(Published - 13 November 2018)

A windy day greeted the participants teeing off at the annual University of the Western Cape (UWC) Cape Town Golf Day fundraiser on Thursday, 8 November 2017. But it didn’t dampen the spirit of the generous sponsors and participants who raised more than R350 000 for bursary funding.

For the first time, the King David Mowbray Golf Club played host to the 42nd edition of the event. Players, 120 in total, joined 13 corporate sponsors - including Standard Bank, ABSA, SANTAM, Kagiso Asset Management and Old Mutual - in support of the Jakes Gerwel Education Endowment and Development Fund which supports financially needy and academically deserving students.

Headline sponsor Standard Bank partnered with UWC for a second year to ensure the golf day, which culminated in a prize-giving dinner, was a huge success.

The winners of the 2018 Cape Town Golf Day were the team Andre Turnbull and Shannon Gaskin. Institutional Advancement Director, Patricia Lawrence, thanked all the generous sponsors and participants for making the golf day a success.

At the dinner, Professor Tyrone Pretorius, UWC’s Rector and Vice-Chancellor, told the audience about the University extending its footprint, and becoming an anchor institution in Cape Town with its new Faculty of Community and Health Sciences building in the Bellville CBD. The building was officially opened by Higher Education and Training Minister Naledi Pandor on 13 November 2019.

“We bought the old Jan S Marais Hospital in the Bellville CBD, spending more than R300-million on renovating and repurposing it. In July this year we relocated our Community and Health Sciences Faculty to the area,” said Prof Pretorius.

“This is a very significant event for us because apartheid spatial planning dumped UWC in what was then largely bush - and that’s where the name Bush College came from – surrounded by an industrial area. We’ve always been restricted to one campus, and having a campus in the Bellville CBD means we are slowly working towards realising our vision of having a multi-site campus.”

Prof Pretorius said the move means UWC is playing a major role in the revitalisation of the Bellville CBD. He thanked the corporate sponsors and participants for supporting the golf day.

“The UWC golf days – both in Johannesburg and Cape Town – are the highlight of our Institutional Advancement programme. Congratulations to all of the winners,” said Prof Pretorius.”

The 2018 UWC Cape Town Golf Day was the most successful yet, with revenue in excess of R350 000 being received in support of bursaries with respect to the UWC Jakes Gerwel Endowment and Development Fund.

(Link to pictures of the UWC Cape Town Golf Day here.)

· The Gauteng version of the Golf Day took place on 7 August 2018 at Killarney Country Club.