playing with three others, and with the planned entry of 120 teams, nearly 500 golfers will be involved. A team which has a morning start on the old course on the Thursday will play on the new course on the Friday afternoon, with reciprocal arrangements for those which begin on the new course.

It is hoped that about $lO,OOO will be raised by the tournament: the charity to which the money will be devoted has yet to be selected.

The tournament director, Mr Bert Edwards — who has held this office throughout the lifetime of the Garden City Classic operations — said yesterday that if the new tournament was the

success it was expected to I be, the old Garden City' Classic was very much ini ' e “T^ d get a reasonable date, and the players. would needi to have a Garden City Cias-. sic of the former type, we| would have to have prize money of $50,000.” he said. “That would mean raising something like $70,000 to run the tournament, which , would be extremely difficult.! If this works, as we are sure it will, it will be here o Sta, The Press,” which spon-| sored the pro-am event before each of the Garden City Classic tournaments, will contribute $2OOO to the new event. The organisers are planning to sell the 36 holes at $l5O each, sponsors each having three chosen players in the tournament, as well as advertising rights. Sponsorship of the car park and clubhouse has already been sold, and sponsors have been found already for 16 holes. The principal prize will be a trip for four to Kerikeri, with accommodation, by courtesy of Mount Cook Airlines. Ltd. . The celebrities to be invited cover many sports, the news media, the clergy and local members of Parliament. Radio and television personalities include Reon Murtha, Dick Allard, Bill

Southgate and Rodney Bryant. All Blacks to be invited include Lyn Davis, Fergie McCormick, Bob Duff, Derek Arnold, Wayne Cottrell and Doug Bruce—and there will be other rugby personalities as well. The Canterbury members of the gold medal-winning Olympic hockey team are on the list; cricketers include Bevan Congdon, Graham Dowling. Dick Motz, Maurice (Ryan, Bruce Irving, Mark Burgess, Terry Jarvis and Graham Vivian. The professionals of the Christchurch golf clubs will be asked to play, and from golf itself, the include the three Street brothers, Bruce Taylor, Simon Robinson, Geoff Saunders. Dennis Beggs and Ross Murray. Women golfers — who will receive four additional handicap strokes—include Cushla Sullivan, Sue Bishop, Vai Cullen, Sue Boag, Sue Hutchins and Judith Parkes. Representatives of racing and trotting to be invited include John Noble and George Humphries. Bishop Pyatt, Bishop Ashby and Canon Bob. Lowe are on the list, which is still far from complete. There is also a prospect of some top professional golfers being available.