Hong Kong: Their golf courses may have been closed for various periods during the Covid-19 pandemic, but The Hong Kong Golf Club and The Clearwater Bay Golf & Country Club’s focus on the importance of caring for their communities did not relent.
Over the past decades, Hong Kong’s most prominent golf clubs have formed close and important bonds with local communities and local charities.
Once the pandemic hit, they moved quickly to find ways to keep those connections delivering, whether that be hosting charity events online – instead of live – or producing various pandemic car packs to share out among those in need.
At Clearwater Bay, as well as continuing well-established events, there have been a series of new initiatives introduced, such as the hosting of the Club’s charity walk/run event online.
Three of the branded charity golf events hosted were the Clearwater Bay Haven of Hope Christian Service Charity Pro-Am Golf Tournament (in March and December 2021) and the Clearwater Bay Mother’s Choice Charity Pro-Am Golf Tournament (in October 2021).
“Despite the disruptions brought forth by Covid, we managed to press on with our corporate social responsibility,” said Dr Jack WK Wong, Chairman of Charity & Outreach Committee, The Clearwater Bay Golf & Country Club.
“In the past year, we held a total of 109 fund-raising and community outreach events, both physical and virtual, with 24,580 participants.
“For fund-raising, we managed to raise a record high of more than HK$24 million to support the needy children, youth and elderly, and also people with chronic illnesses and disabilities. The club has been lucky in getting tremendous support from staff and members. Moving forward, we hope to invite more staff and members to join our community services and activities.”
Among the initiatives recently carried out by the Hong Kong Golf Club were the donation of data cards, books and educational tours to the kids from Lok Kwan Society and the 20,000 RAT kits to the Fanling/Sheung Shui community.
“The club has a very close relationship with the community here in Fanling and Sheung Shui, which has been built up over the course of over a century, so we were very eager to do what we could to help our neighbours and charity partners during the height of the pandemic in Hong Kong,” said Ian Gardner, General Manager at the HKGC.
The Hong Kong Golf Club and The Clearwater Bay Golf & Country Club are both Facility Members of the Asian Golf Industry Federation.