By Cam Lucadou-Wells
A rare hole in one has landed occasional golfer Ben Edmonds a brand-new Nissan X-Trail.
“It was a shock, really,” says Mr Edmond – the first-ever hole in one prize-winner in the City of Greater Dandenong Take A Swing for Charity Golf Day’s 13-year history.
“It didn’t sink in,” Mr Edmonds recalled.
“I watched it disappear, and I thought it would be close – then the spotter said it was in the hole.
“It made the rest of the game very good.”
With some irony, Mr Edmonds was invited to play the event by the prize’s sponsor, Rick Stephenson from Dandenong Nissan.
After Mr Edmond’s tee shot landed in the par 3 hole at Victoria Golf Club, Mr Stephenson yelled out: “You’ve just won a car.”
Mr Edmonds recalled: “He was the one jumping around. It was fantastic.”
The keys to his new car were presented at Dandenong Nissan on 23 March. Mr Edmonds intends to sell the $30,000-plus SUV.
Amazingly, it was Mr Edmonds’ second ace – but no, there was no prize for the first one.
He paid tribute to Dandenong Nissan’s support for a charitable cause, as well the event, which did “good for the community”.
Take A Swing for Charity Golf Day on 23 February raised at least $35,000 towards a food truck for Dandenong charity Wellsprings for Women.
Wellsprings chief executive Dalal Smiley said the charity’s food truck would support its Cultural Cuisines project.
It upskills and empowers local women for working in the catering industry.
Also on hand were Take A Swing’s founding sponsors Nirad Shah from KPJ Group and David Willersdorf from Grenda Group.
Fourteen years ago, Mr Shah first proposed the event after a presentation on food security at a Greater Dandenong business breakfast.
Since then, the event – which doubles as a business networking event – has raised more than $535,000 for 14 charities.
