It’s back again! The Fairmont and District Lions Club Fun Day of Golf at Coy’s is set for June 18 at the family-run Coy’s Par 3 Golf Course, just outside Fairmont.
This annual golf tournament, put on by the Fairmont Lions, has been on-going since the club’s charter in 2000 and has donated proceeds to a worthy cause in the Columbia Valley.
“We have always chosen a medical background for our donation factor. For the last four to five years we’ve been hand-in-glove with the East Kootenay Regional District Health unit. We donate to one of their wishlist items,” explained Nelda Harker, communications manager and charter member of the Fairmont Lions.
The tournament first began to help raise funds for the Fairmont volunteer fire department, who later became government-funded. The tournament has helped support the Invermere District Hospital and Columbia House in the past as well.
Over the past five to six years, the tournament has helped raised anywhere between $5,200 to $7,200 each year for the Lions Clubs’ causes.
“It is a significant volunteer event. We cannot put enough emphasis on the support of community businesses, from Cranbrook to Invermere and throughout the Valley and the donations that make this possible,” said Harker.
“It’s all done with volunteer work, but the big thing about Coy’s family is that they donated the golf course for nothing, and they do that every year. It’s a big, big factor.”
Though second home-owners and visitors to the Valley also help support the tournament, Harker says that around 80 to 90 per cent of support comes from local participation.
To participate in the tournament, tickets need to be purchased before the event from Coy’s Par 3 Golf Course for either the noon or 2:30 p.m. nine-hole round start and dinner. Tickets are available for just the dinner as well.
“Lots of people have friends or spouses who don’t golf, so they can just come for the dinner,” said Harker.
There will be a male and female winner established after the rounds. Prizes are donated, and are not just awarded for skill, according to Harker.
“We give them all as door prizes too, so everyone has a chance,” she said.
“It’s a fun day, where you don’t need any golfing experience. We send eight people out on each hole with 72 golfers out at noon, and another 72 out at 2:30 p.m. There are balls going in every direction.”
There is a maximum limit of 144 golfers, but according to Harker, they’ve “never had to turn anyone away.”
There will be a roast beef dinner, with volunteers manning the barbecue.
“Last year’s dinner was tremendously successful, Bob Coy and his crew had refurbished the original barn that they had kept their cattle in for years,” said Harker. “Clean, rough wood siding, floors and a stage were added. A DJ is hired, so people can dance. It’s a wonderful place to have it. We used to have to rent huge tents, now we don’t, which means we can save more money to put this on.”
“It’s a real feather in the Coys’ hat, what they do for us. We can’t say enough good things about them,” added Harker.
To learn more about the golf tournament, call Mike Tanguay at 250-409-9516 or email at mstanguay@gmail.com