KARALYNN BURKE

Karalynn Burke recently retired and decided to use her newfound downtime to strengthen her community. Although it wasn’t Karalynn who led the bid that brought the 2023 Canadian Women's Amateur Golf Championships to Halifax, that was the hard work of the team at the new Ashburn Golf Club in Fall River, as the Chair of the event, she was integral to bringing the event to life, during some pretty challenging times. 

She worked closely with her team that included Ashburn management, Golf Canada, and members of Ashburn that stepped up and volunteered their time to fill some significant roles. “I was surrounded by an amazing team of people,” said Karalynn. Together they found enough volunteers, generous financial supporters, and overcame massive flooding issues on the golf course to deliver an incredible event for the competitors and spectators alike.

WHY SHE DID IT

Karalynn is a member at Ashburn Golf Club. When Ashburn management approached her about chairing the event, the timing was great, and she said “Sure. Why not? Being able to support Women's Amateur Golf in Canada and showcasing our golf course and province was an easy decision.” And she was happy she did. “It was a lot of work, but it was very rewarding. The highlights were working with an amazing group of men and women who worked tirelessly to ensure a great player and spectator experience, watching the high caliber of golf that was played including our own local talent, and of course hearing how much everyone loved being in our province.”

BIG OUTCOMES

More than 250 visitors came to Halifax for the three-day golf championship. “We had the best players in Women’s Amateur Golf from around the world come to Nova Scotia for this event,” said Karalynn. “Some likely wouldn’t have come otherwise.” 

 The Championship garnered more than $230,000 in economic impact. “People just love to be here. Many people took advantage of the time they had here to explore Halifax and the surrounding areas such as Peggy’s Cove and Chester. Some even made a family summer holiday out of coming here. That was really fun to see,” said Karalynn.