Stars set to tee off at Clearwater for charity tournament

Golfing legend Sir Bob Charles will be back on his home course in Christchurch next week for the annual BrainTree golf tournament.

Charles has been an avid supporter of the BrainTree Brothers +Sisters Golfing with the Stars tournament since its inauguration four years ago.

He is one of the 34 sporting identities from seven codes who will be among 170 people taking part in the tournament at the Clearwater Golf Club on Friday, November 8.

Charles said he is definitely winding down his golfing commitments after the tournament.

"I’m 88 now and while I am playing in events for the next two Fridays in a row, this year I’m not being auctioned off for a group to play golf with me.

"I may play another event in the future, we will see. As they say, it is never over, until it is over."

Charles is hoping for some warm weather at Clearwater. “I don’t like playing in the cold and have given up playing in winter. My threshold now is that it has to be above 15 deg C, even better if it is warmer than that,” he says.

He will line up with former professional golfer Greg Turner and Andy Sams, a professional at Waimairi Beach golf club, and Rachel Eder.

Tournament organiser Brendan Prendergast said it will be a privilege to host Charles at the tournament.

“The response to the BrainTree tournament is always phenomenal – again we have a waiting list of both stars and players wanting to be part of the tournament where all funds raised go to BrainTree, the first wellness centre of its kind in the country to support people with neurological conditions.”

Prendergast is confident of raising more than $200,000 from the event.

“Last year we raised $188,000 which was more than three times the $53,000 raised at our inaugural tournament four years ago,” he says.

Funds from the initial tournaments went into building the trust's $8.1 million centre which opened on Langdons Rd, Papanui, in July 2022. But the money raised now will go into BrainTree’s operations and the services for people with neurological conditions including Parkinson’s, Multiple Sclerosis, Dementia and Stroke.

Former Olympic rower Eric Murray returns with the kudos of playing the shot of the tournament last year, landing his tee shot within 25cm of a hole-in-one.

This year there are four hole-in-one prizes - a $75,000 Mitre 10 home makeover, a $75,000 Hyundai Sante Fe, a $100,000 Stabicraft boat, and a $100,000 cash hole.

One of the country’s best-ever swimmers, Moss Burmester, will return for the tournament. Two sporting giants, Olympic high jump gold medallist Hamish Kerr (1.98m) and professional basketballer Tom Abercrombie (1.99m), are confirmed starters too. They will be in good company with national representative high jumpers Marcus Wolton and Keeley O’Hagan, a finalist in the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, regular volunteers at the event.

Other former top sporting talents will include rugby’s Willi Heinz (last year’s winner), Andy Ellis, Christian Cullen, Brendan Laney, Ben Blair, Colin Slade, Israel Dagg, Graeme Bachop, Rob Penney, Casey Laulala, Alana Bremner and Amy du Plessis, plus former cricketers Nathan Astle, Stephen Fleming, Chris Harris, Mark Greatbatch, Mark Richardson, Matt Henry and Paul McEwan and footballers Alan Stroud and Wynton Rufer.

To keep it interesting the field includes media personalities Peter Williams, Chris Bond (Bondy) and rock star Jordan Luck.

Prendergast, one of the founding BrainTree board members, says thousands of people are now part of the BrainTree journey, from contributing financially to giving in kind as building contractors or suppliers or supporting and volunteering at fundraising events. He is grateful to all those supporting the golf tournament.