Despite a thunderstorm midday, three Castlegar golfers smashed the PGA of B.C. Golf A Thon for ALS record last Wednesday.
Scott Clifford, Craig Wilkinson and Nik Jmaeff played 306 holes from sunrise until they were rained out.
Last year Clifford completed 218 holes alone while Wilkinson finished 280 in 2009.
“It didn’t quite go as smoothly in the late afternoon, but we soldiered on,” Clifford said.
When the opportunity for the Golf A Thon came up again this year, Clifford said they brainstormed to figure out how they could possibly play more holes than years previous.
“The idea was to trade some of the workload to see if we could keep a quicker pace,” Clifford said. “Ironically we decided to do it on a men’s night, which is one of our busier days.”
But because those who play on men’s night are all mostly members, Clifford said they were forgiving.
“I even managed to get a few donations out on the course,” he said. “Of course, you’re playing so fast you don’t really have time to talk to anybody.”
Clifford said they were slowed down by having to switch carts every so often and they ran out of balloons — the telltale sign to other golfers that they were approaching.
“By the end of the day it turned into, ‘look for the guy in the purple shirt,’” Clifford said.
Despite playing rounds of golf at lightning speed, the men each finished quite well, with Clifford finishing at three over par, Wilkinson finishing even par and Jmaeff finishing five or six over, Clifford said.
“You’d think that you would start losing strength but I was still hitting my tee shots,” Clifford said, adding it was his putting that suffered.
“Hitting the short shots is where you lose your concentration,” he said.
Although none of them managed to sink a hole-in-one, there were a few eagles and birdies spread out amongst them.
“We really appreciate the support of all our members, the staff, the grounds crew and everybody that supported us while we were out there golfing our faces off,” Clifford said.
Donations are still being accepted at the Castlegar Golf Club and money raised will go to the ALS Society of BC.
ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also referred to as Lou Gehrig’s disease) is a fatal neurodegenerative disorder that affects the person’s motor neurons that carry messages to the muscles resulting in weakness and wasting in arms, legs, mouth, throat and elsewhere. Currently, there is no cure for ALS.
For more information, visit golfathonforals.com or call 1-800-708-3228.