Golf for science: charity tournament raises nearly $10M CAD for hospital

The Gulf Quest 4 Charity Tournament (GQCT) has taken another step towards its $10 million CAD goal to fund research at the Ottawa Hospital. The seventh annual golf tournament, held on June 2, raised about $9.5 million CAD, according to organizer Greg Moore. Moore expressed confidence that next year the amount raised will significantly exceed the planned $10 million CAD.

"We hope that next year we will reach this amount and surpass our planned schedule by two years," he noted.

The event featured 200 golfers who were spread across 27 courses at the Canadian Golf and Country Club. The event lasted all day and included various on-course activities, such as craft beer tastings and numerous contests.

"We are happy that we are able to raise enough money each year to contribute to clinical care research," added Moore.

Dr. Shawn Aaron, a senior scientist at the Ottawa Hospital and a specialist in lung diseases, emphasized that the hospital is a world leader in setting medical practice standards and treating patients.

"We are a research hospital and have trained many physicians and scientists to conduct these studies, and in fact, we are leading the world," said Dr. Aaron.

He also noted that this week, a study from the Ottawa Hospital was published in the New England Journal of Medicine, one of the top medical journals in the world.

Although all tickets for this year's event were sold out, those interested could make a donation through the Ottawa Hospital's website. Moore mentioned that tickets for next year should be booked in March, as they usually sell out within three weeks.