Staff report

DESTIN — Regatta Bay Golf and Yacht Club’s recent three-day 20th Anniversary Celebration raised $27,000 for One Hopeful Place and $9,000 for the Emerald Coast Honor Games, organizers announced Monday.

“The community at large and the homeowners of Regatta Bay came out in a huge way to support the charities and the event itself,” said Dwight Lorenzen, managing partner of Regatta Bay Investors, Ltd., the owner of Regatta Bay Golf and Yacht Club.

One Hopeful Place is currently a 20-bed residential housing facility in Fort Walton Beach for homeless men and veterans desiring to make a change in their lives. A new 75-bed facility is under construction, and the facility will eventually also accept women and children.

“Being a relatively new organization, having partnerships with groups like Regatta Bay is so pivotal to our continued success at One Hopeful Place,” said Nathan Monk, the facility’s executive director. “These dollars translate into lives that will be dramatically transformed through job placement and housing.” 

Emerald Coast Honor Games is an annual fitness competition that uses CrossFit-style workouts to raise funds for servicemembers, veterans and their families. In its first year, the Emerald Coast Honor Games raised over $50,000 for four local charities: Okaloosa Sheriff’s Star Charities, Healing Paws for Warriors, Special Forces Association and the Combat Control Association.

The anniversary celebration, held March 15-17, drew a crowd of more than 300 people. The three-day event opened with a tour of four Destin Custom Home Builders’ homes in Regatta Bay, followed by a Champagne toast, food and music. The next day featured the Regatta Bay Golf and Yacht Club Celebrity Pro Am Live Auction, which paired celebrities and professional golfers with other team members for the next day’s Celebrity Pro Am Golf Torunament. Celebrities included two-time major champion professional PGA golfer John Daly and Major League Baseball Hall of Fame player Bill Mazeroski. More than 200 people participated in the tournament as players, sponsors or volunteers. 

For more information on Regatta Bay, visit www.regattabay.com.