Golf enthusiasts called for annual Hospiscare event

Golf enthusiasts will be taking to the green in July to play in one of Devon’s premier golf tournaments while raising money for Hospiscare.

More than 200 people have already signed up to take part in the Hospiscare Golf Day, being held on Thursday, July 11, where they will have the chance to take home the Marnie Burgoyne Memorial Trophy.

Now in its ninth year, the much-loved amateur tournament has raised approximately £80,000 and the event’s organisers are hoping that this amount will rise to £100,000 when they celebrate its tenth anniversary in 2014.

Held annually at the Exeter Golf and Country Club on Topsham Road, teams of four players complete a game of golf with chances to win prizes throughout the day, followed by a two-course carvery.  

The tournament is held each year in memory of Marnie Burgoyne; one of Hospiscare’s first fundraiser’s who died at the Exeter hospice in 2000. 

Husband David said that the coveted trophy was indirectly donated by Marnie herself, despite the fact she never knew the silverware had been named after her.

He said: “Marnie owned a very historic quilt which she’d inherited. After she died I didn’t know what to do with it, so I took it to the auctioneers and found out it was worth several hundred pounds.

“I said ‘wouldn’t it be good if Marnie provided the money to buy a trophy?’. So the trophy was delivered with the money that had been raised by the sale of the quilt.”

The golf day has become one of the highlights of the Hospiscare calendar smoothly run with the support and hard work of the Golf Day Committee, as well as sponsors Exeter Estate Agents, Burgoynes.

Committee Chairman Norma Foster said she was hoping for better weather this year after last year‘s event was almost a washout.

She said: “The golf committee are praying for better weather than 2012 when the skies opened. It was the wettest day since the event began and we were grateful to all the teams that played manfully on for such a worthy cause.”

Norma lost her husband to cancer 26 years ago and she said that the golf day gave people the opportunity to play for their loved one while giving something back to Hospiscare.

She said: “Nearly everybody who gets involved with the day knows somebody or has lost somebody. That’s why it’s such a worthwhile thing to be involved in because you’re almost perpetuating the life of the person who’s gone just by putting something into it.”

Sponsoring the charity which helped his mother Marnie, has been a part of John Burgoynes’ estate agency for the last few years.

With £100 from each house sale during a three month period going to Hospiscare, John said that he was happy to support an event with ‘a real sense of warmth and support for the people involved’.

He said: “It’s a really lovely atmosphere; people seem to come back year after year irrespective of how the terrible weather’s been.

“You see how much people enjoy the golf and the whole atmosphere of the event, and there’s a willingness to be here supporting such an important charity.

“So many people are in need of this service and I think that’s recognised even if you haven’t been affected directly, probably indirectly you’re aware of someone who has benefitted from Hospiscare.

“We’re not surprised that the teams fill and there’s a waiting list of people wanting to be involved. It runs like clockwork every year and the range of prizes that are on offer is another big attraction.”

Committee members John & Janet Milford have worked tirelessly to secure the vast amount of prizes which have been donated to the event. Previous prizes have included tickets for football and rugby matches, rounds of golf courtesy of many Devon and Cornwall Golf Clubs, meals, wine and golf clothing.

The committee also offers people the opportunity to get involved with the tournament even if they can’t play golf.

Norma said: “We invite people to be involved in hole sponsorship and we would be so grateful if we could get sponsorship on all 18 holes. The more hole sponsorship, prizes and raffle prizes donated the more funds we can donate to Hospiscare.”

To enter a team in the Hospiscare Golf Day or to donate a prize or sponsor a hole email s.healey@hospiscare.co.uk or call 01392 688020.