Twenty-four intrepid golfers led by Branston's club captains Paul Allen & Lynne Woolley set off recently as dawn broke to complete four rounds of golf in a single day.


Longest Day 72 Hole Challenge Raises £5,000

Twenty-four intrepid golfers led by Branston's club captains Paul Allen & Lynne Woolley set off recently as dawn broke to complete four rounds of golf in a single day.

The challenge as in support of Stretton's Fountains School and SPARKS, the charity arm of London's Great Ormond Street Hospital for children.

'As the last shadows of the night were ebbing away & the first glimpses of sunlight were starting to appear we all teed off for our first round shotgun start, trying to spot our ball through the morning mist, drizzle & haze' said Paul Allen, club captain.

Lynne Woolley, lady captain added  'We charged through the first round in 3hrs 10 minutes thinking that was easy as we tucked into bacon butties & coffee served by our magnificent support team but it didn't last as the course times lengthened and the four hour third round was a killer'.

Although many questioned their lack of fitness training and preparation everyone survived to complete all four rounds in under sixteen hours and having covered nearly thirty miles.

Highlights of the day included an Eagle two from Pete Barker on the 4th. hole canning his second shot from 130 yds. and 9 year-old Harrison McInulty sinking the last putt of the day.

Branston's professionals team, led by Tom Storrar, golf manager, only narrowly missed out on their target of 50 birdies over the day and a sweepstake to guess the total number of balls lost was won by Colin Shaw with his prediction of 158.

'We had an absolutely lovely day and as our two captains teams all came down the 18th fairway together at 8.30p.m the welcome from the crowd on a jam packed clubhouse terrace was astonishing and quite emotional' said Lynne Woolley.

Tom Storrar, Branston's golf manager, summing up the day said, 'The golf and good fellowship by all the players, their support team & spectators showed what it is like to be a member at Branston'.

It is expected that the Longest Day Challenge will have raised around £5,000 for Fountains School in Stretton, Burton on Trent and SPARKS at Great Ormond Street Hospital, the 2019 Captains' charities.

Longest Day Challenge teams were:

Paul Allen, Bobby Cliff, Paul Richens, Mark Pegg 

Lynne Woolley, Issi Bryon, Susie Spruce, Bev Doughty 

Jon Orme, Rachel Orme, Pete Barker, Charlotte Barker 

Tom Storrar, Ross Ward, James Wilkinson, Nick Russell 

Duncan White, Dave Barlow, Ethan Pepperall, Richard Harper 

Michael Earp, Matt Moran, Fran McInulty, Dave Rycroft

More information: branstonclub.co.uk   

 

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