“Hmmmm,” Parksville acting mayor Chris Burger quipped during his warm-up swing moments before teeing off for Wednesday’s Oceanside Mayor’s Charity Golf Classic.
“I should have requested this be held in-camera.”
Burger and his team Parksville, which included Gary Child, Keith Morrison and Peter Morrison, may have come up short on the scorecard against their counterparts from Qualicum Beach, but the spirit of the day was clearly more about having fun and raising money for a good cause.
“I think it went really well,” said Debbie Tardiff, tournament chair and communications officer for the City of Parksville. “We had 80 entrants, which is a little bit better then last year, and given the amount of (golf) tournaments going on, we feel quite fortunate. Everyone looked like they enjoyed themselves, and everyone went home with a prize.”
In its third year and first time featuring the mayors from both Parksville and QB, Tardiff said the 18-hole best ball tournament, played out at Morningstar Golf Club under great conditions, raised around $10,000 for the Parksville/Qualicum Community Foundation.
“Gorgeous day for golf,” former Parksville mayor Ed Mayne smiled moments before heading off in his cart.
Burger may be green when it comes to golf, “but I really like it. I can see (my wife and I) out on the course ... I mean look at it out here, its beautiful.”
The best score of the day went to the team of Bob Dean, Paul Turner, Adam Sturlis and Daryl McLane with an 11-under par 61. Each player received a commemorative plaque. The only other piece of hardware handed out was the Brian Hunter Award to Fay Baker who was the closest woman to the pin.
“We had a lot of 62s and a couple 63s as well,” said Tardiff, adding QB mayor Teunis Westbroek and his teammates, councillors Mary Brouilette and Barry Avis as well as chief administrative officer Mark Brown, won the mayoral showdown.
“What’s your handicap,” The News asked Teunis on the front nine, who chuckled and promptly cracked, “actually I have a few of them.”
“I talked to (Chris Burger) this morning and he said he had a great time ... I suspect the better golfers were on the Qualicum Beach team — they seemed a bit more serious, but that’s just an observation,” said Tardiff.
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