Sell-out Portadown Charity Golf Classic raises more than £10k for MacMillan Cancer Support with plans for next year underway

Organised by Bann Hire & Sales, SBM Contracts and Turkington, it was held at the pristine Portadown Golf Club on August 29.

The event helped raise more than £10k for the MacMillan Cancer Support charity – with more funding coming in.

The club house was packed on Friday afternoon for the prize-giving after a sell out first event. Indeed such was the demand, it could have sold places twice over.

Players were enticed by fabulous prizes including a spectacular hole in one competition where the prizes included a brand new car, a £2k golf breaks voucher, a two-day golf break and a new Taylor Made driver - one prize for each of the par 3 holes on the course.

The event was spearheaded by 3 prominent local businessmen, Shane McCrory (Bann Hire & Sales Limited), Stuart Jameson (SBM Contracts) and Gary Turkington (Turkington) who felt that the local area needed a stand-out, golfing event.

Shane McCrory, Managing Director of Bann Hire and Sales, said: “We could have sold places to four-ball teams twice over such was the demand. And next year we plan to do exactly that - with two shotgun starts."

The overall winners of this year’s event were from Rod Eng Consulting company with Jordan Rochford taking part – showing everyone that it not just the 2.0 Litre Hot Rod he has mastery off.

The Rod Eng boys beat the Lyness brothers, John McAlinden and Nick Thorpe into close second place with the team from Ballylisk Car Sales making up Top 3 once handicaps were taken into account.

“We wanted to really get people talking about the event and that’s one of the reasons that we brought Ballylisk on board for the Hole In One competition.” said Stuart Jameson, Managing Director of SBM Contracts.

“Unfortunately none of the golfers on day were successful with the Hole In One Challenge, so the brand new Haval goes back to Ballylisk Car Sales – for this year at least,” he added.

Nearest the Pin (on 4th and 6th holes) was Peter McComisky and Chris Quinn and the Longest Drive (on the 16th hole) was won by Cary McCloskey.

But the event was more than just prize winners and prizes. Indeed the overall event raised more than £10,000 with donations still coming in to headquarters.

“We just wanted to thank everyone who made the day happen,” said Gary Turkington (from Turkington). “From the golfers’ packed lunch, courtesy of Tesco and The Chalet, to the drinks trolley, courtesy of Andy Robinson, to the on course graphics, courtesy of AP Signs, to our sponsors on each hole and to my fellow business owners – Shane and Stuart, I just want to say ‘thanks’.”

The event will be back in 2026 and promises to be bigger and better. “We want this to become a new feature on the landscape of NI, not just Portadown. Next year planning starts next week.” added Shane McCrory.