It was a perfect day for a round of golf at the TS&M Woodlawn Golf Club yesterday for the Networking on the Green event hosted by the Estevan Chamber of Commerce. Over 90 golfers showed up to hit the links and collaborate with other businesses in the southeast.
"It's been a fantastic day. We have so many of our sponsors out on their holes meeting the golfers. We have 96 golfers that were registered; every hole was sponsored and all of our sponsorships were filled up. So just having that support from the business community is absolutely fantastic. This is in my opinion, I'm a bit biased, but one of the best tournaments of this summer. And honestly, I think this is one of the nicest golf courses in the province," expressed Jackie Wall, executive director of the Estevan Chamber of Commerce.
The event featured businesses in Estevan and throughout the southeast. Wall noted that this is her 10th run of the event as the leader of the Chamber. She credits her team for organizing the successful event. "I can tell you that we have, in the last nine years, really expanded this golf tournament. Networking on the Green has really grown in the last nine years and a lot of that is thanks to Cathy VanDeSype, our office manager. She loves this tournament and spends so much time meticulously organizing everything. It's a great way for businesses to showcase their business, showcase their staff, and to just come out and have a great time 'networking on the green'."
City councillors Tony Sernick and Rebecca Foord, alongside City Manager Jeff Ward, were in attendance to represent City Hall. Sernick joked that it was a perfect day to 'sneak away from work to do a round of golf'. He was proud to see the business community come out in support of the Chamber's fundraising efforts.
Wall shared that the true goal of an event like this is to spur collaboration between businesses. One of the ways the Chamber was able to do this was to reduce the sponsorship fees to entice more businesses to participate. "We love to see the sponsors come out at their hole and that's that's really the purpose of it. We keep our sponsorships lower than some of the other golf tournaments, just because we want people to be out here networking and businesses to be intermingling and visiting with one another, and building some new collaborations, and having some fun."