Wee Waa Golf Club hosts its 2021 Westpac Rescue Helicopter Service charity golf day

Wee Waa Golf Club hosted its 2021 Westpac Rescue Helicopter Service charity golf day on Sunday.

The annual event had a significantly different look and feel this year, with golfers playing in groups of two across a timed draw rather than four or eight with a shotgun start, and there was no barbecue or high tea set up for players and spectators to enjoy as the club continues to adhere to the current COVID-19 rules and regulations.

Forty golfers took part at what has been described by organisers as a successful event. Half of the field teed off during a morning session before the other half played in the afternoon.

The winners of the two-person ambrose event were Ben Russell and Chris Hartnett who finished with a nett score of 61-and-a-quarter.

Runners up were Dick and Kerry Crutcher, while Dick also claimed the nearest to pin on the ninth hole.

Organisers of the event, which include Wee Waa Golf Club president David Russell, have been applauded by both golfers and other community mmembers for hosting the annual event despite the challenges that the club and the sport currently face.

Russell told The Courier that it was fantastic to see so many golfers support the day.

“It went really good, everything flowed through as planned which was great,” Russell said.

“We had 40 play, 20 went off in the morning then the other 20 played in the afternoon, that worked out good.

“It’s always a good community fundraiser which helps keep the helicopter service going, we certainly need it out here.

“In a remote community like this you need any support we can get from the medical fraternity.

“This is our 15th year running the day someone said. The golfers love it.

“We had to follow all the COVID guidelines this year but hopefully next year we can get back to normal for this event.

“I’d like to thank everyone from the community who showed up to play, it was a fantastic day.”

Russell said that about $1500 was raised on the day, which added to local community support which the Westpac Rescue Helicopter Service received via business donations.

At time of print, it was unknown exactly how much was raised in total.

Westpac Rescue Helicopter Service New England North West volunteers coordinator Kim Newling told The Courier that she was grateful for the efforts of the Wee Waa Golf Club and the town’s community.

“The Westpac Rescue Helicopter Service and the Wee Waa volunteer support group appreciate the efforts of the Wee Waa Golf Club to hold the day on our behalf,” she said.

“It was a bit different this year, we actually couldn’t be in attendance.

“Unfortunately Wee Waa is in a lockdown zone and we are still limited by what we are allowed to do.

“The golf day has always been something that the community and the support group look forward to so hopefully next year everything will be back as per normal.”

The importance of the charity day event was highlighted just hours after it wrapped up when the Westpac Rescue Helicopter was tasked by NSW Ambulance at 8.35pm on Sunday night to carry out an urgent medical retrieval from Wee Waa Hospital.

The helicopter critical care medical team stabilised a seven-month-old baby boy suffering a serious medical condition prior to airlifting him to Tamworth Rural Referral Hospital in a stable condition for further specialist medical treatment.