Tuesday, December 11, 2018 – (Stuart, FL) – Big Brothers Big Sisters of Palm Beach and Martin Counties hosted their 15th annual Santa Claus Open Golf Tournament this past Friday, December 6th at the Stuart Yacht and Country Club. The tournament was proudly presented by Publix Super Market Charities and Treasure Coast Estate Buyers.
Pictured left to right: Dan Capen of the Stuart Jet Center, Doug Campora, Incoming Board Chairman Ken Ringe of Bayview Construction, and Matt Launay
The tournament kicked off Thursday evening with a pre- tournament cocktail party in the dining room at the Yacht and Country Club. Golfers and their guests were treated to a pasta bar and carving station while they placed their bids on popular auction items such as foursomes from Sailfish Point, Boca West, and Banyan Creek to name a few. The atmosphere became more competitive during the live auction, with highly anticipated items like an in-season foursome at Trump National in Palm Beach Gardens and a diamond pendant from International Diamond Center.
At 9:00 AM Friday, 64 golfers teed off in support of mentoring in Palm Beach and Martin Counties. Throughout the course, golfers experienced additional challenges and games to make the day more interesting. In addition to three closest to the pin and a longest drive challenge, Shawn LaRusso of Florida Charity Golf Events provided his signature golf ball “cannon” on the 18th hole for golfers to ‘fire’ their ball directly to the green. Treasure Coast Toyota stole the show with their hole–in-one challenges on four holes, with the grand prize being a brand new Camry or Rav4. No one brought home the gold, but they had a quite a few close calls – better luck next time!
The tournament raised over $30,000 for the Big Brothers Big Sisters of Palm Beach and Martin Counties mentoring programs! The funds will be used to the fulfill the mission of providing children facing adversity with strong and enduring, professionally supported on-to-one relationships that change their lives for the better, forever. The golfers also collected and donated a large collection of toys to be distributed to the program participants at the Martin County holiday celebration on Saturday, December 22nd.