The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Men club together for challenge
A GROUP OF four Perthshire friends are undertaking a gruelling golf marathon today to raise vital funds for a cancer charity.
Billy Beatson, Sean Gilmartin and brothers Paul and BarryWalker have all had their lives touched by the illness through the loss of a loved one.
They have signed up to take part in the Longest Day Challenge, a golf-themed fundraising drive in aid of Macmillan Cancer Research.
It will see the foursome — all fromAbernethy in Perthshire — stride out on to the greens at Elmwood Golf Course near Cupar before most have woken from their slumber.
The friends will stand on the 1st tee at 4.30am to begin the first of four rounds and they hope to reach the halfway point in their challenge without stopping.
“All in all the challenge should take us around 17 hours to complete, by which time we’ll have walked 20 miles or so,” Mr Beatson told The Courier.
“The golf course is normally open for play at 8am, but the club’s golf administrator Sharif Sulimann has been a great help and has agreed to let us in early.
“A big thank-you also needs to go to the greenkeepers who will also have an early start to their day as they have kindly agreed to get the course ready for our challenge.”
Mr Beatson added: “Both myself and Sean lost our fathers to cancer at a fairly young age, while Barry and Paul lost their uncle recently, so we have all been effected.
“Macmillan offered fantastic support to the wife of one of the chaps we regularly play golf with so we know how worthy a cause it is.”
The friends have been left astonished by the support they have already received from friends, family, fellow golfers and theAbernethy community.
In fact, they believe their charity venture could raise as much as £3,000 for Macmillan Cancer Research.
Further support in the form of sponsored T-shirts for the challenge has been provided by Pat McGroarty, owner of Abernethy’s Caledonia Highland Dress, whose life has also been touched by cancer through the recent loss of his wife.
“We can’t thank everyone enough for the support they have given us,” Mr Beatson added.