It has chosen Pivotal Point Charitable Trust, which supports neurodivergent children, and their families, in the Whakatipu.
And, in association with the Skyline Charity Classic, the golf club and Pivotal Point are selling 1000 $10 raffle tickets, for which 40-plus businesses have stumped up prizes collectively worth $8000-plus.
Tournament convener Simon Hayes had the idea of repurposing the former Skyline Classic, which dates back to 1979, to help refresh it and also have it as a vehicle to support the community.
Last year, the tournament made about $26,000 for the Whakatipu Reforestation Trust, supplemented by $5000 from Altitude Brewing.
Hayes says the plan’s to rotate between environmental, educational and health-related charities.
His aim for this years’s raffle is to try to raise some money from people other than the golfers who are playing this weekend, who’ve already paid for tickets through their entry fee.
Pivotal Point founder and CEO Lisa Leftley says "I feel really humbled we’ve been the charity of choice for this year’s Skyline Charity Classic".
"We are so incredibly honoured."
Funds raised, she adds, "will make such a difference to our community of neurodiverse families" by providing access to therapies and assessments that mightn’t otherwise be affordable.
"We really are making a huge difference to children’s lives, and parents are saying it’s life-changing, literally."
Leftley’s also delighted the classic’s giving profile to a charity which only started three years ago.
She says anyone who’d like to buy a raffle ticket can email raffle@pivotalpoint.org.nz by 5pm tomorrow.
Meanwhile, Hayes says the golf course is looking "in fantastic nick".
Once again, there’s a full field of 120 pairs who’ll play a combined Stableford on Saturday and a better ball Stableford on Sunday.
"The field’s about half local and half non-local."
He hails the contribution, particularly, of original title sponsor Skyline, which has reaffirmed its commitment through to at least the 50th classic in 2028 — it’s regarded as the country’s longest-running single-sponsor golf tournament.
