TADA North charity golf tourney a success

GRAVENHURST, ONT. – A full complement of dealers and vendors hit the links on one of the country’s finest golf courses Thursday for the Trillium North annual charity golf tournament.

Held by the Trillium Automobile Dealers’ Association at Muskoka Bay golf club in Ontario’s Muskoka region, the annual best-ball scramble tournament raised thousands of dollars for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF).

Though inclement weather threatened to put a damper on the day, the rain clouds mostly remained at bay while occasional sunny periods punctuated a great day of golf for all participants.

Despite offering a very tough test, the course appeared as no match for at least two teams that tied with impressive scores of 58. A coin toss determined the winning team of Bill Bratt, Kevin Persaud and Craig Riley.

All groups had the chance to pay for a little help when playing the first hole from Canadian long-drive champ Carson Way. Way, whose stratospheric drives could be purchased in an effort to raise additional funds for JDRF, will be competing in the long drive world championship in Nevada next month.

Between Way’s drives and the putting contest, the TADA raised more than $3,000.

A live auction followed dinner in the cliff-top clubhouse and featured items like a golf membership at the Georgian Bay Club, autographed Mike Tyson boxing gloves, a handcarved putter and a framed autographed picture of Toronto Maple Leaf greats Wendel Clark and Doug Gilmour.

Box seats to a 2014 Toronto-Montreal hockey game sold for $1,200 while a week-long vacation at a Lake Tahoe condominium went for $1,900.

“It was another great year,” the TADA’s Todd Bourgon said to the crowd before dinner. “It seems to get better every year.”