Ottawa Corporate Cup delivers a hole-in-one day for one golfer — and 26 charities

There’s only one champion of the Ottawa Corporate Cup but, since players get to choose which causes they support, the reach from this quickly growing golf tournament is felt far and wide across the charity community. “It’s the only one like it in Ottawa,” One Life Wealth Management president and managing partner Chris Bockstael told OBJ.social after spending the afternoon playing 18 holes at the Loch March Golf and Country Club in Kanata in support of the Perley Health Foundation, where he serves as a board member.  The 64 golfers played on behalf of 26 charities, ranging from small volunteer-run groups to larger organizations. The top team won $2,000 for its charity of choice, with prize amounts gradually decreasing to the lowest amount of $1,090. The total collected by all the charities added up to $50,000. The format is a two-person scramble. Scores from each twosome are added together for a team total score. This year’s Ottawa Corporate Cup was won by Thomas Cavanagh Construction, with a score of 60. In second place was WasteMind Building Solutions (63), followed by private real estate investment firm TCU Development Group (64). Not only was the event unique but so was the experience enjoyed by Gabriel Gauthier, vice president of finance for TCU. He hit a 152-yard hole-in-one at the 16th hole. His colleague Brendan Kuffner caught much of the excitement on his iPhone camera. “I’m going to be celebrating until 2025,” Kuffner, an associate in acquisitions and private equity at TCU, said later.

The Ottawa Corporate Cup was created last year by Elliott Bourgeois as a way of delivering a more competitive experience for amateur golfers while benefiting as many charities as possible.    “I wanted to get a firm-versus-firm thing going, and see what company could field the strongest golfers and get the competitive juices flowing," said Bourgeois, who’s the new senior manager of First Avenue Investment Counsel’s private client group. "It also leaves it open for golfers like myself — with a 10ish handicap — that don’t expect to win the event but can challenge other firms and get side bets going.” The tournament doubled in size this year and saw the number of beneficiaries practically triple. There’s room to grow even further next year, said Bourgeois. “I think that it can, hopefully, become a staple in the Ottawa business golfing community going forward. I think it’s got a lot of legs. I'd love to see a bigger basket of charities being supported, especially volunteer-run charities.”  First Avenue was supporting the Pediatric Oncology Group of Ontario.

Helping Bourgeois to organize the day were 2024 Forty Under 40 award recipient Kyle Smendziuk, CEO of WebMarketers; Sam Fuller, business development manager at Thomas Fuller Construction; and Suzanne Pellerin, associate advisor at RBC Dominion Securities.  “I think, honestly, it’s the only golf tournament that I know of where each team gets to choose their own charity,” said Smendziuk. He’s calculated how much time they volunteered planning the tournament, and figures they raised about $1,000 for every hour they put in. “That makes me feel pretty good.” Law firm Perley-Robertson, Hill & McDougall decided to support the University of Ottawa Heart Institute after one of its partners, Joshua Moon, suffered a stroke last June at the office. He's now a patient of the Heart Institute. He golfed yesterday with Martin St-Onge, partner and head of the firm’s real estate group. “I’m doing really well,” Moon told OBJ.social of his recovery. “I’m blessed.”

Halpenny Insurance was excited to return this year to try and reclaim its championship title but, with more teams participating, faced stiffer competition, said Taylor Massie, vice president of marketing and operations at Halpenny. Still, it was a big win for him; he got to support Bruyère Foundation and spend the day with his dad, company president and CEO Richard Massie. “I always love golfing with my dad. He’s the one who got me into golf, back when I was four years old. It’s been twenty-something years and, now that we’re working together, we might as well represent Halpenny and Bruyère today, together.” Bruyère was one of many charities spotted at one of the holes. The winner of the longest drive won a pair of tickets to Bruyère Foundation’s Black Tie Bingo fundraiser happening on Saturday, Nov. 2.

The day was also a chance for the charities to raise awareness, said Tricia Ross from The Ottawa Cancer Foundation. She met a golfer whose mother has stage-four breast cancer, and was able to talk with him about the support that’s available at the organization's Community Cancer Hub. “It was an opportunity to share what we do,” said Ross. The growing popularity of the Ottawa Corporate Cup means organizers are looking to recruit more volunteers. Zachary Coakeley, principal at CRESA, expressed an interest yesterday in becoming part of the committee. “I’d love to help with something like this,” he said. That’s good news for Bourgeois, who not only started his new job at First Avenue this spring but also welcomed a new baby, Isabelle. “It’s been super challenging,” he said of balancing work and family life with his volunteer efforts with the Ottawa Corporate Cup. “I’m relieved it’s behind me, but seeing everyone here today and knowing that these great causes are getting a little extra support makes it all worth it."

caroline@obj.ca