Melbourne turned on some beautiful, sunny weather for the inaugural Villa Maria Catholic Homes (VMCH) Charity Golf Day on October 19.

The day was a huge success, with 128 players across 32 teams enjoying perfect golfing conditions for the Ambrose tournament at Southern Golf Club in Keysborough.

Almost $80,000 was raised for a dementia-specific lifestyle program; ensuring the physical, social, cultural and mental wellbeing of seniors living with dementia in our care.

After enjoying brunch and a welcome by VMCH CEO Greg Pullen, players teed off at 11.45am and enjoyed just over five hours on the greens, fuelled by tasty treats from a food and drink cart along the way.

A team including representatives from Par Leasing, FMG Engineering and Athelstan won first place honours (pictured below), with an impressive score of 55.8. In addition to winning the perpetual and individual trophies, each team member received a $50 VISA gift card, Calumo picnic rug and an umbrella. The team from RTG (Reflex Technology Group) came in second with a score of 56.5, while Buxton Constructions followed with a score of 57.1.

Players gathered at the 19th hole following an action-packed day to enjoy some well-earned drinks and canapés and receive their awards, including ‘Nearest to the Pin’ and ‘Longest Drive’. Raffle and door prize winners were also announced, taking home fantastic donated prizes including return flights to Coolangatta and accommodation at Mariner Views – donated by VMCH and Geoff Crawford.

VMCH CEO Greg Pullen described the amount of funds raised as “astounding”.

“Villa Maria and Catholic Homes have each enjoyed successful golf days prior to our merge earlier this year, so to have the continued support from our corporate friends in our inaugural VMCH Charity Golf Day was fantastic,” he said.

“Without their involvement – either through sponsorship, donation of prizes or player registration – the day simply wouldn’t happen. I’d particularly like to thank our Platinum Sponsor, Epicor, who have a long history of supporting our fundraising events and ensuring our work to assist the most vulnerable people in society continues on. The golf day is a fine example of how corporate donors – like Epicor – and industry supporters give back so generously to their communities.”

Sponsors of the 2015 Villa Maria Catholic Homes Charity Golf Day:

Platinum Sponsor:

Major Sponsors:

Hole Sponsors:
AESM (Australian Essential Services Maintenance), Acsess Health, Beck Wiggins Stokes Recruitment, Buxton Constructions, Calumo, CCI (Catholic Church Insurance), Choices Flooring, Crosier Scott Architects, Fryda Dorne and Associates, Gallagher Bassett Services, Hamlan Homes, iCareHealth, Icon Global Solutions, NGA Human Resources, Norden Conversions, One Fell Swoop, Ricoh, Summit Fleet Leasing, Tekonocorp, Tena, Total Facility Maintenance, V-Arc.

Donations (Professional Services, Gifts, Prizes):
Becks Wiggins Stokes, Buxton Constructions, Calumo, Care Marketing, Catholic Church Insurance, Epicor, Geoff Crawford – VMCH, Grant Thornton, HESTA, Im-Press Promotions Burwood, Leader Newspapers, Lifestyle Portraits, Microsoft, Norden Conversions, Russell Kennedy, Southern Golf Club, Upstream Solutions, V-Arc, Wendy Davis – VMCH.