14-hours of golf sees Stratford friends raise more than £700

TWO golfing buddies were greeted with kisses and cuddles after they completed four rounds of golf in 14 hours and raised over £700 for prostate cancer awareness.

When Dominic Hannett and James Smith from Stratford approached the last hole of their day-long golfing marathon, their wives and children were there to surprise them with hugs, kisses and a well-earned bottle of beer.

The first two rounds – each of the 18 holes – were fast and completed in six hours because Dominic and James took advantage of a 6am start offered to them by Welcombe Hotel and Golf Club, and because fellow golfers waved them through.

That wasn’t the case for the third round, which took the same amount of time to complete as the first two. Undaunted, the pair rallied and finished the final round in double quick time and beat their intended fundraising target of £500.

Dominic said: “When we played our rounds a lot of fellow golfers asked what we were raising money for and we explained that we were 45 and James 50 and men our age are at risk of getting prostate cancer, so we talked with them and helped raise awareness by encouraging them to get checked early as this can be a matter of life and death.

“At times it was hot and sweaty and I reckon I must have drunk four litres of water on the day. We went for a celebratory drink with our families afterwards and my wife told me I was asleep within four minutes of lying on the sofa when I got home.”

Of course, in any sporting challenge there are winners and losers and when Dominic and James play golf the same axiom applies.

After 72 holes of golf, James emerged the winner and was awarded the quarantine cup which is a four-inch model of a plastic golfer who is a bit wobbly and is called Bendy Benny.

He and Dominic started playing when they joined Welcombe Golf Club during lockdown, May 2020.

“We didn’t always stick to the strict rules of golf – for example we didn’t go looking for lost balls – but we did our best.

To support the golfing buddies, visit www.justgiving.com/fundraising/the-big-golf-race-2022-18286.