Yellowknife (Aug 27/03) - The clubhouse at the Yellowknife Golf Club did not resemble a place of repose for people about to hit the links on Saturday. It looked more like a party.

Sixty-three women were lending their skills and their pocketbooks to the 7th Annual Adlair Women's Open golf tournament.

This year's charity was the Yellowknife Food Bank. It received a chunk of change worth $5,400 from tournament organiser Joanne MacKinnon.

Clouds were low and ominous in the sky, but that didn't affect the spirit of the participants. "Weather doesn't seem to deter the golfers, " says MacKinnon.

This year had a special addition to the regular events of chipping and putting contests, and a silent auction. A former volunteer came up with the idea of a caddy auction to raise more funds this year.

Nine intrepid male volunteers put themselves on the auction block for the popular new event.

"We decided we would try it this year," says MacKinnon. "There was no shortage of male caddys."

At the beginning, auctioneer Tracy St. Denis couldn't rouse the crowd to spend more than $50 on Dave Nicholson, even though he had donned a kilt for the occasion.

Once everyone got warmed up though, the bidding took off.

Course groundskeeper, Cory Van Thyne went for the most cash, at $200 to a group of four players.

Krista Sansom's group tried to purchase Van Thyne, but lost out to a higher bidder. "We knew who we wanted from the get-go," she says.

Sansom's foursome settled on Sam Tibbut for the more affordable price of $100. Tibbut was fetching beverages and bags before the ladies left the lodge.

Why do the caddys do it? "It's for a good cause," says Steve O'Brien, who went for a whopping $180.