2024 Legends Golf Day Puts the Spotlight on the Legends Fund

The annual Legends Golf Day took place at the Belmont Golf Club on Thursday, 13 June 2024 enticing 100 golfers onto the course for a day of golf. The event, benefiting the Legends Bursary Fund, proved to be a monumental success, shattering previous years’ records by raising over R500,000.

First and foremost, acknowledgement must go to Gregg Rippon (OK 1983) who has expertly organised this event since 2018, from arranging all the golf bookings, donors, sponsors to each payment made. Because of Gregg, the Legends Golf Day is not just about drives, chips and putts; it carries a noble mission which is raising funds to support the Legends Bursary Fund at Kingswood. Thank you, Gregg, for your tireless efforts, and for this amazing gift to the Legends Fund.

As is tradition, the Golf Day was held on the Thursday before K-Day weekend, the golfers teed up at 11h00 for a shot-gun start, and beautiful weather conditions had the first four-balls enjoying their well-deserved rest at the Clubhouse from 15h30. From the putting green to the 19th hole, the event was a showcase of community spirit and goodwill. Golfers navigated the pristine course while enjoying games, raffles, and special activations set up by event sponsors at select tee boxes. An exciting live auction, expertly run by auctioneer Ian Sheard (ex-parent), had players and friends enthusiastically raising their hands to bid incredible prizes and experiences in the name of the Legends Fund.

The top winners of the golf were: –

1st Place: Michelle Schulpfort, Andrea Schulpfort (OK 2019), Tyron Schulpfort (OK 2001) and Andrew Bovey
2nd Place: Wanston Field, Richard Armstrong, lan Sheard and Pieter Oosthuizen
3rd Place: Richard Davies (OK 1967), Mike Davies (OK 1977), Wayne Weber and Jason van Rooyen

Once again, we extend a massive thank you to our Kingswoodians, friends of the College and our local businesses who rose to the occasion with their generosity to make the day the success it was. The items for auction were top-class, 12 four-balls were rewarded with some amazing prizes, as were the players closest to the pin, with the longest drive and more. Not only that but a few lucky players were rewarded by winning a string of lucky draw prizes.

“Sponsors are the lifeblood of successful charity golf events like the Legends Golf Day,” says Megan Erasmus from the Kingswood Foundation office. “We’re incredibly grateful to them, our (sponsors), donors and volunteers whose generosity year after year makes this gift to the Legends Fund possible. Equal thanks to the dedicated golfers – you are the backbone of this event. Your passion for supporting Kinsgwood is inspiring, and we look forward to seeing you back on the course again in 2025!”.

An exciting development at the event this year was the auction being published online prior to the event. Thanks to our Kingswood community who jumped on board in support, the auction (which was concluded at the golf day in an exciting live event) reached a much broader audience, giving national and international bidders the chance to secure some of the wonderful experiences and items on the list and donors the opportunity to reach a far wider audience.