Picture Credit: BrainTree Wellness Centre
A celebrity-filled Christchurch charity golf tournament has raised more than $310,000 for the BrainTree Wellness Center, surpassing all expectations.
On Friday, November 8, the Clearwater golf course hosted the Brothers + Sisters of BrainTree Golfing with the Stars tournament to generate money for the Papanui Center, which provides support to local residents with neurological diseases.
With a net team score of 49.4, Anthony Harper and former Crusaders and All Blacks player Izzy Dagg emerged victorious in the tournament.
Brendan Prendergast, the tournament’s organiser, thinks the competition in one of the biggest charity golfing events in New Zealand.
Thirty-four famous athletes from seven different codes were among the 170 players.
According to Star News, Prendergast said: “This was without doubt the best golf event that we have ever staged.
“Makes all of the hard work of the last 12 months worthwhile”
“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 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.
“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.”
The $8.1 million BrainTree wellness center in Papanui, which opened in July 2022 to serve individuals with multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s disease, dementia, and other neurological illnesses as well as those who have experienced a stroke, was first constructed using the funds raised from the competition.
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.
