99 Holes

Monday is normally my day off but not this monday! Monday the 13th June was the date of the Leaderboard 99 hole challenge.

Leaderboard owns 99 golf holes at 4 different venues. 36 at Dale Hill, 18 at Chart Hills, 18 at The Oxfordshire and 27 at Sandford Springs. So playing 5 1/2 rounds of golf is not too much of a challenge I hear you say….well round the same course I would probably agree but when the 4 courses are in 4 different counties and you have to drive 177 miles on the road it makes it a “Challenge”.

There was a team of 2 players from each venue and we all met up on Sunday night down at the Dale Hill hotel for a few pre-challenge beers along with a bit of banter and a few wagers.

The day started with a 3:25 alarm call after a poor nights sleep (i never sleep well when I know I have to get up in the middle of the night). Myself and Ben, my assistant and team mate from Sandford, eventually got ourselves ready and we ventured onto the Woosnam course at Dale Hill. It was pitch black and was also raining (it had been raining most of Sunday and all night too), not a great combination for golf!

By 4:30 the light was starting to arrive. It’s weird how your eyes start to try to adapt and the light does seem to replace the darkness quite quickly. However, the sky was still cloudy and grey so the ball would be difficult to see in the air. Eventually we tracked down our balls on the first and my second shot was on it’s way to the green. We were off!

Strangely the only time I have ever played Dale Hill and Chart Hills has been in the 99 hole challenge so I have played the courses in sub 2 hour rounds at silly o’clock. Each time I have played the Woosnam course it has beaten me up…..this year was no exception!

I should mention at this point that I was suffering from “Man-Flu” and was running on a concoction of Lemsip, Anadin and Berocca tablets……..all golfers have an excuse.

Once we had got ourselves off the Woosnam course we cracked straight on with the Old Course, which I think is a fun course to play. At about 7:30 we were joined by Andy, our team manager/chaffeur and he had bacon rolls. I wasn’t happy that he got to have a relative lie in and a full english breakfast while we were getting soaked but after the first bite of that bacon roll all was well and truly forgiven. Time to crack on and make some birdies.

I have to say I don’t remember now what time we left Dale Hill (must have been the man-flu) but our next stop was Chart Hills. The weather was starting to improve and by the time we were on the tee the rain has stopped. I do remember a very welcome cup of coffee, so that’s caffeine to add to the list too.

It might be worth mentioning that we do the Leaderboard challenge for charity, although it is a great way for all the Leadboard Pro’s to get together for some friendly competition.

Our next part of the day is the bit that we all dread to most…….the M25 and a 2 hour drive up to the Oxfordshire. It turned out to be ok in the end. Its a chance to eat, consume more man-flu killing drugs and a quick power nap.

When we got to the Oxfordshire the sun was out and it was a nice day but our weather system being the way it is gave with one hand and took with the other in the form of a 3 club wind (for any non golfers it was blowing a hoolie). I can remember the time that we finished, it was 5pm and time for a rush hour sprint to Sandford Springs for the final 27 on home territory.

We arrived at Sandford at 6:30 to a great reception from some of the members. Even our amazing club President, Dickie Davies, was on hand to cheer us on. The end was now in sight but it was a real race against the clock now and 26 holes of speed golf later we were on the tee of the 27th hole……..pretty much in the dark!

The great thing about Sandford is that members are incredibly supportive and they were out in force to see us finish. I hit my last shot into the green and recieve great applause as the ball stopped 6 feet from the flag. I hit that shot using pure instinct, if i had thought too much about it I think I may have missed the ball. I was too tired to think!

It was done. The 99 holes were played. Like many of these challenges it was an emotional roller coaster and reflecting on it brings out some memories of the day that make you realise that it was a great day. We played some awesome golf, lucky golf, average golf, poor golf and hit some shots that even a vicar would swear about. Most importantly, as a group, we raised 7k and Leaderboard’s owners were incredibly generous and topped it up to make it 10k.

The question will be asked “would you do it again?” and my answer would be yes! Even after running the London Marathon and saying “never again” I have already entered the ballot for next year. There is just something about a “challenge” that I love and want to do more of. I think it’s putting yourself in that position where part of you wants to stop or give up but that little voice keeps you going. In the end that little voice is the one to listen to.