Few souls are brave enough to start a round of golf at 6am. But, for Kim Croot, Shane Grover, Libby and John Lacey and Trevor Polkinghorne the crack of dawn ushered the first of not one, but four rounds, all for a good cause.
The Nhill Golf Club quintet committed to a test of skill, strength and stamina to raise funds for the Cancer Council by playing 72 holes.
Grover said it was a cause close to the goflers' hearts.
"Everyone's been touched by cancer at some stage, but we've lost a few members in the past five or six years to cancer," he said.
"I saw something (about the Longest Day) and thought 'I wouldn't mind doing that', but then just left it.
"Eventually Kim Croot asked if anyone else from the club was thinking about doing it, and I said absolutely.
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"We were talking to the members about it one afternoon and that's when Trevor jumped on board, because he lost his father to cancer a few years ago.
"Then Libby Lacey has been through her own troubles with it, and in her family, so she decided to come on board as well."
By 7.45am, the first 18 was complete and then by 9.45am the team were half way to meeting the challenge.
After nine more holes, they took a brief break for some lunch and then continued on.
3.45pm arrived and although a little weary, the team had completed the challenge and were well on the way to raising over $5,000 for the Cancer Council.
Scores were great. For the first two rounds Kim, Libby and John played together while Trevor and Shane partnered up together.
After that, for the final two rounds the group played together. John played the fairways and chipped, while Libby putted one handed, combining well as a team following Libby fracturing her elbow only a week ago.
Round by round scores were Kim Croot 82, 83 ,79, 88; Shane Grover 73, 74, 78, 80; Libby and John Lacey 81, 88, 81, 86 and Trevor Polkinghorne 70, 74, 72, 76.
At the end of the day, each golfer took their best score for each hole which would have given them a round of 70 for Kim, 64 for Shane, 69 for Libby and John and 62 for Trevor.
"I was really excited to see how I'd go later in the day compared to the early rounds," Grover said.
"The last nine holes, probably, I was a bit sore. I was actually surprised how well I did get through it to be honest. I slept well Sunday night, obviously."
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Also on the day, twelve people played competition, either 9 or 18 holes. Nick Robins was the winner of the 18-hole event with 35 stableford points, Tim Braendler won the men's 9-hole event with 18 points and Jenny Smith won the ladies 9-hole event with 18 points also.
Nhill Golf Club also donated the green fees from the competition to Cancer Council, adding another $160 to the tally alongside $600 from a raffle.
Donations can still be made online at https://www.longestday.org.au/fundraisers/nhillgolfclub72holes.
