The Hirepool Charity Classic Trilogy 2023 will take place at the Wānaka Golf Club this weekend (March 17-19).

The annual tournament has historically raised more than $20,000 for a local community organisation and this year the charity of choice is Aspiring Gymsports (AGS).

“We couldn't be happier,” AGS treasurer Colleen Nisbet said.

AGS will use the funds raised to help prepare the new youth, community and sports facility on Plantation Road which AGS will move into once it is ready.

“We're literally busting a gut to move but we have big financial goals to meet first,” Colleen said.

“We've grown from 80 to 600 members since 2016.”

Colleen said the new facility will almost triple the space available to AGS’s membership and provide a dedicated gym space with fit for purpose gym equipment.

“We need to raise approximately $225,000 in new equipment including a new full sized sprung floor and continue to upgrade much of our 20-year-old equipment,” she said.

Fundraising at this weekend's tournament comes from the entry fee, raffles, a silent auction, and a live auction.

Colleen said AGS is keen to hear from anyone who may like to donate a good or service for the auctions.

This weekend’s tournament has capacity for 56 teams (224 people) and has been sold out with a waiting list the past few years.

The teams will play 18 holes per day with a different format each day, including ‘American Foursome’, ‘Two Ball Ambrose’, and ‘Foursome’, all of which are designed for a bit of fun and to mix things up with participants not always playing their own ball.

The main sponsor is Hirepool which has supported the Charity Classic since its inception in 2004.

Organisations which have benefitted in recent years from the annual charity tournament include Upper Clutha Children’s Medical Trust, the Upper Clutha Hospice Trust, the Wānaka Fire Brigade’s Road Crash Rescue team, and last year the tournament raised more than $41,000 for M!NT Charitable Trust. 

PHOTO: Wānaka App