Local organizations, country club, prepping for June tournaments

A couple of local organizations are hoping to raise some green by hitting the greens at the Lac La Biche Golf and Country Club next month. The Region One Aboriginal Business Association is hosting its second annual golf tournament on June 4, followed by Hope Haven’ s 23rd annual Lynne Lambert Memorial Golf Tournament on June 13.

Cassie Putnam, executive director at the women’ s shelter, said organization of the event is coming along well, if only a little slowly. So far, about 20 teams are registered to play in the tournament, which has room for 36 in total.

“Things are coming together... perhaps just a little more slowly than I’ d like,” she said. “I anticipate within the next week or two to be sold out.”

The memorial tournament is an important fundraiser for Hope Haven. Putnam said the organization needs to fundraise about $50,000 per year to keep up with operating costs and discretionary funding for other things. Putnam said the organization has to tighten its belt this year because of the current economic downturn, especially since Hope Haven hasn’ t seen an increase in government funding since 2004.

“I need to make about $50,000 a year to make ends meet, and that’ s where we’ re targeting,” she said, adding that aside from using the money to cover operational shortfalls, it can be used to help people attend out of town appointments or even assist them in acquiring necessities. “I had a 16 year old boy here last week who needed glasses, and we were able to get those for him using fundraised dollars. Those kind of things that matter, we can help.”

A lot can change in 23 years, and the Lynne Lambert Memorial Tournament is no different. Lambert was a founding member of the original women’ s shelter in Lac La Biche, before it was ever called Hope Haven. After she passed away, her friends got together for a round of golf to honour her memory, and donated some money to the women’ s shelter. Fast forward more than two decades, the Lynne Lambert Memorial is one of Lac La Biche County’ s top summer events, drawing dozens of teams and hundreds of players to the region for a good cause, including a core group of players that comes every year.

“We’ ve really changed,” said Putnam, adding that while the tournament has changed, the reason it takes place hasn’ t, as Lambert left her mark on the community, including Putnam. “It’ s pretty wonderful, and she was someone who was a mentor to me, so there’ s that personal connection.”

With a couple of tournaments set to take place on their course, officials at the Lac La Biche Golf and Country Club said the course is looking in tip top shape to entertain guests.

“The course looks real good, it had a good winter and we came out strong and everything looks good,” said Lance Palamaruk, course manager at the Lac La Biche golf and Country Club, adding that the dry conditions have been a challenge, but maintenance staff are doing a good job keeping the grass hydrated. “We could definitely use a little rain, where there’ s no irrigations it’ s a little dry, but we’ re keeping up with it.”

The Lynne Lambert Memorial Tournament gets started the morning of June 13 with breakfast, before teams head out to the course to play their rounds. The event normally draws several Alberta notaries, including former Edmonton Oilers president Patrick LaForge, Edmonton Eskimos alumni, and other well-known sporting and media personalities.

The evening is capped off with a catered dinner event at the Bold Center, which also features a silent auction. People who aren’ t participating in the tournament cans still attend the dinner for $75 a plate. For more information or to register a team for the tournament, call (780) 623-3104.

Registration for the second annual ROABA Golf Tournament is still open. Forms are available to fill out online at their website: www.roaba.ca.