As some of you will be aware, for the last 5 years, a group of us have undertaken the Longest Day Golf Challenge in memory of Sandy McNair. For those who never met Sandy, he was a charming man and a great colleague who was entering a very exciting phase of his life.  He and his wife Fleur had not long had their first child, Ross.  Sandy’s career was blooming and he had just embarked on the first stage of the admission process to join us as a FSI Partner. One day this all ended abruptly when he cut short a business trip feeling unwell, went home and, in a few small hours, died. Many of us made the journey to the West of Scotland for his funeral and experienced first-hand the outpouring of grief at a life cut tragically short and witnessed the affection that remained for him in the small community in which he had grown up.

 

On our return, a group of us decided that his name should not be forgotten.  He was one of us. On the back of this the Sandy McNair Memorial longest day challenge was born.

 

Unfortunately tragedy is a lonely beast and too frequently seeks company. Fleur, Sandy’s widow, had a terrible fall a couple of years ago which left her in a coma.  She was making great progress in terms of recovery but started having occasional seizures and tragically she also passed away in November last year.

 

The challenge expanded

 

In previous years an intrepid group of would-be golfers have completed golf’s ultimate challenge. Four rounds on separate golf courses, 72 holes in a single day, 30 plus miles and an awful lot of shots.  This has involved a start at around 4am, a finish around 10 pm and a lot of walking, carrying clubs and dashing between golf courses. The challenge has seen fine men such as Steve Dean and Kevin O’Reilly complete the challenge before gracefully passing the baton to others. Over the previous years a core of Nick Sandall, Steve Barnett, Graham Dickson and David Jones has emerged and has battled illness, injury, obesity and a general lack of fitness to complete the challenge before falling into hot baths and medicinal vats of red wine.

 

This year it has become serious. With the passing of Fleur, the team have decided that we should stretch ourselves even further in the hope of encouraging people to sponsor us. This year we are attempting 93 holes, covering all 7 golf courses on the Isle of Arran. With 56 miles of driving between courses, the logistics of this challenge and the physical effort required are extreme. I am sure that Sandy and Fleur would be both proud and amused at our efforts to keep their memories alive.

 

The charitable part

 

We have raised money for a number of good causes in the McNair name. This year, we have decided to support the firm’s charities.

 

We always welcome the incentive of sponsorship amounts by birdie and eagle to keep us focused throughout but also welcome traditional contributions.

 

Thank you for your continued support

 

Steve, Nick, Graham and David

Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving – they’ll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they’ll send your money directly to the charity. So it’s the most efficient way to donate – saving time and cutting costs for the charity.

So please dig deep and donate now.