Black Mountain Charity Event Raises 3 million Baht

Three million baht was raised for local charities at the second annual Bangkok Post- Black Mountain Charity Golf and Gourmet Dinner held at Thailand’s top golf course in January.

The event followed last year’s highly successful inaugural occasion, when money was raised to help schools affected by the floods in late 2011.

Held on Children’s Day, January 12, the event featured golf and a gourmet component in which 15 executive chefs from five-star hotels, Thai Airways and Black Mountain itself, prepared keynote dishes for 200 guests and participants.

The collaboration between the Bangkok Post Foundation and Black Mountain Golf Club has become so successful that the event has quickly become a major philanthropic activity of the foundation, which was established in 1982. Since then, it has supported more than 500 students in their education, 58 of whom have graduated from universities.

Chairman of the Post Publishing Company board of directors, Pridiyathorn Devakul, said the foundation was currently supporting 258 students in kindergartens, secondary, tertiary and vocational education.

Black Mountain’s general manager, Harald Elisson, said the second annual event was a great success. “We feel we have created a great platform on which we can continue to delight our guests while raising money for charity. The third event next year will be even more impressive.”

One of the highlights of this year’s event was the participation of leading tour pros Johan Edfors, Rikard Karlberg, Mikko Ilonen, Simon Yates who collectively conducted a clinic before the golf tournament began.

All said they were delighted to take part in the charity format. “The game was fun and the dinner prepared by many top chefs was the best I’ve attended,” Swedish star, Edfors, said.

“To see how many people turned up wanting to support charity and enjoy the Black Mountain golf course is amazing,” Rikard Karlberg added.

The event’s appeal is undoubtedly enhanced by Black Mountain’s stature as Thailand’s best golf course, so named at the Asia Pacific Golf Summit in both 2011 and 2012, and its inclusion last year as the first course in Thailand to be named in US Golf Digest’s list among the Best 100 Courses Outside the United States.