"Hack" and Whack Scramble raises $4,000 for charity, golf club

BY DENNY SCOTT

The fourth annual “Hack” and Whack Scramble, hosted by Team Cottrill, was a return to form for the tournament, according to Shawn Cottrill, which has operated through the COVID-19 pandemic for the last couple of years.

Shawn and Katie Cottrill, the two members of the award-winning curling duo Team Cottrill, hosted the event at the Wingham Golf and Curling Club over the weekend, generating, between raffles and donations, $4,000 to donate and helping the Wingham Golf and Curling Club raise $7,000 through golfing charges and other services.

The Cottrills donated $2,000 to Mental Health Matters in Wingham and $2,000 to the club, meaning the event raised $11,000 in total throughout the weekend for the charity and the club.

The event was good, Cottrill said, with a full 18-team roster and with the opportunity for people to mix and mingle in the clubhouse for meals.

“We were able to have dinner together inside and have prize presentations,” he said. “We haven’t been able to do that through the pandemic. It felt a little more normal.”

He said that the last two years have seen participants eat outside and prizes were given to participants as they left.
Both the attendees and the charities were happy, he said, as the donations this year doubled over last year’s donations.
“I think everyone had fun, and we’ve had positive feedback,” he said. “People are saying they want to come back next year already.”

He said he and Katie plan to hold the event next year as well. While they can’t really expand to allow for more teams, they can try to add new activities and new features to help raise even more money.

“This year, the big thing was adding sponsorship for the holes, which went really well,” he said. “It increased the donations and generated more prizes that we usually have.”

The winning team consisted of Trevor and Eric Hopf and Jared and Memphis Riley who scored, as a team, seven under par.
Cottrill said he wanted to thank everyone for supporting the event over the past few years, and said that, when he and Katie planned a curling tournament to support their curling team and the club, they had no idea how big it would grow.

The team will start curling in October, with their first event in Barrie. They will also be hosting the Ladies Part II Bistro Classic curling competition in November, which is already filling up, he said. 

“We have 16 teams out of 20,” he said. “We’re excited about that. Last year was smaller, with 10 teams, but we’re looking forward to being back full-bore with that.”

The event will also help support the Wingham and Golf Curling Club, he said, the home club for Team Cottrill. For more information, watch The Citizen and check out Team Cottrill on Facebook.