At a company level, Bayleys Canterbury is a major supporter of the Christchurch City Mission. We support two of their programmes – their foodbank and their Back to School programme. This initiative provides whānau with stationery packs, school uniforms and shoes so that their tamariki can start school and feel confident alongside their peers. The long-term vision for the Commercial and Industrial team is two-fold – raise substantial sums to support The Christchurch City Mission but also establish this golf day as an annual event, allowing us to connect with our valued clients.

Planning of the event commenced back in May of this year and involved the entire Commercial and Industrial team in one way, shape or form. Our team really pulled together to authentically demonstrate the “Altogether Better” ethos of the Bayleys brand. The team sourced or donated auction items, asked their clients to play in the tournament, cooked on the BBQ, supervised hole activations and photographed the day.

William Wallace, GM of Commercial across the South Island was MC for the day and, together with Rachel Dovey, our Director of Agency across Canterbury & Wānaka, was very busy delivering drinks to our thirsty competitors.

The Christchurch Golf Club was the wonderful setting for the tournament – we had 26 teams (just over 100 people) take to the greens to tee off at midday with a shotgun start. A fresh easterly kept the pace on the teams, and it meant that the timings of the day were easily adhered to. In addition to the high standard of golf, there were activities on several holes which provided much fun and laughter.

Winners of each activation were as follows:

• Nearest to the Pin – Lily Fletcher, Calder Stewart
• Longest Left-Handed Drive – Dougie McDonald, Zeal
• Longest Drive – Jason Steed, Driving Miss Anna
• Election Poll – Nick Turner, Patterson Hospitality
• Corn Hole – Nick Turner, Patterson Hospitality

Thanks to our main sponsors – we are very appreciative of their support and generosity of time and goods to support us on the day.

• OneRoof who ran an eventful and fast paced ‘Corn Hole’ activation on Hole 3 and offered orange themed refreshments to thirsty participants.
• Lion New Zealand, who kept the players hydrated all day long
• Wolfbrook Property Group who sponsored the Longest Drive on Hole 10
• Carbon Property who sponsored the Election Quiz on Hole 12
• Eliot Sinclair with Mini Putt at Hole 18
• Zeal who sponsored Hole 16
• Duncan Cotterill who sponsored Hole 5
• We also had several companies and individuals who provided goods, services and time to us on the day – we extend our immense appreciation to them - Hellers, ITM, Smiths City, Hagley Oval, The Canterbury Cricket Trust, New World Durham Street, Team Hutchison Ford, Nick O’Styke, Barkers, Brinkley Resort, Angus Meats, Bake with Sel, Alpine Springs Motel, Graeme Donaldson, Joel Everson and Sam Stone.

A wonderful lunch was cooked on the BBQ by our experienced chefs (and C&I brokers) – Sam Stone, Graeme Donaldson, Michael Girgis and Ben Hassall. These guys ensured the golfers were well fed on burgers during registration followed by a good old fashioned sausage sizzle. This was delivered around the course by Sharn Krammer and Shannon Middlemiss. With the meat generously donated by Hellers, the Bayleys BBQ definitely got a workout.

The Ambrose playing system meant that the score of the top three teams was super close, with only 1.75 points separating first from third. Congratulations to our clients (and guests on the day) from the Handsome Group and the Wolfbrook Property Group for their third and first placings. For our Bayleys Residential team, the Back 9 Bandits (Kane Cooper, Ross Cooper, Shaun Creek and Liam Worsfold), a heartbreaking 0.25 of a point placed them second behind the talented team from Wolfbook.

1st Wolfbrook Property Group 51.25

2nd Back 9 Bandits 51.50

3rd Handsome Group 53

Commiserations to the Piss Poor Putters for coming in last – this team was comprised of some of our senior leaders, Pete Whalan, Glenn Harris, Campbell Taylor and Blair Young.