Charity Golf Event
80 HOLES IN FIVE COUNTRIES IN UNDER FORTY HOURS
Sunday, 25th to Tuesday, 27th June 2017
Having completed two charity golf challenges by playing 75 holes in a day in 2012 to mark the club’s 75th anniversary and 36 holes in a day in nine different counties in 2014, it was going to be difficult to come up with another equally or more testing challenge for the 80th season of the club in 2016-17.
But there was no need to worry although looking back It is hard to recall if it is Bob Baker or Steve Beale who should be held responsible for coming up with the near impossible and clearly absurd idea of attempting to play 80 holes………in under forty hours………in five different countries!
Despite the enormity of the task this did not put off Bob, Steve or David Mayne but even for their organisational skills this was going to be a tough one so reinforcements were enlisted in the shape of John Cooper of 19th Hole Golf Getaways specialising in golf holidays tailored to meet the clients requirements – 80 holes in five countries in under two days probably not being the usual requirements!
Not only was John of great assistance in finding the courses to play and booking the accommodation, in what must have been a moment of madness or a few too many beers, he also volunteered to take part in the challenge!
Plans were drawn up to attempt the challenge. This involved an early meet up on day one to play 18 holes in Kent, a trip through the Channel Tunnel and a further 18 holes in France. Then on to Belgium for a good nights sleep in preparation for day 2 which began with 18 holes on the course linked to the Belgian Hotel, 18 holes in Germany with the final 8 holes being played in the Netherlands.
The charities to be supported by the 80 hole golf challenge were the Alzheimer’s Society and the Motor Neurone Disease Association.
PUBLICITY
The charity golf challenge received a fair amount of publicity in the lead up to the event. Bob Baker, Steve Beale, David Mayne and Nick Sparks visited the Tudor Park Marriott Hotel and Country Club in Bearsted, Kent on the 18th November 2016 where the first tee shot would be played early on Sunday, 25th June to take a ‘publicity photograph’. This photograph appeared in an article in the Rye Observer on Friday, 13th January 2017.
Team photographs were taken with the 1st and 2nd teams promoting the charities being supported and both pictures appeared alongside articles in the local papers – the 1st team article in the Battle, Bexhill, Hastings and Rye Observers reported on the 80 hole challenge while the 2nd team article in the Hastings and Rye Observers related to the golf day being held on Thursday, 18th May 2017 to raise funds for the charities and also increase interest in the challenge.
CHARITY GOLF DAY
A charity golf day was held at the Weald Of Kent Golf Course in Headcorn on Thursday, 18th May 2017, not only to raise money towards the charity fund raising target but also to promote the 80 hole challenge.
Bob Baker, Steve Beale, John Cooper and David Mayne met up at the Weald of Kent course on Saturday, 25th February to arrange details for the day and also take the opportunity to take a few more photographs!
Twenty four golfers took part in the charity golf day in six teams of four players. It was the Cooper’s Collective team made up of John Cooper, Stewart Chance, Wayne Collier and Adrian Fisk that triumphed by six points and were awarded the trophy which was kindly donated by Tower Trophies of Evesham in recognition of the charity fund raising efforts by the football club. Colin Young of Beale’s Disparate Desperados was the best individual golfer of the day.
The golf day added over £1,000 to the fund raising total.
THE CHALLENGE
THE PLAYERS
DAY ONE
HOLES 1 TO 18
It was an early meet on Sunday, 25th June at the Tudor Park Marriott Hotel and Country Club in Bearsted near Maidstone. for the daunting challenge that lay ahead.
Tudor Park is nestled in 200 acres of the picturesque Kent countryside and is a 6,085 yard par 70 18-hole championship course with tight narrow fairways surrounded by mature pine trees and with undulating greens.
A few photographs were taken before the first tee shot was struck at around 6.15 am with Bob Baker joining Adam Forrest and David Mayne for the opening 18 holes while Steve Beale, John Cooper, Richard Forrest and Nick Sparks made up the other group.
After completing the round there was time for a welcome coffee or orange juice in the clubhouse where it was an unexpected but pleasant surprise to bump into two players with Icklesham Casuals connections in Dale Glazier and Martyn Goldfinch who were about to play a mere 18 holes!
It was then a drive to the Eurotunnel terminal at Folkestone heading for France…….
Left to right:- Steve Beale, Bob Baker, Richard Forrest, John Cooper, Adam Forrest, Nick Sparks
HOLES 19 TO 36
Being located in Ronchin, Nord-Pas-de-Calais meant only a short drive after leaving the Channel Tunnel terminal to the Golf Blue Green Lille Metropole boasting 27 stunning holes, an 18-hole course as well as a shorter 9-hole course, being owned by the Blue Green Saur Group, the largest golf course management company in Europe.
The 18-hole par 72 course features a challenging layout with undulating terrain and strategically placed hazards, providing an exciting and engaging experience for seasoned players and also those mad enough to take on an 80-hole challenge!
The groups were changed with Bob Baker, Steve Beale, Richard Forrest and David Mayne in the opening group followed by John Cooper, Adam Forrest and Nick Sparks.
Thirty six holes completed…….only 44 to go. A long drive to Belgium followed for a stay at Welkenraedt in the province of Liege, some traditional Belgian cuisine (a MacDonald’s if memory serves correctly!) and a welcome few hours sleep in preparation for day two of the challenge…….
DAY TWO
HOLES 37 TO 54
Golf Club and Hotel Henri-Chappelle is a 54-hole golf complex with eleven rooms and two 18-hole courses plus a short 9-hole course and was a perfect location for the challenge being located near to the Belgian-Dutch border and allowing an early rise for breakfast then a short walk to the first tee for the start of day two.
It was Les Viviers Course on which holes 37 to 54 of the challenge were played. A course of championship standard layout, with undulating fairways which are fringed by mature woodland, plenty of bunkers and water hazards.
left to right:- John Cooper, David Mayne, Adam Forrest, Nick Sparks, Bob Baker, Steve Beale
It was a four-ball of John Cooper, Richard Forrest, David Mayne and Nick Sparks and a three-ball of Bob Baker, Steve Beale and Adam Forrest for the third round of 18 holes.
David Mayne specifically asked for a photograph to be taken of him admiring his tee shot on the par 3 ninth hole of Les Viviers course which landed nicely on the green. This was to save for posterity an extremely rare event over the 80 holes. The picture also shows John Cooper raking the bunker after his second shot and Richard Forrest playing from off the green – very disappointing!
After 54 holes had been completed it was quickly into the cars for the drive into Germany…….
HOLES 55 TO 72
The final full round of 18 holes was played at the Haus Kambach Golf Club, Eschweiler in the district of Aachen near the German-Belgian-Dutch border around 50 kilometres west of Cologne.
Haus Kambach is set against the backdrop of the beautiful German countryside with stunning views and a serene atmosphere offering a mix of long fairways, challenging greens and scenic holes.
The clock by the 1st tee showed 1.40 pm when the opening tee-shot was struck at Haus Kambach Golf Club with 18 holes still to be played in Germany followed by a drive to the Netherlands and the final 8 holes of the challenge. There were worried looks on some faces as to whether sufficient time remained to complete the 80 holes.
The round was played with a ‘let’s get this done’ attitude…….
HOLES 73 TO 80
Having completed 72 holes and the journey from Germany to just over the border to Maastricht in the Netherlands, there was a far more relaxed attitude among the group realising that the challenge was actually possible.
International Golf Maastricht has an 18-hole championship course, 9 challenging practice holes and a state-of-the-art driving range. It is one of the highest courses of the Netherlands with exceptional views of the Netherlands and Belgium. The course has wide fairways, undulating terrain with several sand bunkers and water hazards coming into play on the back nine holes.
International Golf, as its name suggests, also has the unique novelty of offering golf in two different countries in the space of one round! The layout features 13 holes in the Netherlands and 5 that occupy Belgian Territory. In fact, the 8th hole, fittingly being the 80th and final hole of the challenge actually crosses the Dutch-Belgian border so you tee off in the Netherlands and hole your putt in Belgium!
Bob Baker hit the first tee shot at International Golf, Maastricht in the group alongside Steve Beale, John Cooper and Nick Sparks with Adam and Richard Forrest accompanying David Mayne.
The final eight ‘official’ holes of the challenge were played with both relief and enjoyment and a great sense of achievement when the last putt was holed at 9.30 pm local time. With dusk descending, to celebrate the completion of the challenge in just under thirty eight and a half hours, all seven golfers played the ninth hole together – this was somewhat chaotic especially with Steve Beale’s tee shot striking a building adjacent to the fairway (how did he win Champion Golfer? – please see later)…….but quite frankly who cared!
DAY THREE
An enjoyable group breakfast at the Golf Club and Hotel Henri-Chappelle began day three with everyone in an upbeat mood reflecting on the achievement of completing the challenge the previous evening.
A presentation was made to Steve Beale as champion golfer for the 80 holes although no one else actually realised there was such a competition. The adjudicator was Steve himself and the cup ‘borrowed’ from the trophy cabinet at Henri-Chappelle and presented by a staff member with Steve having asked (or begged or offered a cash incentive to) most of the other employees before finally finding someone actually prepared to present him with the cup!
The award could easily gone to David Mayne who played all eighty holes without taking a wood out of his bag for fear of not having enough golf balls remaining to finish the challenge – far more impressive!
It was a tiring but rewarding two days – many weary legs, a few blisters, very little sleep but some great camaraderie and most importantly over £3,500 raised for the Alzheimer’s Society and the Motor Neurone Disease Association.
There was time for a few more photo opportunities including promoting the good causes which was the single motivation for the challenge before setting off home to England. Another golf challenge involving a group of good friends and a special football club that will live long in the memory.
The club was grateful to everyone who supported the event by donating or sponsoring a hole. It was this generosity that made the challenge worthwhile and provided the incentive to keep going when limbs were saying otherwise!
A big thank you also to John Cooper for his invaluable help in organising the challenge.
left to right:- Adam Forrest, John Cooper, Richard Forrest, Steve Beale, Bob Baker, Nick Sparks and David Mayne…….
