Golf challenge aims to raise £1000 for sick kids

Jun 30 2011 by Andrew McGilvray, Hamilton Advertiser

THREE big-hearted Strathaven lads are on their way to raising £1000 for charity after completing 10 rounds of golf in a single day.

But their gruelling effort came at a price as one of the trio ended up in hospital with trench foot as well as ligament damage to his knee.

Strathaven Golf Club members Andrew Buttar, Scott Costello and Scott Hamilton hit on the idea of 10 rounds in a day to raise money for Yorkhill Children’s Foundation, which would mean walking for miles while carrying their clubs.

The lads hit their first shots of the challenge at 3.22am on Wednesday, June 22, and finished their task 19 hours and 38 minutes later, with the intrepid golfers having hit 2358 golf shots and having walked around 48 miles.

Their first round took just 90 minutes and things were looking good, but torrential rain which would blight their day started at the second hole of round two and lasted until well into round five – but they still completed each circuit in 90 minutes.

On taking a lunch break, Scott Hamilton found massive blisters on both feet and was also suffering from the effects of an old skiing injury to his anterior cruciate ligament to his left knee, which meant the additional strain on his right leg was taking its toll.

Back on the course the three golfers completed rounds five and six in an average time of an hour and 45 minutes.

On rounds seven and eight the demands were starting to take their toll on the others and by round eight Scott Costello needed stretching treatment to be performed on him by a member of the crowd on the 11th tee to help loosen his muscles. By round nine the trio were slowing down, the rain had returned and blood was seeping out through Scott Hamilton’s golf shoes: he was struggling badly.

The 10th and final round was started at 9.05pm, but by the 11th hole Scott Hamilton was forced to quit, prompting tears, and taken to hospital due to the condition of his knees.

Scott Costello and Andrew Buttar carried on, hitting their last putts on the 18th green at 11pm in front of a large crowd.

The intrepid trio have collected £270 of their £1000 total so far, but donations can still be at www.justgiving.com/10round