The West Hartford Chamber of Commerce Annual Golf Tournament will be held Aug. 17.

Submitted 

The West Hartford Chamber of Commerce is proud to announce their 34th Annual Golf Tournament. The event will be held on Monday, Aug. 17, with a 9 a.m. shotgun start at Wampanoag Country Club. 

Given the concerns surrounding COVID-19, the Chamber and Wampanoag Country Club are working together closely to ensure a safe, comfortable, and fun day of golf on one of the most beautiful and challenging courses in the region.

To minimize close interactions during registration at the event, the Chamber has moved to a 100% online pre-registration. This year, they have added some traditionally à la carte items to an all-inclusive golfing package. The $240 price per golfer includes: 18 holes of golf, 2-player golf cart (solo carts may be rented for an additional $40), and a full breakfast and afternoon BBQ.

Included this year at no additional charge:

• Mulligan bundle (value $25)
• 5 drawing entry tickets (value $25)
• 2 drink tickets for use during day or after rounds of golf during afternoon BBQ

Golf is an activity that for the most part can be played respecting the current guidance on social distancing. With all other in-person events and programing on indefinite hold, the Chamber is hoping that people will want to take advantage of this day of fun.

“It has been over five months since I have seen most of our Members outside of Zoom,” said Chamber Executive Director Chris Conway. “I am looking forward to seeing many of them and other members of our community on Aug. 17.”

Several local businesses are supporting the tournament by way of sponsorship. They include: Platinum Sponsors Westfarms, ESC, Environmental Systems Corporation, and Westfield Bank; Gold Sponsors Comcast Business, and Duncaster; and Silver Sponsors Blum Shapiro, and Regency Centers.  There are a variety of sponsorships still open with different levels of brand exposure and value adds.

The West Hartford Chamber of Commerce represents over 570 businesses and organizations in West Hartford and the surrounding areas. In order to support the businesses and nonprofits in our community, many of whom faced forced closures and significant losses in sales, the Chamber enhanced its programming and resources to assist businesses in this time of dire need.

“The Chamber cannot run solely on revenue from membership dues,” said Conway. “At a time when many businesses and nonprofits were forced to close, with uncertainty surrounding when or if they would be able to reopen, we responded with enhanced resources and programming. We were one of the first chambers in the region to shift all programming 100% online.”

In partnership with the Town of West Hartford, the Chamber created the Virtual Small Business Forum, a series of town hall style live webinars. “Our business community needed direct access to leaders and policy makers to share their struggles and concerns with them. To date, we have held forums on variety of meaningful topics,” said Chamber Outreach & Development Coordinator Kate Kobs. “Our panelists have included Senators Blumenthal and Murphy, Mayor Shari Cantor, DECD Commissioner David Lehman, state Sen. Derek Slap, and state Reps. Jillian Gilchrest and Tammy Exum.”

The West Hartford Chamber is a 501(c)(6) not-for-profit organization and was therefore not eligible for many of the federal and state pandemic relief programs made available to businesses and nonprofit organizations. In spite of this, they continued to serve the business community. The TakeOut Time West Hartford Facebook Group, which has over 3,300 members, was created and is administered by the Chamber to support the local restaurants. They also created the Curbside Commerce Facebook Group and held two Virtual Small Business Showcases to encourage shopping local during the shutdown.

“We are our Members,” said Jessie Bouclier, the Chamber’s Member Services Coordinator. “Going into COVID-19, we knew we needed get creative in how we supported our businesses. Anything we could do in the short-term to keep them going would increase their chances for long-term survival.”

Additional information regarding golf participation and sponsorship opportunities is available by emailing the Chamber at [email protected], calling 860-810-5663, or by visiting the golf tournament page on their website: https://www.whchamber.com/golf-tournament-2020.

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