Stars pitch in to help charity golf tournament raise $310k

A star-studded charity golf tournament in Christchurch has exceeded expectations by raising more than $310,000 for the BrainTree Wellness Centre.

The Brothers + Sisters of BrainTree Golfing with the Stars tournament was held on Friday, November 8, at Clearwater golf course to raise funds for the Papanui centre which supports people living in the community with neurological conditions.

Former Crusaders and All Blacks star Izzy Dagg and team Anthony Harper won the tournament with a net team score of 49.4.

Organiser Brendan Prendergast believes the tournament must now rank as one of New Zealand’s largest charity golf events.

Among the 170 players were 34 well-known sporting identities from seven different codes.

Golfing legend Sir Bob Charles was on his home course for the tournament. Charles has been an avid supporter of the fundraising event since it was first held four years ago.

Said Prendergast: "This was without doubt the best golf event that we have ever staged.

"All the 240 people involved in this event as either players, stars, volunteers, sponsors and auction bidders came out to support BrainTree and what was achieved in terms of both the funds raised and golfing experience is astonishing."

The money raised initially went into building the $8.1 million BrainTree wellness centre in Papanui, which opened in July 2022 to support people living with multiple sclerosis, Parkinson's disease, dementia and other neurological conditions as well as those who have suffered a stroke.

Prendergast said the funds are now used to support services.

It was the fourth tournament and the most successful so far.

Significantly more money was raised than last year ($200,000) or the two tournaments before that ($120,000 and $53,000 from the inaugural event).

"The event is hugely important to us given that we do not receive any central government funding and instead rely on events such as our golf tournament to keep the organisation running. It’s an amazing result and one that makes all of the hard work of the last 12 months worthwhile,” Prendergast said.

"I suspect that we may have delivered a result that will not only be very hard to beat, but will also go down in BrainTree’s history as one of our greatest achievements. We have a provisional net profit number of a whopping $311, 682, with potentially more to come."

Ex-golf professional Greg Turner played in the tournament along with All Blacks legend Christian Cullen, Olympic high jump gold medallist Hamish Kerr and professional basketballer Tom Abercrombie.

Prendergast said Kiwi musician Jordan Luck still had enough energy after playing a round to deliver an impromptu performance of The Exponents' tracks, Victoria and Why Does Love Do This to Me, at the post-match function.

Some players went close to winning the four hole-in-one prizes including a $75,000 Mitre 10 home makeover, a $75,000 Hyundai Sante Fe, a $100,000 cash prize and a $100,000 Huntsman boat, but they remained elusive.

Prendergast has been inundated with requests from people wanting to play in next year’s event, which he says will likely sell-out out again, given there was a waiting list of 16 teams wanting to participate last week.

“It’s going to be difficult for us to match or better what we raised this year. But, trust me, we will give it a crack,” he says.