Yarrawonga Mulwala Golf Club Resort President Laurie Bridgeman, MC Dario Prighel, PHH’s CEO Janet Phillips, event organiser Pat Randall, Marcus Leonard of Buller Wines and guest speaker Barry Sullivan at the silver service dinner, with entertainer from Barooga Jade Camden in the background.
It is the 40th year of palliative care in homes by Peninsula Home Hospice (HHP) and the 10th anniversary of Peninsula Home Hospice’s Charity Golf event based at Yarrawonga Mulwala Golf Club Resort.
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The three-day golf event culminated in last Wednesday’s dinner in the club’s Willow Room with presentation of trophies, 14 items auctioned (after the silent auction of sporting memorabilia in from the club’s foyer) and guest speaker Barry Sullivan.
Event organiser for the charity golf event’s 10 years, Pat Randall received loud applause when she took to the stage.
Best performed locals in last Wednesday’s Ambros competition on the Lake Course were Dario Prighel, Bob Murray, Barry Sullivan and Andy Murray with a nett 58.
“Pat’s a bit of a dynamo,” Master of Ceremonies Dario Prighel told the approximate 100 diners at the silver service dinner.
“In 1954 she was Australian women’s squash champion. Then a Heather McKay came along so she went into tennis and was in Australia’s top 10 tennis ladies. Pat’s daughter (Bernadette) ended up being number one in the world in tennis and her granddaughters are high up in sport.”
A wonderful range of sporting memorabilia was on display in the golf club foyer, in a silent auction. The wide range included Sir Donald Bradman with Shane Warne and Sachin Tendulker, and Collingwood’s Daicos family members.
The modest Pat simply brushed off family sporting achievements because she wanted to thank so many people involved in the success of the golf event over the last decade. That appreciation was expressed to many, including major sponsor Buller Wines and the Yarrawonga Mulwala Golf Club Resort.
“The Yarrawonga Mulwala Golf Club Resort is magnificent. To you, Laurie and your board, thank you very much. You have fabulous golf courses and hospitality.”
Club president Laurie Bridgeman had welcomed all to the dinner. “It’s a great relationship we have with people in this golf event and Pat’s been a strong follower for a long period of time,” the president said.
Club captain Steve Buckley told diners the courses were presented in perfect condition and “we turned on perfect weather”. “Thank you for supporting the hospice,” he concluded.
PHH’s Chief Executive Officer Janet Phillips said she was “blown away” with the event’s occasion and described PHH’s core work of community palliative care covering a large area from Portsea to Mordialloc Creek, from babies to 100 plus.
“We have a full team of professional staff concerned with quality of life in living and dying. It’s a 24 hour, seven days a week job,” she said. “We couldn’t do this without you. This is our biggest fundraising event.”
Well known sportsman and businessman Barry Sullivan from Wangaratta was guest speaker.
A regular guest on Reel Adventures radio broadcast co-hosted by Geelong AFL star Patrick Dangerfield and Aaron Habgood, Baz helped create a four-episode fishing series ‘The Last Cast’ on Channel 7 and rated highly throughout Australia.
“It was a very interesting talk,” the MC said. “There were quite a few anglers in the audience and some golfers are told ‘why don’t you go fishing’ when playing ordinary golf! Barry’s talk about his fishing trip to South America was really interesting.”
Sitting alongside Baz was champion St Kilda and Victorian football’s Bob Murray who has been a great supporter of this event and delivered terrific addresses as a guest speaker over the years, along with Hawthorn great Michael Tuck who could not attend the 2024 event.
Murray was particularly happy last Wednesday night when told his brother’s grandson, 19-year-old Toby Murray had just been signed up in the mid-season draft for Adelaide, joining his older brother Nick at the club.
The special live auction with wonderful packages was conducted by local real estate, club vice president Andrew Shell whose style fetched good deals for HHP and the highest bidders.
The charity golf event has increased from an initial 23 players and $10,000 raised to over 90 players and over $200,000 raised for such a good cause.
