Participation Support Services (PSS) held its 25th annual golf tournament at Burford Golf Links on Thursday, September 11, 2025.
Around 68 players arrived at the club on the day, ready and eager to participate in the 18-hole scramble style tournament.
Doug Hunt, Director of Marketing, Fundraising and Volunteers for PSS, said the goal of the tournament is to help raise essential funds and awareness for the local organization.
“Right now, the funds will help support a lot of our leisure and recreational activities, which a lot of people often take for granted, but are so important to our residents as far as quality of life,” he said. “It takes money to do things and so the funds will help get them to events like Blue Jays games or even for an outing at Dairy Queen. They’ll also go toward expenses for the vans, and sometimes it’s to help them with their wheelchairs and some other things that the government doesn’t match.”
Hunt added that while participants play a big role in raising said funds, much of the support also comes from the organization’s generous sponsors.
“Thank you to all of our sponsors because while our participants are a big part of the money we raise today, a lot of it comes from our sponsors, not just the ones who have donated different things for the tournament, but the ones who support us throughout the year too,” he said.
Following the 11:30 a.m. shotgun start, 17 teams started making their way through the course, laughing and cheering each other along as they went.
Throughout the game, many stopped by the clubhouse to grab refreshments and lunch, while others took breaks to mingle before heading out to finish the tournament.
Golfers also had the opportunity to further support the organization by partaking in a draw for one of the many golf related prizes, purchasing Marty Chapple’s longest drive of 315 yards at hole one, or to test their skills at the “Happy Gilmore”-style putting contest with local realtors, Joshua Wall and Jeff Meiusi.
As the tournament came to an end and the golfers wrapped up their games, participants started heading into the clubhouse for social hour and dinner.
Later, during the award presentations, several prizes were given out to the 2025 tournament champions, for men’s closest to the pin and women’s closest to the pin, as well as men and women’s most accurate drive.
Overall, Hunt said that he was happy with the event’s turnout and to once again be playing alongside longtime supporters of PSS.
“Most of the people who are playing with us today are not only golfers, but they’re also the people who, over the years, have been big supporters of our organization and the people we serve,” he said. “It’s not really centered around winning or competing; it’s more like a big reunion and it’s all about friendship and just having fun.”
Kimberly De Jong’s reporting is funded by the Canadian government through its Local Journalism Initiative.The funding allows her to report rural and agricultural stories from Blandford-Blenheim and Brant County. Reach her at kimberly.dejong@brantbeacon.ca.
