‘Walk’ the course for Youth Unlimited
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Have you taken a shot in the Youth Unlimited/YFC Tillsonburg online golf tournament?
Promoted as an 18-day event starting Aug. 1, the virtual charity golf tournament has been extended an extra week.
Typically held in June at The Bridges at Tillsonburg, it has been the longest-running charity golf tournament in town.
“Maybe five or six weeks ago, Walter Kleer said, ‘It’s too bad you can’t run your tournament this year, why don’t you do something online in the summer just to keep it going and raise some money?’” said Rayburn Lansdell, Youth Unlimited/YFC Tillsonburg satellite director. “I was kind of thinking about it, but wasn’t really pursuing it.”
That conversation, and seeing it done online in other cities, prompted Landsell to organize their 32nd annual Golf Tournament – Online Event (yfctillsonburg.com).
“We’re doing it at The Bridges at Tillsonburg, virtually. The 18 holes we have online are the actual holes at The Bridges. You click on one of the holes and you ‘take a shot.’ You can choose a tee shot ($250) or an approach shot ($150), a chip shot or a putt. Those are different dollar values. You make your donation and the length of your shot will turn some of the hole from white to green (on the website).”
As of Monday, some holes have nearly been completed. Others are still waiting for shots/donations. Every donation converts into yardage, although individual hole yardage does not exactly match each hole at The Bridges.
“We’re hoping to ‘walk’ the course virtually,” said Lansdell. “The course is about 5,500 yards from the blue tees, so ultimately, my goal would be to raise $5,500 in donations.”
They also have ‘cart donations’ for a lesser amount.
Many corporate sponsors also make significant contributions, said Lansdell, noting they have about 20 hole sponsors and a title sponsor.
“I really can’t say enough about the tremendous support we have from our corporate sponsors. And it’s all about caring for the youth of our community and providing services to them, which obviously because of COVID-19 for a few months was very limited,” he said.
“During the springtime most of our work with kids was online. In July, with things starting to open up, we’ve started to do some outdoor things – hikes and bikes, swimming. Frisbee golf down at Coronation Park. And the last three or four weeks we’ve done a Friday night campfire and games. Last night we did an outdoor movie night. So we’re starting to be able to do a little bit more physical outreach and connecting with kids.”
cabbott@postmedia.com
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