Around this time, they floated the idea of having an annual charity golf tournament. It was a perfect fit for dozens of golfers who originally hailed from the Indian subcontinent and who now had an opportunity to contribute to a worthy charity while having a swell of time putt-putting!

In the first year, the tournament attracted about 80 players, decent start by nascent organization, but not good enough for its ambitious founding members. The First Five looked for support and ways and means of expanding the scope and membership of the Association. That’s when the next Best Five golfers came on board to pitch in with their talent, resources and unbridled enthusiasm to take the Association gloriously into the 21st century. The year was 2000 and the New Best Five were:

1. Resham Sidhu
2. Dr. Rakesh Uppal
3. Tara Dhamrait
4. Gurpreet Saggu
5. Kuldip Sehmbi

Together they scored a Perfect Ten! Following the joining of the new members, the ICGA started growing at an enviable pace. The Annual Charity Golf tournaments were now held at some of Ontario’s most prestigious courses, the participation from the community climbed to an all time high, bringing in donations that now could be dispersed to more needy organizations. It was decided that the proceeds from the tournament would go to various charities, which included:

1. William Osler Health Centre
2. Eye Foundation of Canada
3. Sick Children’s Hospital
4. Pinglewara Society
5. Ontario Khalsa Darbar

Of course, golf in a country that is for most part of the year, wrapped up in warm clothing, is not the easiest of games to adopt. When the ground gets its first dusting of snow, the golfers lose a bit of their good cheer. For a bunch of the sunny (yes, they are all from the sunny South Asia) golfers, it was not acceptable that the weather would throw a dampener of their passion. The ICGA directors and members, the go-getters that they are, were not willing to sit around fireplaces ‘talking’ of their game rather than ‘playing’ it. Quickly they got to scouring the tropics, much research was done, and hey presto, they had found a year round course, that would remain warm, but what’s more important, quite accessible from Toronto. The place was called Playa Grande, nestled in the lush green environs of the Dominican Republic. For the past five years, this group of adventurous Indo-Canadian golfers have taken off to the DR perhaps around the time our geese begin their southward migration, to play their favourite game.

In all these forays, the ICGA has not forgotten the fundamental reasons why they came together in the first place – to play a neat game of golf, to boost friendship and good will among the community, and very importantly, through a increasingly popular Charity Golf tournament, to raise some money for some excellent charities.)