LPGA golf champ tees off in Duntroon for charity event

A championship golfer joined local women on the golf course for a charity event in support of a Collingwood General and Marine Hospital Foundation endowment fund. 

Eight-time LPGA champion Sandra Post played nine holes at Duntroon Highlands Golf for the Women, Worth, and Wellness charity tournament. 

The event was organized by Nancy Griffin, president and founder of Women, Worth, and Wellness, and Paul Chapman, wealth advisor with RBC Wealth Management, who worked with Duntroon Highlands Golf owners Stacie and Martin Rydlo. 

Only 40 spots were available for the intimate charity tournament, which welcomed Post as the guest of honour. Post is not only a multiple LPGA winner, she is a Lou Marsh award recipient, and has been named to the Order of Canada. 

Funds raised at the tournament will be donated to the Collingwood General and Marine Hospital Foundation Wellness Innovation Fund. 

The event brought in more than $2,200 for the fund, plus attendees made personal donations in addition. 

The endowment fund was started by local residents Barb and Larry Hall who had a vision for a fund to support innovative wellness projects in the community. The projects supported by this fund have to be in the hospital's coverage area, and they must enhance health and wellness for patients in the core service area. 

The projects are also required to be innovative and collaborative. 

Previous Innovative Wellness Fund recipients include the South Georgian Bay Parkinson's Disease Awareness Program, which includes support from the Collingwood Squash and Fitness Centre. The idea of the program is to promote early diagnosis, and use non-invasive fitness and lifestyle-based treatments for the disease while also creating awareness of the disease with healthcare practitioners to improve quality of life for those diagnosed with Parkinson's. 

Another program supported by the fund is the Green Prescription Program led by the South Georgian Bay Community Health Centre in Wasaga Beach. The idea of the program is to have healthcare professionals prescribe time in the natural environment as part of their client's health care plans. The program is piloting the concept with 50 patients who will be given referrals for outdoor/nature independent and supervised programs as part of their overall treatment. 

Learn more about the Wellness Innovation Fund here.