The Jeff Wall Classic started as a round of golf between a few blokes to remember a good mate. Four years later it has turned into a sponsored event with a waiting list of participants.
Four years ago Jeff Wall was jogging around the Bluff, stopped to talk to a friend and suffered a heart attack. Jeff spent 10 days in intensive care, but died, aged 61.
He was a keen sportsman, surfer, a life member of Ocean Grove Football Club and an avid golfer at Lonsdale Links.
Good mate and golfing buddy David O’Connor said the event had initially just meant to be a hit of golf to remember Jeff’s life.
“We had a golf get together organised anyway and it happened a few weeks after Jeff passed away and we just inadvertently called it the Jeff Wall Classic,” he said.
“We had an old pewter mug from the op shop, the cheapest one I could find, and engraved it and that was it.
“And then all these people heard about it and said ‘we would have come’. So we had it again, and had 30 people and still some said they missed out.
“And then we had 60 the next year and this year we’ve got a waiting list. We have 85.”
Jeff’s daughter, Ashleigh said her father was “the dad that every dad should be”.
“Since dad passed I have realised what a good friend he was to many people,” she said.
Ashleigh hopes the event will encourage others to be more aware of their health. Several participants of past events have had heart problems since and have sought medical help.
“It’s not just about raising funds, it’s more about getting people together, having a conversation, checking in on their mates, remembering dad and getting people talking,” she said.
“He was a really generous man with his time and always checked in on his mates and was loyal to family and friends.”
The 2021 Jeff Wall Classic ambrose golf tournament is on Friday, March 19 at Lonsdale Links, Point Lonsdale. Major sponsors are Bendigo Bank East Ivanhoe, LC Water and TG Freeman and Associates.
All funds raised through raffles, auctions and prizes will be donated to The Heart Foundation.
