The Captain of Helsby Golf Club, Steve Cunniffe, is also a trustee of the club’s Powered Wheelchair Appeal and during his year of office he wanted to raise funds for the Appeal. He and former Captain Martin Mann came up with the perfect challenge – playing 6 rounds of golf in 6 counties around the longest day of the year!
The challenge began at 3.25am on the morning of Monday 20th June and during the next 16 hours, he played a round of 18 holes of golf at each of the following venues –
- Garstang Country Hotel and Golf Club in LANCASHIRE (he played the first 6 holes in the dark using luminous balls!)
- Bentham Golf Club in YORKSHIRE
- Kirkby Lonsdale Golf Club in CUMBRIA
- Barlaston Golf Club in STAFFORDSHIRE
- Market Drayton Golf Club in SHROPSHIRE (Steve was joined here by Helsby Lady Captain, Penny Ainsworth who also played the last 2 courses)
- Finally back to CHESHIRE, and to Helsby Golf club
Steve had to play in heavy rain to begin with but the weather improved as the day went on and he managed to overcome delays with traffic on the M6.
The reception to celebrate the achievement was fantastic and everyone enjoyed a hog roast, provided by the catering team led by Kieran and Natalie, and back in the clubhouse, (after a celebratory and well deserved beer!) Steve was delighted to announce that around £8,500 had been raised for the charity. He thanked all who donated, Lady Captain Penny, his helpers and all the Golf Clubs (Garstang, Bentham, Kirkby Lonsdale, Barlaston and Market Drayton) for the courtesy of their courses and support in ensuring that everything went to plan. During the day his progress was tracked through the club’s twitter feed with retweets from ITV presenter Lucy Meacock and legendary golf commentator Peter Alliss. Steve also got a mention for the challenge on the Chris Evans Radio 2 breakfast show.
Overall he had travelled 261 miles, spent 10 hours 58 minutes playing108 holes of golf, scored 508 gross, net 448 and lost 1 ball!
Anyone who wishes to donate to Steve’s fundraising can do so online at https://mydonate.bt.com/events/steve6countiesgolf/305795