Andrew Parkes

126 DIFFERENT GOLF HOLE CHALLENGE

Fundraising for Multiple Sclerosis Trust (MS Trust)
£6,690
raised
by 123 supporters
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Participants: Kieran Griffin, Steve Gilles, Andrew Parkes
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Story

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WE DID IT! WE PLAYED 126 DIFFERENT GOLF HOLES IN 14HRS 55MINS

A couple of facts about what we were going to do:

Walk and play golf over 7 different courses during daylight. (15 hours hopefully)Play 126 different golf holes 44,000 yards of golf holes (plus the walks in between) Par 504 (each playing our own ball in less than 550 shots each, hopefully) 7 mins and 6 secs average per hole (includes travelling between the courses) Approx. 50 miles to cover including transfers

----AND THIS IS WHAT WE DID ----

We kicked off at Moor Park just on 4am, in the dark with flashing golfballs and feeling great after a couple of hours sleep.  Kindly Ian Wheeler turned up to caddy for us, nutter, but was a great help.  We flew round the West and High courses only meeting the greenkeepers on the last hole at 7.15am.  Then we packed up the gipsy golfing caravan (kierans range rover) with two trollies batteries, food, clubs, waterproofs and of course Vaseline.  Onto Sandy Lodge. We beat the members to the first tee, just, and after a good coat of vaseline ran off down the first.  As we didn't have a caddy here we were left to out own devices and realised we had missed 3 holes out, so we went back and completed them and finished the round by 9.15am.  At Batchworth Park we were greeted by our smiling caddy, Fred the dog, and his owner and driver Clive Weatherhead.  The weather turned grotty and we began to run into members, but Clive cleared a path using his charm and of course Fred the dog and we roared round in 2.5hrs.  This put us an hours ahead of time.  The Golf was going ok, Kieran had had a couple of birdies and broke 80 round the High course at Moor Park so was over the moon, Andrew had a dire hook going on and couldn't hole a putt and Steve showed signs of brilliance only to have a meltdown of form when people were watching.  At Northwood we were greeted by Alan Baker, fully clad in rain gear as it was peeing down.  We duly got dressed up and commenced battle at about 12.20pm.  The round was a mixed bag like the weather and the vaseline between the toes started to be pushed to the limit.  Steve suddenly wished he had spent more time reappling between rounds, fortunatly our spirits were lifted with the weather and we were onto Denham by 3pm.  Andrews dad and Elaine kindly met us to caddy. We had an enjoyable walk until the last 6 holes where Kieran began to struggle with cramping feet, clearly he had neglected some of the vaseline time while driving between the courses.  We passed through the 100th hole at 4.10pm.  Feeling confident we arrived at West Herts at around 6.15pm and to be greeted by a pint from Kierans dad, Andrew was the only one who could face necking it.  Strangely Andrew felt quite drunk for 2 holes but then the pain in the feet returned and began to progress to the knees.  Kierans hobble became more pronounced as his feet became more solid, Steve, who came late to the vaseline club began to suffer with bleeding toes.  Still we could see the finish line and we picked up our game for a stunning bogey bogey finish in front of the the assembled, very supportive, friends and family.   The 126th hole was completed at 8.40pm and we went for a well earned pint. 

 

A great big thanks to all who helped on the day.  A massive thanks if you have donated to the charity, it really is amazing how generous you all are and the charities will benefit enormously.  Thanks Steve and Kieran for being great playing partners for the day, we did it, 126 different holes, walked in one day!  (Thanks also to the large pot of vaseline!)

 

For the record it was a 44,000 yard, Par 504.  Steve completed it +130 over, Kieran +81 over and Andrew +79 over.  Had all the putts gone in we would all have been under Par!  We used 34 pairs of socks, 6 shirts, 8 batteries, 14 golf balls, 8 pairs of shoes, 4 golf buggies, 2 electric trollies and 1 Family sized pot of vaseline.

 

If you haven't already you can still donate using this page.

If you play golf and you know what a 36 hole day feels like imagine tripling it and then adding a round more for luck, if you don’t play its way longer than a marathon but also up and down hills battering and chasing a little white ball!! 

 

Kieran Griffin, h’cap 5.  Steve Gilles, h’cap 7. Andrew Parkes, h’cap 5.

Our route and schedule look like this Start 4am Moor Park GC 36, 7.30am Sandy Lodge GC, 9.45am Batchworth Park, 12.45pm Northwood GC, 3.45pm Denham GC, 6.30pm West Herts GC FINISH 9.30ish

Please sponsor us any amount to complete this challenge.  Our sore feet and aching limbs will hopefully carry us to the finish at West Herts GC @ 9.30pm Monday 18th JUNE 2007.

 

 

 

 

Through Just Giving.com all donations/sponsorships go straight to the MS Trust or The Willow Foundation .  The MS Trust has provided support to family members and friends over the years and Willow given opportunities to terminally ill young adults in need of a moral boosting day out.

Andrews’ younger brother Jonathan has been battling with MS for the last 7 years.  Now 30 he was a keen golfer before Multiple Sclerosis disease robbed him of the ability to walk, see, move voluntarily or even eat.  His strength in dealing with the adversity dealt by this incurable disease is an inspiration to us.  We hope to raise as much as possible for these charities to help other young adults in such difficult situations.

BEST WISHES,    Kieran    Steve   Andrew

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Many thanks for your support.

 

SPONSORS

www.golftrolleybatteries.uk   for powering our golf trollies all day

www.addisonlee.com for our transport needs

Thanks go to Denham GC, Northwood GC, Sandy Lodge GC, Moor Park GC, Batchworth Park GC, West Herts GC for allowing us courtesy on this day, I doubt we will hold up play.

About the charity

The MS Trust is a UK charity which is here to help everyone make sense of MS. We are here for everyone affected by MS, from the moment of diagnosis and throughout their journey. We're here today, tomorrow and every day after that.

Donation summary

Total raised
£6,690.00
+ £1,241.87 Gift Aid
Online donations
£6,065.00
Offline donations
£625.00

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