Golf fanatics unite: Are you up for a marathon challenge?

Let me start by saying I am not a golf warrior. In fact, I’ve never understood why people like to golf. You walk around hitting a little ball with a club and try to get it to drop into a tiny hole in the middle of a big field. Then you pick up the little ball and do it all over again.
Obviously, I’m missing the appeal. That’s why my idea of an enjoyable day golfing involves riding in the cart, drinking wine and reading a good book while my husband gets frustrated over landing in the rough.
Our local Great Rivers Council of the Boy Scouts of America has taken an already infuriating pastime and added an endurance component with its 4th Annual Golf Marathon, scheduled for Sept. 27. We’ve all heard of golf tournaments, but this event offers golfers the challenge and opportunity to play 50 to 100 holes of golf or more in a single day. This trial is definitely not for the faint of heart.
Is playing 100 holes of golf in one day even possible? Apparently it is if you have an entire day to devote. A couple of guys even passed the 200-hole mark last year. (I wonder how they felt the next day.) I’m told that by starting around 6 a.m. and golfing individually or in pairs, an experienced golfer can master the challenge fairly easily.
Can you imagine playing any hole you want in any order you want? Imagine no waiting at the tees, nothing but clear real estate in front of you. Golf warriors will enjoy testing themselves to see how their endurance stands up. Recruit a buddy to golf with you, and battle each other for bragging rights.
Unlike most tournaments, this day of unlimited golf is free, though participants are asked to arrange for pledges and donations from friends, relatives, coworkers and professional contacts. It is a fundraiser after all. To me, the fundraising sounds like the easy part, though I must admit the few times I have golfed, I’ve petered out around hole 14.
With a nod to the grueling nature of this event, participants are pampered with the royal treatment. Free food and beverages all day are par for the course.
The organizers of this marathon experience also provide a golf day survival kit and midday massage designed to ease tight and weary muscles. Free rounds of golf and the chance to win an MU golf bag are available for top producers. Prizes will be given for longest drive, fewest balls used and closest to the pin, among others, but the real prize is knowing you have supported such a worthy organization.
Although this is the fourth year the event has been held, there is special symmetry this year as the Boy Scouts of America are also celebrating 100 years of Scouting. Scouting is leadership, achievement, character, service and outdoors. Scouting is strong and vibrant and embraces the ideal of “Celebrating Adventure and Continuing the Journey.”
Locally, the Great Rivers Council has been serving children, adults and organizations in 33 central and northeast Missouri counties since 1940. This translates to 24,000 service hours performed annually and 100,000 pounds of food collected last March during Scouting for Food.
In activities designed to help boys make more educated career decisions, our area Scouts earned 5,668 merit badges in 2009. And, in a council that annually averages more than 100 Eagle Scouts badges awarded, you’ll find many of Columbia’s local captains of industry who proudly carry the honor. The Boy Scouts make quite an impact on our mid-Missouri communities.
If you think you are up for the challenge, contact John Fabsits today at (573) 449-2561, ext. 202 for information or to get signed up to participate. If you are not a golfer but still want to support Scouting in our area, ask John about sponsorship opportunities.
This unique event is for golf fanatics who want to undertake the ultimate challenge and for heroes who want to impact the lives of 10,000 Scouts and leaders from mid-Missouri. Test yourself. See if you have what it takes to take the journey and celebrate the adventure.