Golfing grant
Taranaki Women’s Golf has scored a ‘hole in one’ with a new endowment from Te Karaka Foundation Trustee and golf enthusiast Debbie McCallum.
Called ‘The Debbie McCallum Fund’, the endowment has been set up through Te Karaka Foundation to provide financial support for Taranaki Women’s Golf to help pay for uniforms, travel, accommodation and coaching. Taranaki Golf Executive Officer Nick Northam is delighted and overwhelmed by the generosity of the gift. “I am certain that it will be of great benefit to the district in the years ahead. The money will be of great use in helping women’s golf in the community and I hope that Debbie will enjoy the opportunity to see her endowment have a positive effect for our great game.”
Debbie has had a lifelong passion for the game. Her early childhood memories were ‘just tagging along’ with her parents to various golf days before taking up the game herself at 14. A desire to represent her province was achieved with distinction. Debbie has represented Taranaki for an incredible 20 years and played over 100 games at interprovincial competitions.
She feels now is the right time to ‘give back’ to the game that has given her so much. “It has given me many years of pleasure and I’ve met so many wonderful people through it. At the start, I lacked self belief but the game taught me to be focused around goals and set my mind to achieve them. It taught me to believe in myself.”
A high point in Debbie’s playing career was winning the 2007 New Zealand Masters interprovincial competition as part of the Taranaki Women’s Masters team. It was the first time a Taranaki team had won a national interprovincial golf tournament and showed her that the small regions can compete and win against the big ones. She still plays at her local golf course Te Ngutu which is also her favourite course. Her advice for new players is “to commit yourself to your sport, have self belief, set goals and with the right desire and drive you will achieve.”
Setting up the fund was made easier by working with Te Karaka Foundation, a community Foundation that specialises in endowment gifting. Debbie’s donated funds will be invested by the Foundation and the annual income used to make grants to Taranaki Women’s golf.
