I did give you fair warning that there was a good chance the regularity of updates would fade as time went on - it's been nearly two weeks since the last entry and, with the event creeping ever closer, it's time for some more info.
Main news has been the astonishing progress made on sponsorship, particularly in the last 48 hours. Having ambled along our 'Road to £10k' since kicking off the requests for cash, there was a genuine concern that we might fall embarrassingly short. Thankfully, those fears are proving to be unfounded, due to the generosity and willingness of so many people to dip into theit pockets and support this fabulous cause.
A flurry of individual donations took us through the £1000 barrier early on Thursday, followed by the first of the matched funding pledges from team member's employers. I must say a massive thank you to the folks at Santander and Legal & General for their extraordinary donations which, along with further individual support has pushed us very close to the £4000 mark. We are all so grateful for everyone who has donated although we still have a long way to go to hit the target! The fundraising page is www.bmycharity.com/golfathon and anything you can spare goes a long way.
The other news is publicity - I would also like to thank EM Acoustics, the excellent loudspeaker manufacturer, who very kindly provided us with somewhere in the region of 1000 professional flyers to hand out & post through letterboxes. The folks who run EM have been great supporters of my absurd charity golfing ventures and their generosity on this occasion is fantastic - thanks!
Now on to the topic of practice - since our 27 hole get-together at Farnham Park a couple of weeks ago, little has happened from a personal perspective until right now, where I am midway through a two day, two round trip to Royal Birkdale. With (yet another) trip to the US due next week, this represents the last chance for any semblance of practice before the off.
Ah.
Anyhoo, the Sussex folks took it upon themselves, having had a second 27 hole day immediately after ours, to get some night golf practice in on Thursday. The feedback was that it was an 'interesting' experience, made all the more challenging with the lack of glow sticks on the flags and, additionally, glowing & flashing balls that didn't - or at least, not for very long. Some equipment challenges to test us to the very last minute then.
The final thought for this entry is a bit of a dilemma (a rhetorical one really - please don't write in) - I discovered late yesterday that, on the same day as the golfathon, there will be another group completing the Macmillan Longest Day challenge (72 holes in the one day) at Colmworth GC. I don't believe there will be a logistical problem in terms of getting in each other's way, but I am concerned about the impact on the attention & awareness that having two golfing marathons running simultaneously will have. I have put this situation to the while team and, interestingly, there is a groundswell of opinion towards bringing all three teams together in the one venue in Sussex.
Clearly there is a logistical hurdle or three to overcome (not least the publicity associated with Colmworth and not wanting this potential change to come across as a dummy-spit) but it's an unexpected topic to mull over and, even after sleeping on it last night, I am no clearer in my mind or nearer to a decision about what to do.
I am the Part-Time Golfer
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