Macmillan Longest Day Challenge
By: Adam Smith | Tue 06 Aug 2013
It’s actually quite hard to describe the feeling coming off the 18th green for the fourth and final time in a day.
A mixture of relief, sadness and happiness all rolled into one, along with the feeling of numbness through your body after thinking back on the task that you’ve just undertaken.
That task in our case was 16 hours and ten minutes of golf in a day with only a shade under an hour spent off the course replenishing the bags or having a cold shower at lunch; a time when food should be on the menu. It was a case of shower first and eat on the move to both make the next tee time and also not to stop, the minute you stop the aches and pains become a reality.
Sportsmen that are ‘in the zone’ always talk about adrenaline. They talk about how it affects their game. In golf it’s known to make you hit a seven iron 200 yards because you’re that pumped up. I’m not saying that happened at all but I can now relate in some way with what they feel. It’s a case of just not stopping. Not stopping to thinking about the 54 holes you’ve played previously and not looking ahead to the final 18 you have in front of you it’s all play in the minute sort of thinking, take every hole at a time.
Team Wolfpack
My playing partners Patrick Giffney, James Povey and I have just under taken what we described as the hardest yet most enjoyable and rewarding day we’ve ever had on a golf course. They’re a couple of my best mates and we had a great laugh but don’t under estimate how hard the task was as there were a couple of times especially late into the afternoon where you know not to say anything after a tired poor swing that resulted in a lost ball or a blobbed hole.
I wouldn’t have it any other way though.
My first recommendation, if you’re ever thinking about giving this day a go is to play with people that you feel comfortable with. Comfortable enough to be in that position I talked about after a bad shot. Comfortable enough to have a lot of banter with during rounds and when the time’s right give them that gee up they need. It was a team effort no doubt about that.
The Longest Day
I first remember seeing the challenge advertised two years ago. I was too late to enter then and I was working abroad last year so I saw someone re-tweet a message from Macmillan around April time and I knew then that this was going to be the year.
There’s obviously a lot that goes into organising the day, some little bits that you forget about and have to organise at the last minute. There’s your team for starters. How many do you want and how many indeed fancy taking up the challenge? For me personally three is perfect. Not just golfing wise but time wise too. Even though teams have obviously done it with four, but in a team of three it means you’re not ridiculously rushing around. We didn’t once not play a hole because of time or picked up when there was a chance of scoring because we had to get to the next tee. We played four swift rounds of golf that was still very enjoyable.
Next is the course, if you’re all a member somewhere then it shouldn’t be a problem, just pick a day when nothing is on and confirm with the pro and the staff that you’re going ahead, going to be there very early and you’ll be fine. I was very lucky in the fact I have some very good friends that were willing to help me out and were in a position to. So when you have those to areas sorted you’re on the home straight, there are just the little facts to consider.
The course we played on was just in unbelievable condition. The Nottinghamshire golf club hosts 36 of in my opinion the best all-round holes in the county if not at a push the country. It’s a great golfing resort that’s in the heart of England which if you get a chance to play either course I suggest you take it. A few days before we played the Trilby Tour was in town and a month before that The Jamega Tour; so we were in good company. Rob Smith, Director of Golf there couldn’t have been more accommodating along with all his staff on the day which all added into the whole experience. The Open and The Masters courses offer two distinctly different tests something which if you can find around where you want to partake in your challenge then I recommend doing. Playing the same 18 holes four times we all agreed would have been mentally demanding especially teeing it up for the final round. The fact that everything was in such close proximity was a huge bonus as well. I must also thank the members we encounted as well from The Nottinghamshire. We asked to play through three times during the course of the day and each time we were met with politeness, some good jovial banter (especially about my pink trousers) and also so many needed words of encouragement and good will so a big thank you to those we spoke to.
Countdown
Macmillan send you out an information pack around ten days before your big day telling you about scoring, what to do afterwards regarding how to register your scores and donate your money. That last point is the next thing to set-up. Even though it’s the most important, if you don’t have a team and a course you can’t start raising money. When you do, obviously it’s time to start asking, don’t forget the more you raise the better it looks on your team, you’ll be surprised to how much you raise between the two/three/four of you.
The little facts I mentioned earlier I think make the day. On the day when you need that bit of inspiration looking around and seeing your team all in the same shirts or just same colours just feels different so I recommend having a couple of colours in mind to have a half-time change. Bunker Mentality were on hand to supply us with two great shirts and hats that got us noticed not only as we were all wearing the same but because they were eye catching good quality shirts. Recognised as a quality worldwide golfing brand, you see more and more people wearing Bunker as you did before and I’m not surprised.
Then of course you have food and drink to think about and remember you’re covering four rounds of golf as well as lunch and afternoon snacks. My good mate Darren from Golfshake was the water boy for the day providing us with enough water, Redbull and Mars bars to keep us going.
I also provided my team with jobs throughout the rounds. I for example was the scorer, Pat was the media man, in charge of the video camera and round the clock tweets and James was the time keeper responsible for getting us on the first tee on time for every round; Keeps them on their toes but also take responsibility off you as a captain.
One last thing to think about before you tee off is your gear and in particular your bag. If you’re usually a carrier like myself, then I’d say one thing; don’t’.
The amount of food and drink you need, not to mention the strain of carrying all day will be too much and I highly doubt you’ll get though the day. If you have a trolley or if you can borrow one then I’d advise you do it. We were again very lucky and had a helping hand from SmartCaddy. The SC201e electric trolley was perfect for the day. Easy and quick to put together in the morning, up to 50 holes of battery life so a quick 25 minute charge between rounds three and four meant I had power for pretty much the majority of the day. They’re lightweight, very easy to use and I’d certainly think about buying one in the future.
Scoring
I’m not beating around the bush. This is physically demanding and you’re relying so much on your energy levels that sometimes you forget about playing golf. The weird thing is that’s when you play some of your best stuff. We all know how mentally tough the game is anyway and a lot of people, even the pros can overthink at times. So when we were coming to the end of round three and especially in round four we were seeing some of our best golf which also helps with time as if you’re all hitting fairways and greens the only direction you’re moving is forward.
We felt during the end of the day and even sitting reminiscing afterwards that we had been incredibly consistent. The scoring is the two best stableford scores combined on each hole. Unbelievably over the 72 holes we only didn’t score on one hole, and that was the 70th hole of the day. We had one hole with one point and a couple with two but most of the time we were scoring to par with four points a hole. Throw in the odd five, six seven pointers and in our case a couple of eights then you’re certainly doing well.
When I mentioned consistent, the score proved it as we scored 84, 84, 80 and 84 points across our four rounds. Whether it was just luck that when one player had a bad hole the other two scored then so be it. In golf you need a bit of luck let alone over 72 holes. We had 16 birdies between us which helped the scoring the scores I’ve entered my scores into Golfshake which proves that consistency was the key. I had three straight rounds of gross 78 and the final round an 84 which I guess goes with the flow of the day. I had three rounds where I had 31 putts and the first round 34 which again going on getting used to the speed of the green should about add up. It’s great that you can also track your fairways and greens hit through the website too. Anyone who’s interested in tracking their scores and looking at ways to improve your game, then sign up immediately.
Thank You
So there we were at 05.15am on the first tee and finally the last ball dropped in the hole at 21.25 in the evening to cap what was truly a remarkable day. What I described in the opening paragraphs still stands now. I thought that I wouldn’t want to pick up a golf club again for a long time but come Sunday I couldn’t wait to get out there again.
As I also mentioned I was lucky enough to be in a position to be helped out by some good friends who made the day possible. A big thank you to Darren at Golfshake, for all you did and provided for us from food, photos and your support of my idea to go ahead with the day. Rob at Bunker Mentality for the great shirts and making us look great during the long day, you’ve no idea what a motivational boost it was. Mike at SmartCaddy for the trolleys which actually made it possible for us to play 72 holes in a day. Rob at The Nottinghamshire along with former captain Nigel Hetherington who provided a golf course which was not only top quality in terms of the holes but the condition of the course was faultless.
Leyla Onal, the fundraising manager at Macmillan whom I met in London before the day itself helped us promote the day which in turn helped push the overall message of raising money for such a good cause:
“Longest Day Golf is a fab, fun way to raise money for people affected by cancer,” said Onal.
“The Macmillan team is with people affected by cancer every step of the way; we are the nurses and therapists, the experts on the end of the phone and the advisers telling you which benefits you’re entitled to. Every penny donated will make a difference.”
And last but certainly not least my playing partners, my team, the boys. It was a pleasure to raise money with you and then spend a great day on the golf course with you.
Same again next year?
To find out about many more ways to help and raise money for Macmillan visit their website.
There is still chance to donate to our page. Simply visit our Just Giving page and hit the donate button.
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