Granted, I might be slinging a considerable millstone around my neck but, as 2014 rushes by, with March nearly upon us, I thought it would be a good idea to post weekly updates on our progress towards completing our mammoth golfing challenge - to play golf for 24hrs & raise money for the On Course Foundation
So, here we are with 15 weeks to go until tee off. On the surface, it sounds like a very long time to get prepared but, in reality, it's not very long at all, considering all the elements that need to come together. That said, I do feel like the basics are all in place.
We have an enthusiastic and committed team of intrepid golfers who are willing to test their physical & mental strength over 24hrs.
We have two fantastically supportive golf clubs, who are willing to let us take over their venues for a full day and run roughshod over their tee sheets as we plough through the holes at great* speed.
We have ourselves a financial target for fundraising - right now, when looking at our page (www.bmycharity.com/golfathon), £10,000 seems like a lofty ambition but I firmly believe we will achieve this.
We are also supporting a young & exciting charity, who have achieved so many great results in their short history but, with the support of everyone who donates to the cause, have so much more to give. We are really looking forward to meeting some of the members who have benefited from the charity's work, as well as playing a few holes with them on the day.
So, with all this great planning in place and plenty of time left until we get going, what's the concern? What else is pending?
The world record - we believe that our approach to tackling this challenge (six golfers; two courses; medal play; 24hrs; walking) has not been attempted before or, at least, not in the context of setting a record with the Guinness folks. Now that we have confirmed the format that we're going to play - we toyed with Stableford or Scramble as options before deciding on Medal play - we can now put the case forward to the powers that be to enable us to put a marker in the sand for future groups of equally idiotic golfers to surpass.
Publicity - if you follow me on Twitter, you may have seen your timeline clogged up with my endless requests for retweets from well-known, high profile & influential people around the world of golf & beyond. This generated some satisfying results, such as a couple of the Sky Sports golf team and Sir Nick Faldo himself. To come, we understand that The Telegraph are going to do some coverage in the lead up to the event, as well as various local newspapers. Hopefully this will inspire people to put their hand in their pocket and help support this cause.
Fitness - hmm, yes. This challenge will present a completely new set of physical & mental tests for us all, the likes of which we've not really experienced before. Some of the group did a Land's End-John o'Groats bike ride a couple of years ago which at least spread the physical pain out over a longer period of time. I recall the 72-hole Macmillan Longest Day challenge I did in 2011, and the physical wreck I was for a few days afterwards - on that basis, completing more than double that amount of golf could produce some interesting results.
Practice - setting aside the abysmal weather that has recently been bestowed upon this fair isle, there is a concern about having sufficient opportunity to put in a decent stretch of training. Playing 18 holes once a month isn't going to cut the mustard, so we all need to be sure we are preparing properly. We have a 36-hole day pencilled in for mid-April and then a 72-hole practice about a month after that. I really don't know if that will do the job - I guess we'll find out at some point during the night of the 12 June.
So that's the first of these weekly updates complete - not much more to add really except that if you've stuck with it and read all of my rambling, and feel sufficiently moved to support us, please visit www.bmycharity.com/golfathon - anything you can give will be hugely influential.
I am the Part-Time Golfer
*this speed may well diminish as the day progresses
