56th IGFR WC Hamburg (International Golfing Fellowship of Rotarians) News, WC Dear Rotarian Friends, Our special congratulations go to the Worldchampion Zelimir Feitl from Croatia, whe defended his title after a thrilling fight with three days of grossplay. Germany won the Nations Cup, followed by Switzerland and Austria. During the competition we had fine weather and played on four wonderful golf courses Gut Kaden, Walddörfer, Treudelberg and Falkenstein, all situated within the area of Hamburg. A special highlight was our RI president Barry Rassin, who gave us despite a lot of work in preparation of the following Convention the honour to play the first World Championship drive with a golden ball at the opening of the tournament on May 27th on the golf course of Treudelberg. A special thanks goes to the home organization committee, led by Bruno Meissner, Günther Strube and Dieter Löchel with unshelfish support by their wives Barbara Meissner, Jutta Strube and Christa Löchel. Together with a lot of honorary assistants they took care of a perfect progress and some unforgettable moments during the opening ceremony, the evening on the Hamburg harbor and Elbe river on a boat, and the prize giving ceremony with a charity raffle during a final gala dinner. They also were responsible for the attractive program for partners and friends, showing them the cities of Hamburg, Lübeck and Lüneburg full of historic places because of the former Hanse. Also perfect was the support by the Hamburg Golf Association with five referees taking care of the golf rules. A special thanks goes also to the sponsors, because without their support it would not be possible to organize such an event. Last but not least I would like to thank the participants. They made this event to a tournament of fellowship, and helped that the organizers of this World Championship will be able to transfer on the World Polio Day on 24th of October 2019 a considerable amount to Rotary international. Finally one important note: the website www.igfr-hamburg-2019 will probably stay online until 30th September 2019. There you can find the leaderboard and a lot of photos taken during the World Championship. During the next days this will be completed by a movie of 10 minutes, which also can be seen on YouTube. Hamburg was a fantastic event, but now we are looking forward. Personally I am full of enthusiasm regarding the 57th World Championship of the International Golfing Fellowship of Rotarians in Morocco from November 8th until 15th 2020, and hope to meet you there again. Prof. Dr. Friedhelm E. Zanella 17. JUNE 2019 / BY WERNER |