Over 100 golfers played in the 4th Annual Simola / Knysna Hospice Golf Day hosted by John Bland on Monday, the 17th of December 2007. The tournament was part of the festivities celebrating the official opening of the new clubhouse and hotel complex at Simola. What a lovely setting for a charity day - the views from the clubhouse onto the lagoon and Knysna Heads are spectacular and well worth a drive up the hill!

Over the past three years, the event has earned a reputation for having great prizes and it was no different this year. Taylor Made and Beyerskloof had again generously supported the event with lavish prizes which was a great incentive for the participants to play great golf.

The Simola staff had done a fantastic job with the preparation of the golf course considering the heavy floods on the Garden Route a mere three weeks ago. The golfers were treated to excellent conditions in near perfect golfing weather.

Amidst fierce competition the winners in the net section were Warren McClintock, Scott Watson, Terry McClintock & Werner Fouche. They had managed to score 50 pts in the fourball alliance with one score to count and were rewarded with a TaylorMade driver, a bottle of Beyerskloof wine and a miniature version of the floating trophy, a Knysna Loerie! The team of Mark McKenna, John Rimbault, Brett Wylerd and Andre Nel were runners up on 49 pts. The gross prize went to the host's team. Playing with John Bland were Norman Minnaar, Garth Le Roux and Mike Hargreaves.

The less fortunate on the Links still had a chance to head home with a prize: several items were on offer in a silent auction, amongst them a fifteen liter bottle of Beyerskloof wine signed by John Bland & Beyers Truter.

The main winner of the day was Knysna Hospice. Thanks to the generous gesture by Simola to donate back all proceeds to the great cause, a sum of over R100 000,00 was raised! (Cheque made out to R96 000,00 - but before the Ink could dry, pledges Increased the amount Into the six figure region!)

Peter Godsell, representing Hospice, paid a special tribute to John and Sonja Bland who gave birth to this annual event and have nurtured it for the last for years. "The funding raised will be used to support our team of over 20 healthcare professionals, who fan out over the suburbs and townships of our beautiful town, providing free medical care that knows no boundaries - no boundaries of race, religion, social class or anything else. The golfers of Knysna are supporting a truly new South African organization and we are most grateful."