Jets tee it up for charity

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 16/09/2024 (385 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Rick Bowness may have hung up his whistle and retired. The former Winnipeg Jets head coach left a parting gift for the organization that came to fruition on Monday.

The first Winnipeg Jets Golf Classic — at least of the 2.0 version — was held at St. Charles Country Club. The sold-out event had all proceeds going directly to the True North Youth Foundation.

“We used to do it in the Jets 1.0 era. It was actually coach Rick Bowness last year that kind of asked the question ‘Why don’t we do it anymore, let’s get it going again’,” Annie Chipman, the organization’s vice-president of marketing, told reporters.

That put the wheels in motion for planning over the winter. With all players now in town ahead of the official start of training camp on Wednesday, the timing was perfect to get full participation.

“I believe every other Canadian team hosts a tournament. Our guys love to golf, so they were excited to come out here and support the foundation,” said Chipman.

“We ended up having more players participate than we had slotted spots for. They were eager to get involved.”

Prior to hitting the links for the shotgun start, players took part in a skills competition which included longest drive and accuracy. There was also a Sunday draft for participating teams to select which Jets skater they wanted to round out their team.

Mark Scheifele went first-overall, while defenceman Dylan Samberg — fresh off a strong showing at the Manitoba Open in which he opened with a two-over par 74 — was an early choice as well.

The Jets are looking to re-connect with the community after season ticket sales took a nose-dive in recent years, so having the chance for companies and individuals to get up close on the golf course with players would seem to be a sound business decision.

The idea is to expand, with St. Charles being home to 27 holes.

“We’re always looking for opportunities for revenue for the foundation, so we’re really happy we were able to get this tournament going this year. We were able to sell out our spots almost immediately. We have great support from all of our partners,” said Chipman.

“We typically have a number of tournaments that we’ve been beneficiaries of in the past, but now having the opportunity to have this on our own playing field and having another boost for the foundation with 18 holes this year and in the future more is really fantastic.”

mike.mcintyre@freepress.mb.ca

X: @mikemcintyrewg