The annual Women Fore Women Golf Tournament has become a very popular event in Moose Jaw.
The tournament held on August 19th hosted 92 spots available for female golfers, with most spots already filled by the end of July and first week of August.
The tournament now has taken off as one of the major stops on the local golf calendar -- even from outside of the Moose Jaw area.
“I would say it would have only been three weeks before the tournament filled up and we had a waiting list,” said Bev Barber with the Hillcrest Ladies League, organizers of the Women Fore Women tournament. “We had players from Yorkton, Regina, Saskatoon, Warman and even someone from Radium, B.C. who came home and played with her daughter… That’s another thing that’s kind of neat about it; we had a lot of mothers and daughters playing, lots of sisters and cousins playing, and so many women who came together to support women.”
While camaraderie and fun on the course are major draws, the tournament’s name gives a good idea of what it’s all about. Women Fore Women began in 2019 as a scholarship fundraiser, with three $500 awards presented to students off to post-secondary schools that spring.
Fast forward to 2023, and Women Fore Women was able to present five $2,000 scholarships to Moose Jaw and area athletes, thanks to the incredible and rapid growth of the tournament, even in the midst of the pandemic.
And needless to say, the awards are most definitely appreciated, as scholarship coordinator Deb Negraiff revealed to tournament participants during their post-event dinner.
“Deb read thank-you notes from the girls and Jasmine Kohl even sent a video of her moving-in day. She gave us a little tour that was really touching and it was a pretty heartfelt thank you,” Barber said of the stand-out hockey and fastball player currently attending Lake Forest College in Chicago. “That we helped her do that was a pretty good feeling.”
Barber expects the 2023 edition of the tournament to raise over $14,000, a total that would have been a pie-in-the-sky dream back in 2019. As a result, the Hillcrest Ladies League will be able to present a host of scholarships next spring, even matching or exceeding this year’s number of worthy recipients.
Once again, the tournament is the product of support from the tournament’s players, as well as incredible support from the business community.
“I have to stress how much the sponsors and businesses from Moose Jaw and surrounding area mean to us,” Barber said. “We can’t come close to thanking them enough, and it just blows me away the total of money that is raised. Then we had prizes for everybody and 12 event holes there were prizes for. Every year they support us and it’s very humbling to come from a community that has businesses like that and produces the wonderful girls we’ve given scholarships to.”
The 2024 Women Fore Women Golf Tournament is set for Aug. 10 at the Hillcrest Golf Club, so be sure to keep an eye out for when registration opens next spring!
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