Competition co-ordinator Ian Heard said the club was averaging $850 a day from the competition.

Mr Heard said the number of entrants trying their luck each day was well above that of previous years.

The competition is run by the Warrnambool East Rotary Club with funds going towards the Rotary House project that will provide accommodation for the families and others connected to patients at Warrnambool Base Hospital.

Up to yesterday, three people had scored a hole-in-one since the competition began on Boxing Day.

Mr Heard attributed the increase in entrants to more sponsors’ signs making the competition site off Viaduct Road on Warrnambool’s foreshore much more visible this season.

“The site stands out terrifically,” Mr Heard said.

Entrants are hitting thousands of balls each day in the hope of winning money on the day and the chance to be in the running to win a Nissan Micra valued at more than $14,500.

Mr Heard said all hole-in-one winners received $200 while those who got the ball nearest the pin (NTP) each day received vouchers worth $100.

All hole-in-one and NTP winners will take part in a shootout on January 27, with whoever scores an ace, or goes closest, on the day taking home the brand-new Micra. 

Mr Heard said a fund-raising effort throughout the south-west had boosted the $1.6 million needed for the Rotary House project. 

The fund-raiser was boosted by a $1000 donation from the Warrnambool Combined Pensioners Association.

Association treasurer Murray Bartlett said  a $1000 donation was also given by the association to the South West Healthcare’s $141,000 appeal for a reconstruction microscope.