The irony wasn’t lost on Tim Cormode as he multi-tasked before Power to Golf’s shotgun start at Victoria Golf Club Thursday morning.
After a dazzlingly sunny summer, Cormode woke up to clouds and drizzle. “Really?” he asked with a laugh.
The prospect of 120 golfers having to play in a downpour during the charity golf tournament loomed — until the skies brightened. It added a sense of adventure, a key element of Power To Be, his charitable adventure therapy organization.
“We’re about adventure in the outdoors … Mother Nature will decide what’s necessary,” said the founder and executive director, whose organization inspires youths and families in need of support to discover their potential through nature-based programs.
“All we can do is hope all the hard work we’ve put into this pays off,” he said
Indeed it did. Between the golf tournament, presented by Gustavson Capital Corporation, and a private dinner and live auction Thursday night at The Atrium at Little Oaks — home of longtime supporters Peter and Ali Gustavson — $180,000 was raised to support the volunteer-driven organization, the initiatives of which include a wilderness school and adaptive recreation.
Familiar faces included Vancouver Canucks general manager Mike Gillis, assistant GM Laurence Gilman, former Canucks centre Manny Malhotra, Toronto Maple Leafs defenceman Ryan O’Byrne of Victoria, triathlete and Olympic gold medallist Simon Whitfield and Cassie Campbell-Pascall, three-time women’s hockey Olympian and CBC Hockey Night in Canada personality.
Campbell-Pascall said having played hockey can be helpful on the fairway.
“You’ve got the core strength, the movement is similar and you have the precision for putting,” the Calgary-based athlete said. “But you can’t slam your golf clubs like you slam your [hockey] sticks.”
Acknowledging he’s no Tiger Woods, Gillis said he was there to support a great cause despite some rainfall.
“Almost all the charity work we do involves kids [including] disabled and autistic kids, so we understand the challenges they face trying to do regular activities,” Gillis said.
He laughingly dismissed suggestions that watching his daughter play great field hockey could help his golf game.
“There’s no correlation between her field hockey and my golf,” he said, smiling. “I actually don’t play that much.”
Malhotra came at the invitation of friend Tim Quocksister, a board member who donated a black 2014 Maserati as a hole-in-one prize.
Other prizes included two Rolex watches and $10,000 for Power to Be.
We couldn’t help but wonder whether the affable free agent’s baby-blue shorts might have been inspired by fatherhood. Malhotra and his wife, Victoria native Joann Nash, have two young sons — Caleb and Isaiah.
“I don’t play much these days with the kids running around,” Malhotra said. “It’s hard to justify leaving the house for six hours.”
Other colourful golfers included Bruce Courtnall — sporting a bright orange-red polo shirt paired with pastel-green checkered shorts — and Dale Gann, whose sunshine-yellow golfing slacks seemed a case of wishful thinking, weather-wise.
Gann, who co-founded the corporate challenge Power to Play with Cormode, joked he puts on his yellow pants to show off and good-naturedly annoy his son, a talented golfer and UVic Vikes player.
“He really doesn’t like it when I wear them, but hopefully it’ll bring out the sun.”
