Riviera Yacht Support would like to extend our thanks and appreciation to everyone who attended our annual RYS Golf Bonanza on Friday 4th October at the Grande Bastide Golf Course.
The 10th Anniversary of the Riviera Yacht Support Golf Bonanza was a huge success, welcoming an unprecedented number of attendees at maximum capacity (143 for golf and 204 for lunch and prize-giving.) Again, we have been ever so grateful to receive positive feedback from participants and Sponsors and they were unanimous in their feeling of excitement for what 2020 has in store for the RYS Golf Bonanza.
This year, we would like to extend out formal thanks to the following:
The Riviera Yacht Support staff members and helpers who put up and took down Sponsor signage in key locations and handled logistics on the day.
The Sponsors, without whom the Golf Bonanza would not be possible. We were delighted to see many familiar faces return this year, as well as welcome the new Championship Sponsor Port Vauban, the new Golf Buggy Sponsor GMT ISS and Al Seer Marine. Additionally, thank you to the chauffeurs from Prestige Driver and the shuttle bus driver who transported us all to and from the event.
The Staff at Golf de La Grande Bastide who have enabled this event to take place at their beautiful course for 10 years.
Our fantastic entertainment, Blahkoustic and Tony Steward.
Finally, an immense thank you to the participants themselves who continue to support and attend the Golf Bonanza, we hope you had a fantastic day!
THANK YOU!
OUR VALUED SPONSORS
We were delighted that our Media Partners returned for the 10th Anniversary of the Riviera Yacht Support, including main Media Partner The Superyacht Group, Riviera Radio as our Radio Partner, and additional media coverage from Sam Watson and the team at Onboard Online.
Complimentary transport left from Port Vauban at 7am with many attendees opting to find their own way to the Grande Bastide Golf Course. The day was fuelled by a full English breakfast supplied by Silver Sponsor, So-sij. Ulf began the Golf with a short briefing about the day’s proceedings, and players proceeded to the fairways to await the ULM which sounded the shotgun start for 18-holes of golf just after 9am.
We were thrilled to welcome Port Vauban as the new Championship Sponsor of the RYS Golf Bonanza this year. This is a truly valuable partnership and we are grateful for the yachting expertise they bring to the event.
Our Platinum Sponsor, AGL Marine / Awlgrip / 3M brought a huge contingent to the event and is always highly regarded by Bonanza attendees, as was our Gold / Hole-in-One Sponsor Northrop & Johnson.
Our wonderful Gold Sponsor, Northrop & Johnson were back to Sponsor the Hole-in-One challenge at Hole #3; but sadly a double celebration was not to be had this year as no one drove away in the magnificent Classe A Mercedes which awaited teasingly at the entrance to the Clubhouse.
Our Silver Sponsors returned for this year’s event including Prestige Driver (private transfers), Riviera Crew, InXpress, Colgans Brewery and Riviera Cbay (all manning refreshment stands / bars around the golf course) and Liquid Yacht Wear, who sponsored the stylish polo shirts printed with all Sponsor logos that were handed out at morning registration with a fantastic goody bag. We are also very grateful for our our first international Sponsor, Silver Sponsor Global Marine Travel who joined us as the newly introduced Golf Buggy Sponsor.
The fabulous South of France weather proved good to us again this year, allowing players to make the most of the 10th anniversary celebrations for an extra 2 hours on the course. Participants and Lunch only attendees were then greeted with chilled Champagne and wines at the 19th-Hole starting at 14h00, kindly provided by Château d’Esclans and Riviera Wine. The 19th-Hole reception remains a valuable and relaxed opportunity to share a few drinks and network with other yachting professionals.
Over the course of the day, our Bronze (Hole) Sponsors helped keep up flame of excitement alight – thank you to Zephyr Yachting, Freedom Maritime, Hem / Cathelco and Sturge for your continued support each year.
After 19th-Hole drinks with exclusive entertainment by Blahkoustic, we gathered together for this year’s immense group photo and headed to the clubhouse for a well-deserved lunch. Ulf took the opportunity to introduce the Sponsors for the day and convey their importance in making the event a success every year.
If it were even possible for the Grande Bastide staff to improve their service, they did it! With beyond exceptional attention to the participants, the staff kept the drinks flowing – we enjoyed a salmon/avocado starter (or mozzarella starter for the vegetarians), roast lamb shanks with vegetables and mash (or fish risotto for the vegetarian option) with a chocolate fondant sponge to finish, followed by coffee.
PRIZE GIVING
This year’s prize giving differed somewhat from previous years with the introduction of the Texas Scramble format which eliminated many of the individual prizes usually awarded. Our fabulous MC Norma Trease took the helm for the prize-giving and tension in the room rose as we waited to learn who had won this year’s fantastic prize of 4 entries to Pinmar Golf’s Grand Finale Tournament in Mallorca.
The GRAND PINMAR PRIZE including Flights, Hotels and VIP entry to the 2019 Pinmar Golf for ‘BEST TEAM’ (courtesy of Pinmar and Al Seer Marine) was awarded to Frozzie Golf.
The 2ND BEST TEAM PRIZE of Sailing Day on S/Y CORMORANT with a Beach BBQ (donated by Marine Accounts) went to Beer and Bacon Cricket Team.
The remaining prize winners are listed below:
The ‘3RD BEST TEAM’ PRIZE of Dinner for 4 at MichelAngelo (courtesy of MichelAngelo) was awarded to Nicholas Fry’s Team from Northrop & Johnson.
This year’s ‘BEST LADIES TEAM’ Solenn de Braux took home a choice of treatment for 4 people by The English Osteopath, ‘BEST TEAM BRUT’ Cameron and Jonathan claimed a Salamanzar of Rock Angel (donated by Chateau d’Esclans) and ‘BEST DRESSED TEAM‘ was awarded to ’Multiple Orgasms’ from M/Y Lady Rose who took home 4 x Green Fees donated by the Grande Bastide.
The winning players Ilze Jonker and Kim Woody both with a score of 1.80 for the ‘CLOSEST TO THE PIN IN 2 SHOTS’ competition sponsored by Zephyr Yachting collected a Golf Lesson for 2 and 2 golf bags.
‘LONGEST DRIVE’ once again sponsored by HEM/Cathelco saw an incredible effort by Patrice Du Pont of the Male players, who took home A Lamborghini driving experience for an outstanding drive of 270m! Ilze Jonker of the ladies sub competition was awarded a Luxury Voucher for Hair and Beauty and The Cutting Shop for an impressive 180m drive!
‘CLOSEST TO THE PIN GENTS’ offered a thrilling Ferrari driving experience presented by Freedom Maritime and was collected by Herve Niacadie whose ball measured 1m 20 from the pin, while sadly no one hit the Green for the Ladies.
Ieon Dady of the gents scoring 1m 01 went home with a Tandem Paraglide Thrill for ‘CLOSEST TO THE LINE’ sponsored by Riviera CBAY and Karen O’Connor won a stay for two at Le Mas Candille for her score of 0.85m.
Congratulations to our ‘WORST TEAM’ sponsored by InXpress and Andy Colgan, Jaques, Serge, Pauline and Corine from AGL Marine were awarded 2 cases of Colgan’s beer and 4 gift vouchers from Golf Distribution (courtesy of Colgan’s Brewery and Golf Distribution.)
Finally, this year saw a record number of winners of the ‘BEAT THE PRO’ challenge at Hole #5 against Jérémie Felenc, sponsored and donated by Al Seer Marine who were given a bottle of Rosé for their achievement and the Hitting the Floating Green Prize sponsored by Sturge also offered a bottle of Rosé.
CHARITY DONATIONS
This year our charity involvement grew to three chosen charities, WaterAid, YachtAid Global and the Antibes SNSM Lifeboat.
On the day our lovely helpers and friends, Sarah Green and Claire Stanton at the Charity Table collected €1760 from the players which is amazing. Ulf kindly decided that the Golf Bonanza will match that amount, donating a further €1760, making a total of €3520 to be donated amongst our 3 charities. We are awaiting the total amount collected for the Antibes lifeboat in their collection boxes.
We would like to say a special thanks to:
Sarah Green and Claire Stanton for manning the stand and doing a great job at encouraging players to donate for these great purposes.
The Golf Bonanza for matching the total
The 3 main donators for giving the prizes
A huge thanks for your generosity to all who donated!
Please note we will still be accepting donations via our JUST GIVING page here https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/rys-golf-bonanza-2019
PHOTOS & VIDEOS FROM THE DAY
Official photos from the day are now viewable on the Riviera Yacht Support Facebook page – simply click on the blue button below to go to the photo album. Please note, we will soon be posting the photos with all sponsors’ logos.
Please feel free to tag us and share your photos with us on social media; you can use hashtag #GolfBonanza2019 on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram.
Video coverage, courtesy of Mathieu from MIX06, is uploaded on Facebook, LinkedIn and our YouTube channel. We have a 2-minute highlights video and the full version featuring interviews with main Sponsors is coming soon!
Watch the 2-minute highlights video here: https://youtu.be/NeJH3SQylhY
RYS GOLF BONANZA TO BECOME LARGEST TOURNAMENT IN YACHTING
Excitement ricocheted around the dining room as Ulf unveiled his plans for the RYS Golf Bonanza following Pinmar Golf’s announcement of their final year. This renders the Golf Bonanza the largest golfing tournament in the yachting industry as of next year. Ulf spoke of a 2-day tournament at the Grande Bastide with an IYCA dock party and a Gala Dinner to potentially be held at the Carlton in Cannes. We look forward to seeing you for an even more exhilarating Golf Bonanza 2020!
THE RIVIERA YACHT SUPPORT GOLF BONANZA IS THE BIGGEST ANNUAL GOLF DAY FOR THE SUPERYACHT INDUSTRY ON THE FRENCH RIVIERA, AND WE ARE VERY GRATEFUL FOR THE SUPPORT OF OUR 2019 SPONSORS:
