On Sunday afternoon, a trio of golf balls were launched in succession towards a hole 160 yards away, each one carrying a million-dollar dream.
None of the balls, struck by Million Dollar Hole in One contest finalists Todd Chretien, Broden Williams and Derek Currie, found the bottom of the cup at Fraserglen Golf Course. Chretien came the closest, but his attempt settled 34 feet from the pin.
But that didn’t mean the contest wasn’t a success. Quite the opposite, in fact. The Rotary Club of Abbotsford fundraiser generated in the neighbourhood of $30,000, which will be put toward the Campus of Care being constructed next to Abbotsford Regional Hospital. The local Rotary chapter has committed to raise $200,000 for the project, which includes the Abbotsford Hospice Society, the Canuck Place Children’s Hospice, and Matthew’s House, a respite facility for children with severe disabilities.
The Rotary Club brought back the popular golf fundraiser this year after a three-year absence, and Barry Champion, a member of the organizing committee, said they’ll stage it again in 2012.
“We’d like to give the million dollars away one of these years – we’ve paid the insurance for it,” Champion said with a chuckle.