November 16th, 2022Golfing royalty raises money for wildlife

Whoever said doing good deeds feels like hard graft probably hasn’t
met The Royal Daylesford Social Golf Crew.
The crew is a social club, formed out of a collective wish to keep
physically and mentally fit during Covid.
Now, roughly a year on from when it formed, the crew has done more than
merely achieving those original goals. It has also raised a tidy $1000 that it’s now
preparing to present to the Hepburn Wildlife Shelter.
“We’re a golf club and a social club that came out of Covid,” explains Royal
Daylesford Social Golf Crew president Dale Flynn, pictured teeing off with, from
left, Jan Geddes and Rob Loxton.
“The first day we were allowed to get out on the golf course the Royal Daylesford
Hotel said if you can get 10 people together we’ll sponsor shirts for you. Well,
we’ve ended up with 25 shirts and we now have on average 25 members. We play at
Trentham golf course every Sunday and we have members from all walks.
“We’re open to anybody who wishes to come and enjoy a bit of golf and a bit of
fun and it’s not really about being a good golfer. We’re hacks, most of us. But we’re
just growing, just developing.”
While the focus is very much on socialising and enjoying life while fostering
health of body and mind, the crew has also been running a regular Saturday
afternoon raffle at the Royal Daylesford.
And it’s this habit that has now seen them raise the $1000 that Dale says will
be presented outside the pub to Hepburn Wildlife Shelter’s Gayle Chappell and Jon
Rowdon at 3pm on December 3.
He says that concern for the welfare of wildlife prompted the crew to select the
wildlife shelter to benefit from proceeds raised through the raffle.
“We got a committee together and started things rolling,” Dale said.
“We’re all locals and we all care for wildlife. We’re devastated by the horror on the
roads, the tragedies that we see on the roads with wildlife.”
Dale said everyone was welcome to get along to next month’s afternoon
presentation of the cheque, while the Saturday raffle was intended to keep going and
to continue raising dollars for the same good cause.
“That is our plan,” he said. “We actually have three raffle draws at the hotel at
2pm every Saturday. A meat tray, a barbeque pack that is vegetarian-friendly and then
we also have a bottle of wine.
“We’ve had great support from the Royal Daylesford which has been a fantastic
supporter and from businesses and the community.”
Dale said anyone and everyone was welcome to become a member of the social
club and also to get along and grab themselves a raffle ticket or two.
“It’s drawn every Saturday at 2pm but you have to be there in person to claim it,”
he notes.
The Hepburn Wildlife Shelter’s Gayle Chappell said the crew’s donation was
likely to go towards covering vet costs for injured wildlife.
“We’re thrilled to have their support. It goes a long way because we’re entirely
reliant on donations and support from the public,” Gayle said.
Words: Eve Lamb | Image: Kyle Barnes