History

The Soup for the Soul Charity Golf Tournament was first run in 1999. It started from humble beginnings and was a great day filled with a lot of fun memories. It ran for 2 years, and then due to a lack of volunteers was postponed until 2004. The tournament was repeated each year and has become a huge success - with about 144 golfers in attendance and raising a substantial amount of money for the cause!

Monday August 29, 2011
Yet another wonderful day! It threatened a little rain (which was strange, because we specifically requested good weather). All groups started out with a shot gun start which kept everyone moving. The golf was fantastic! The orchards lining the fields were brimming with apples, the grass was green, the trees were in full leaf and the golfers were decked in wild plumage.

After the golf - and some good natured ribbing, everyone sat down for the traditional meal - and again was great. The buffet was even bigger this year and the roast beef was perfect. A lot of people it seems, come back every year for the food alone!

A very successful day and year. Planning has already begun for next year - we will be trying to make it an even bigger event then the previous ones! We are well on our way. Watch in the mail for your invitation and photographs. See you next August!

Monday August 30, 2010
A perfect day for golfers - Bright sun, a slight breeze and an almost full roster of golfers of varying degrees of skill.

With registration, came a complimentary snack to maintain the golfer?s energy level through eighteen holes. A typical shotgun start, best ball format was used, and the ever helpful and organized staff and volunteers at the Greens on Renton ushered the foursomes to their appropriate starting holes!

Play progressed smoothly and the beverage cart was strategically placed to ensure everyone was hydrated as the day proved to be very warm.

At the conclusion of the tournament, the golfers were treated to a most wonderful meal, great desserts and terrific draw prizes.

Most importantly everyone present came away with the satisfying feeling that our participation at this tournament helped to raise funds for the Soup for the Soul program at St. Andrew?s United Church in Brantford which provide two meals a week for those in need.

The 2006-2009 Tournaments
Every year our tournament hase grown larger and better. More money has been raised for this wonderful charity, and a great day is had by all who attend. It is the passion of the people that make this this event so successful. People come. People play. People make it work! We wish to extend a warm thank you to everyone who has taken part. We may be in need of booking all 27 holes here soon if things continue the way they are going!

The 2005 Tournament
We are currently waiting for submissions on the 2005 tournament history and a full report will be posted here soon. We are also waiting on the launch of the new photoalbum page which will feature images of the various tournaments through the years.

The 2004 Tournament

In 2004 the tournament was reborn with amazing success. The surrounding community showed its support by making the tournament the largest to date. There were over 40 golfers participating in the games, and a great prize table thanks in part to the generous support of business from across the neighbouring cities.

In 2004, the day could not have been better selected! The weather was a wonderful sunny 27ºC with a slight refreshing breeze putting everyone in a wonderful mood. The Greens at Renton were wonderful hosts, who were up late the previous evening putting the final touches on the manicured 27 holes.

The rules were set as standard Tournament Shotgun Scramble, however we forwent the shotgun start and allowed the groups to tee off individually as they arrived early in the day. The rules of best ball (scramble, Texas scramble) were in effect, with every member of the team to have at least two tee shots, allowing everyone to participate.

Starting at about 11:00, groups were registered and signed in with the first tee times starting shortly thereafter. There were groups with participants from many different areas - many as far away as Sarnia, Ontario (or Camlachie for the locals). Many people came in twosomes or singles and had a lot of laughs through the day with people they were matched up with in their foursome.

Throughout the day our volunteers and photographer toured the course, talking with the golfers and helping out along the way - sometimes offering sagely advice. Many of the golfers seemed to think they were professionals and asked to have their swing analyzed by the local club pro.

By the end of the day however, the playing field was leveled and everyone came out a winner. We could not have asked for a nicer day.

All of the sponsors of the day were noted on both in the clubhouse, and also on individual signs by the hole they sponsored. In this way, local businesses were able to both support the charity, and have a little recognition for their business.

This year we are hoping to obtain an overall tournament sponsor we well as the individual hole sponsorships. If you own or are part of a business that might consider sponsoring a hole this year, please let us know! This will allow us to brand the entire tournament around the sponsor's brand and unify the tournament (besides, we need an official sponsor if the CBC or FOX sports are to pick us up for network air). Incase anyone official is reading, we are willing to talk syndication.

After the main round, the next stop for the participants was the skill testing putting skills competition. The infernal mouse-hole board was brought out and placed on the practice green. There were complaints that the mouse-holes were actually too small for a golf ball to pass through, but this was proven incorrect by our winner who obtained a score of 45 points.

This year we hope to add a few more skill competition games to the docket; a chipping competition, a driving range competition, a tee-tossing event, and perhaps a cart race (we are still in negotiations with our legal department and the course greens-keepers on the eligibility of this last event).

Following the day's activities, there was a wonderful roast beef dinner which was enjoyed by all. The prize table was also a fabulous success - much thanks to all the sponsors who donated their time, money and prizes.

Our keynote speaker for the evening following the dinner, Wayne, spent a lot of time entertaining the crowd and wowed them with an enlightening speech about the proper technique of driving, and who the rightful champions of the day were (or perhaps should have been). Hopefully we are able to coax him to speak at this year's event.

Everyone went away full, happy and tired after a long day. We raised several thousand dollars for the charity which was put to very good use the following year. Plans were immediately made to replay the tournament the next year, with several good-natured vendettas in the works.

Thanks to everyone who supported this amazing event! We couldn't have done it without you and we look forward to see you in August for this year's tournament - it's going to be bigger and better then ever! Please take a minute and register now if you have not already for this year!