Golfers swing high in longest day challenge for cancer charity funds

Steve Scott, Simon Westwood, Grant Melvin and Conor Pensom during the golf match on Sunday

Simon Westwood, Steve Scott, Conor Pensom and Grant Melvin took on the Longest Day Golf Challenge at Rookwood Golf Course for Macmillan Cancer Support on Sunday, June 23.

“Right from the off to the end I’ve never laughed so much in four rounds of golf,” explained 48-year-old Simon.

“Macmillan does this every year at this time as it coincides with the longest day to give you the most light.

“We read about it in a golf magazine and thought it might be fun to put a team together and it then suddenly took a momentum of itself and then we took a very serious shine to it.”

The team covered 20 miles of the course and raised around £1500 during the event which took place between 5.15am and 10pm.

“As a team, on 72 holes we had 27 birdys and 195 pars,” continued Simon, who lived in Horsham for five years and Southwater for three before moving to Littlehampton.

“On the third round Grant and I managed to both birdy the eighth and as we ran to each other to high five, Grant was holding a tee peg and promptly stabbed my hand drawing blood. So literally it was blood sweat and tears!”

Simon describes trying to manage his diabetes as his biggest challenge on the day.

He said: “I chose not to have my insulin until after the first round because otherwise it would have been too early.

“But coming up to lunch my sugar levels had levelled out. It was a little bit up and down as you’d expect but that was the tricky bit for me.”

The wives and girlfriends of the four golfers also played their role by taking over caddying at the last hole, along with other friends and family.

He added: “It was a mixture of one the funniest and hardest things to do but it was nice to know it was all being done for a good cause and the team have decided we will do it again next year.”

To donate visit www.justgiving.com/steve-scott6

Elsewhere in the district, ten club members of West Sussex Golf Club in Pulborough raised around £18,000 for the Dame Vera Lynn Trust and Alzheimer’s Society during their 24-hour overnight golf challenge which saw them cover 40 miles and 150 holes.