There’s a new charity golf tournament coming to Ottawa this summer, but if you’re what they call a weekend hacker, forget it. This tourney is geared toward more devoted disciples of the game.
The new Ottawa Corporate Cup is scheduled to take place Tuesday, Aug. 22 at the Loch March Golf & Country Club in Kanata. It’s limited to 72 participants.
“It’s going to be a tournament like no other,” event chair Elliott Bourgeois, manager of family wealth advisory at chartered public accounting firm Welch LLP, said in an interview.
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“It’s designed to be a competitive corporate golf tournament. It’s really about determining which firm in the city can claim to be the top at golf. Bragging rights are up for grabs, but the community is the real winner.”
The friendly competition is geared toward golfers with a 10-handicap or less. Both men and women are encouraged to join.
“There are some fantastic female golfers in the region that I wished worked for Welch so they could be on my team,” said Bourgeois.
The event has a limit of 18 teams, one for each hole on the course. Each company will partner with a charity and submit a four-person squad. The four-person team is subdivided into two twosomes, each paired with a twosome from another team “to keep people honest.”
The format is a two-person scramble. Scores from each twosome are added together for a team total score.
With 18 teams registered, the tournament will hand out a total of $72,000 to 18 local charities. The top team will award $18,000 to its selected charity. The second-place team will give $12,000 to its non-profit of choice. The team that comes in third donates $6,000 to its beneficiary. All participating charities receive a minimum of $2,000, which means nobody goes home empty-handed.
There’s some serious money to be won, said Bourgeois. “You could have a putt that’s worth thousands of dollars for your respective charity.”
The cost to participate is $5,000 and organizers issue a $4,000 charitable tax receipt immediately upon sign-up to each foursome. The tournament includes lunch, dinner and prizes for both participants and volunteers from the local charities who are invited to set up on their team’s hole and promote their cause.
The Ottawa Community Foundation, led by new president and CEO Michael Maidment, is assisting organizers through the creation of an Ottawa Corporate Cup Foundation Fund.
Bourgeois is joined on the organizing committee by Sam Fuller, business associate at family-owned Thomas Fuller Construction; and Kyle Smendziuk, CEO of WebMarketers. All three men have a team entered from their respective company.
WebMarketers is competing in support of a “super small charity” called Athletes Combating Racism.
There’s potential to make a significant impact for some local non-profit organizations, said Bourgeois. “There are so many small, grassroots charities in Ottawa, most of which are completely volunteer-run. A donation of $2,000 is already significant, an $18,000 contribution would be monumental.”
Also currently registered are TCU Development Corporation, Purpose Investments, Sunbelt Rentals and Halpenny Insurance Brokers.
“I’m excited because I think this kind of initiative has legs to not only be an annual event, but to potentially grow.”
Bourgeois has past experience organizing fundraisers. He was chair of the event committee for The Hip Heals concert benefit for the Ottawa Regional Cancer Foundation last fall and is currently helping out with the RedBlacks Summer Rush fundraiser and networking event taking place Aug. 17. Still, he’s a little nervous to be taking the lead on a new golf tournament.
“When you’re trying to do something new, you want it to be successful,” he explained. “The format should be lots of fun for participants to compete in and the community can really benefit, but it’s a lot of work. The whole committee is going above and beyond to make it happen.”
For more information on the Ottawa Corporate Cup, check out ottawacorporatecup.com. Registration is now open.
