Waihī Beach: ‘Foxy’ ready for homecoming charity fundraiser

BMW PGA Championship winner and top-28-ranked golfer Ryan Fox is back home to host a charity fundraiser.

After topping the leaderboard to win the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth, England, in September — the biggest win of his career so far — Fox will be returning to New Zealand to host the fourth edition of The Fox Fishing & Golf Festival at Waihī Beach.

The event raises funds for Waihī Beach Lifeguard Services and Waihī Beach Volunteer Coastguard, and has raised more than $100,000 since the event began in 2020.

“I’m stoked to be coming home to host The Fox Fishing & Golf Festival once again,” says Fox. “It’s going to be a great weekend for people to come together and have some fun and friendly competition, while also supporting two important local charities.”

The Fox Fishing & Golf Festival takes place on three days (December 7-9) in a team format combining fishing and golf.

Teams compete in a day of fishing followed by a day of golf with Fox playing one hole with each team.

There are 24 teams of four already confirmed for this year’s event, including one from the United States.

This year, for the first time, there is also an opportunity for one lucky online raffle winner (drawn before the event) to be Ryan’s caddie and fishing buddy for the weekend. Complete with a gear pack, the raffle’s total prize is valued at $70,000.

Joining Ryan are his celebrity skippers including rowing hero Eric Murray, Olympic trampoline bronze medallist Dylan Schmidt, Olympic rowing gold medallist Tom Mackintosh, former European Tour golf champion Mark Brown, and Ryan’s father, All Blacks legend Grant Fox.

“As much fun as the weekend always is, I’m also super-proud to be able to give back to the Waihi Beach community through this event. It’s very important to me. Especially if the fishing can come up to par with my golf!”