MacMillan Cancer Care Longest day golf challenge

[Houchy]

As some of you may or may not know, I have had quite a few dealings of late with MacMillan Cancer care and really want to give something back. I had looked at their Kilimanjaro challenge but as I'm in and out and hospital until January, decided to scale it back a bit.

Now i'm not saying this is a walk in the park (well it is really if you take it literally) but it won't be easy but I'm looking to tie up with an idea from Hibby Radge who suggested a golf outing so thought I'd see if anyone else would fancy taking part in the MacMilan Cancer Longest Day Golf Challenge.

For those of you that don't know of it, it's 4 rounds of golf in one day with sponsorship proceeds going to MacMillan Cancer. The idea is that I'll contact as many clubs in a locality as I can and ask for 2 or possibly 3 courtesy times, (3 may be pushing it but I'll try anyway with promises of newspaper coverage and therefore "free" publicity of them supporting a worthwhile cause. If I can I'll see if I can get it to finish off at Dalmahoy so we can treat ourselves to a wee jaccuzzi and steam bath.

If anybody is interested, let me know so I know how many tee times I need at each course. I'm also trying to get Scott M involved as he organised a team last year.

[Sylar]

As already noted on the other thread, i'd be keen to do this again next year and happy to help with the organisational side, so long as i'm not left to my own devices!

Done it last year, and as tiring as it was, it was a very rewarding experience!

No reason you wouldn't manage to get 4 courses for free! We managed it last year - including both Scotscraig and Downfield - both amongst the more prestigious courses up here. So long as the courses aren't too pretentious, then they're normally happy to help out! We asked Gleneagles last year and they were happy to host us, but were asking for £70pp per round, which was just too much. Still, a very generous offer, as it was more than half price!

Teams are usually either 3 or 4 players - you can do it individually or as a pair, but to be eligible for any of the prizes, it needs to be a team of 4! It relies on a lot of daylight, as it normally takes 3-4 hours per round - it's not played like normal golf, in the sense that it's played at a significant pace! We started at 7am last year and finished around 21.30pm! As such, it's best to do it through the summer.

If we can get enough teams involved, we can perhaps do it as an outing. This would make planning a lot easier as we can look to arrange big events to collect money as a group - this could be things from raffles, collections at Easter Road prior to the matches etc etc etc. From family sponsorhips alone last year, I managed to raise £700 on my own.

A collective group effort would also be good as it would allow two potential novelties. If the groups are primarily constructed from Hibs fans, we can perhaps look to get the club involved somehow, be it via publicity, sponsorship or involvement (perhaps some of the players may want to join in and boost our profile/quest?). It's also recommended that you get matching uniforms for each team - again, this could perhaps be done with Hibs colours/crests or perhaps be something we could get the club shop involved with?

In terms of progress, we could get a good online blog/website to monitor progress - video diaries (perhaps to get the HI team involved?), filming on the day, regular blogs etc etc etc.

I'm wondering if this is also perhaps something that could be merged into the Edinburgh Charity events? If we could get members of the Hearts supporters (via Kickback?), we could have an internal competition and maybe even follow the charity events which are currently being advertised, with a 2v2 format? The potential for publicity, both local and national, is immense if we can get enough of an involvement from people to perhaps get the clubs interested.

Jeez, i've gone on a wee bit - these are just preliminary ideas as well, so plenty of potential for expansion and development.

I'm aware next summer is a LONG way away, but would it be possible for one of the mods to make this a sticky, so it doesn't fritter away into the depths of the vault?

[BroxburnHibee]

Ok I've done that for you boys.

I have to say this could grow arms & legs

As long as it doesnt clash with my 2 weeks in Ibiza you can count me in.

[Sylar]

Thank you kindly!

It certainly has the potential to become a monster

The thread is only a few hours old and we have 3 people already!

[Houchy]

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As already noted on the other thread, i'd be keen to do this again next year and happy to help with the organisational side, so long as i'm not left to my own devices!

Done it last year, and as tiring as it was, it was a very rewarding experience!

No reason you wouldn't manage to get 4 courses for free! We managed it last year - including both Scotscraig and Downfield - both amongst the more prestigious courses up here. So long as the courses aren't too pretentious, then they're normally happy to help out! We asked Gleneagles last year and they were happy to host us, but were asking for £70pp per round, which was just too much. Still, a very generous offer, as it was more than half price!

Teams are usually either 3 or 4 players - you can do it individually or as a pair, but to be eligible for any of the prizes, it needs to be a team of 4! It relies on a lot of daylight, as it normally takes 3-4 hours per round - it's not played like normal golf, in the sense that it's played at a significant pace! We started at 7am last year and finished around 21.30pm! As such, it's best to do it through the summer.

If we can get enough teams involved, we can perhaps do it as an outing. This would make planning a lot easier as we can look to arrange big events to collect money as a group - this could be things from raffles, collections at Easter Road prior to the matches etc etc etc. From family sponsorhips alone last year, I managed to raise £700 on my own.

A collective group effort would also be good as it would allow two potential novelties. If the groups are primarily constructed from Hibs fans, we can perhaps look to get the club involved somehow, be it via publicity, sponsorship or involvement (perhaps some of the players may want to join in and boost our profile/quest?). It's also recommended that you get matching uniforms for each team - again, this could perhaps be done with Hibs colours/crests or perhaps be something we could get the club shop involved with?

In terms of progress, we could get a good online blog/website to monitor progress - video diaries (perhaps to get the HI team involved?), filming on the day, regular blogs etc etc etc.

I'm wondering if this is also perhaps something that could be merged into the Edinburgh Charity events? If we could get members of the Hearts supporters (via Kickback?), we could have an internal competition and maybe even follow the charity events which are currently being advertised, with a 2v2 format? The potential for publicity, both local and national, is immense if we can get enough of an involvement from people to perhaps get the clubs interested.

Jeez, i've gone on a wee bit - these are just preliminary ideas as well, so plenty of potential for expansion and development.

I'm aware next summer is a LONG way away, but would it be possible for one of the mods to make this a sticky, so it doesn't fritter away into the depths of the vault?

Good work Scott, that's the sort of input/ideas I was looking for. I liked the idea about approaching the club to get involved as we could try and get polo shirts either free or with a good discount in return for publicity and if we could get players involved it would be massive.

I know it's still a long way until summer but I just thought more time the better to allow us to get the wheels in motion by approaching courses now before any other groups get in.

[GC]

Small thread hijack here but hope everything goes ok for you Houchy.

Great idea aswell lads.

[Houchy]

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Small thread hijack here but hope everything goes ok for you Houchy.

Great idea aswell lads.

Going very well thanks mate. I'm in hospital right now getting chemo which seems to be working a treat an has killed off the main tumor (in my stomach this time) and the residual spots of cancer which showed in my liver and lymph nodes.

This is my 8th occurance of cancer and Macmillan as well as all the doctors, surgeons and nurses, have been absolutely fantastic the whole way through and I just feel it's time to give something back.

[Sylar]

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Going very well thanks mate. I'm in hospital right now getting chemo which seems to be working a treat an has killed off the main tumor (in my stomach this time) and the residual spots of cancer which showed in my liver and lymph nodes.

This is my 8th occurance of cancer and Macmillan as well as all the doctors, surgeons and nurses, have been absolutely fantastic the whole way through and I just feel it's time to give something back.

Sorry to hear that Houchy - I didn't realise you, personally, were affected so directly by this - guess I don't pay much attention on these boards at times.

When we completed the event last year, I done it for a friend of mine whom i'd known since primary school - she developed a tumerous mass on her spine, which quickly spread into her brain and killed her - she died the week before we completed the event. All 4 of us knew the girl well and she had introduced me to my now fiance - we were all fairly emotional come the end of the day.

I'm glad to see yours seems to be more of a success story and it will be nice to have another strong motivation this year.

Here's hoping for a speedy recovery and a chance to say "thank you" in style come the summer.

[Sylar]

Just as an aside, I'll start taking details as I go just now, despite it being early days - can never be too organised and all that...

Can I start by asking for your proper names, so I can compile a list of folks interested.

If you'd rather not have your name displayed publicly for all and sundry to see, could you PM me please?

Thanks

[Houchy]

If we could also get an idea of where everyone is located so we can try and accomodate people location wise as best as possible. I'm Bathgate so was thinking of only myself here and thought Bathgate, Deer Park, maybe uphall or Harburn (or Ratho, short course and pretty flat IIRC) and try to finish in style at Dalmahoy.

Obviously that suits me perfectly but we need to accomodate people as best as possible so if you could let us know your locations we can identify an area and start approching clubs from round there asap to get in first.

[Sylar]

Im Bathgate also (well, Dundee, but for the sake of this, i'll use my home address).

I'm not adversed to travelling if needbe for this as I suspect there will be a few folks from Edinburgh and surrounding interested as well (hopefully anyway).

They say it's best to ask the course where you're a member first, as they're more likely to accomodate the request of a member for a free round.

Let me complicate it further by asking if I can have the following:

Name - Location - Membership? If so, where.

Cheers

[Sylar]

I had a bit of a brainstorming session last night after thinking about this, and it really does have potential - maybe i'm thinking too big in some capacities, but as follows is a wee task list I came up with:

Allocate teams - dependant on numbers.


Register Teams - with team captains selected.


Find courses most suitable - based on location.


Book courses - based on most suitably chosen/member involvement.


Organise Uniforms - contact Hibs' club shop?


If numbers are significant enough, get the club involved:

• Publicity - space in the programme, website etc...
• Donation - in return for advertising on the uniforms?
• Subsidised Uniforms - in collaboration with the club shop.
• Involvement - perhaps some players/coaching staff/backroom staff will want to participate?
• Celebratory dinner post event at ER and showcase of final achievements?

Establish a website to track progress, allow discussion etc - similar to the Charity Game events - allocate to someone with IT knowledge!


Involve the Hibs Interactive team? - publicitiy, video diaries, filming on the day?


Consider a league structure - try and get supporters from other football clubs in Scotland to create teams? The structure is based on a points system - where stableford scores are submitted, the highest of which goes forward for prizes at the very end and can win holidays, rounds of golf etc (for MacMillan in general). If enough clubs supporters' can get involved, we can establish a league and see who gets the highest points. Again, there's potential here to get actual clubs involved - show their support for MacMillan through supporting their fans? - this could be be potentially brilliant or potentially too big - it involves finding someone to go through the supporters forums of each club in Scotland and advertise the campaign. If interest is generated and we can get 1 or more teams involved, it then involves them allocating a liaison with their clubs to get their clubs involved....


Appoint a publicist from one of the various team members - contact local media to advertise (free) our challenge and inviting people to join/donate money. Arrange photoshoots before and after the event, with accompanying
interviews.


A list of potential courses in the Edinburgh and Lothians region:

Bathgate
Uphall
Pumpherston
Deer Park
Harburn
Dalmahoy
Silverknowes
Kings Acre
Bruntsfield
Prestonfield
Niddrie Castle


to name a few of the top of my head.

[Houchy]

Wow, someones been busy.

There's "Killie fan" (or is it "the Doomed") who might be willing to take this to their board and see if someone is willing to take ownership from their site. Only problems that i can see though with the other clubs is that we are potentially looking at increasing the distances we'd have to travel by someway but i'm sure the Hearts fans that use .net would have no problem taking this to kickback.

[Sylar]

I wasn't meaning we colaborate with other supporters and play it all together, as it might mean we'd end up travelling the length and breadth of Scotland!

I was suggesting that we get other club's supporters to do what we're doing - organise their own event and play it on their own time with their own courses and scores. We could try to arrange it so we all play on the same day.

Once we've finished, i'd get the other teams to submit their scores to me, and I could compile a league table based on results with something in it for the winner (if we get enough of a sponsorship, we could perhaps either buy, or get someone to donate a prize, such as a round of golf for the winning team at Carnoustie, Kingsbarns, Troon etc etc).

Plus there'd be the pride factor of knowing your supporters are the best golfers in Scottish Football

[Houchy]

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I wasn't meaning we colaborate with other supporters and play it all together, as it might mean we'd end up travelling the length and breadth of Scotland!

I was suggesting that we get other club's supporters to do what we're doing - organise their own event and play it on their own time with their own courses and scores. We could try to arrange it so we all play on the same day.

Once we've finished, i'd get the other teams to submit their scores to me, and I could compile a league table based on results with something in it for the winner (if we get enough of a sponsorship, we could perhaps either buy, or get someone to donate a prize, such as a round of golf for the winning team at Carnoustie, Kingsbarns, Troon etc etc).

Plus there'd be the pride factor of knowing your supporters are the best golfers in Scottish Football

Ah, bit of a misunderstanding there then.

I see what you mean now. This chemo's knocking me barmy (that's my excuse anyway.)

[H18sry]

I would be interested aswell, what are the handicap restrictions?



Also my mate is on the green staff at Pumpherston so maybe able to swing something there

[Sylar]

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I would be interested aswell, what are the handicap restrictions?



Also my mate is on the green staff at Pumpherston so maybe able to swing something there

No handicap restrictions whatsoever - I played with 2 guys last year who had NO handicap - I just allocated them one, based on their level.

Had a look on their website tonight and there's nothing up for the Longest Day yet - but it's a regular event, so it should be running.

[Houchy]

I've had another 6 people register an interest in putting their names down in the last 2 days so that's about 3 teams so far. One of them is currently "experiencing technical difficulties" (ie a Yam) but he's actually a good bloke who again, has had dealings with MacMillan in the last few years, one's a Chelsea fan and again a good bloke, 2 are hibby's that post on here and I don't think the other pair are all that fussed about football but can play a bit of golf and have contacts at Gullane (although maybe not easiest courses when playing 4 rounds in one day).

[Sylar]

Houchy the recruitment specialist - good work mon ami

Gullane would be nice - if we could guarentee the wind not be blowing

[greenlex]

Right chaps I'm in. I don't frequent this board very much but Houchy has pointed me in this direction. In the west Lothian area but willing to go anywhere.

[Sylar]

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Right chaps I'm in. I don't frequent this board very much but Houchy has pointed me in this direction. In the west Lothian area but willing to go anywhere.

Good job - any of your boys fancy it in addition?

[greenlex]

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Good job - any of your boys fancy it in addition?

I'll speak to them when I see them Scott.

[Sylar]

I've had two other PM's from people interested in taking part, so the total number interested (including Houchy's 6), we stand at 12. Which is awesome - Id love us to get to 16 or 20, but maybe im being greedy or over ambitious.

All parties who've been in touch are Edinburgh and Lothians, so the location can be anywhere in West Lothian or Edinburgh and surrounding.

5-6 months to plan this

[cocopops1875]

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I've had two other PM's from people interested in taking part, so the total number interested (including Houchy's 6), we stand at 12. Which is awesome - Id love us to get to 16 or 20, but maybe im being greedy or over ambitious.

All parties who've been in touch are Edinburgh and Lothians, so the location can be anywhere in West Lothian or Edinburgh and surrounding.

5-6 months to plan this

have checked and old boy defo into it dunno if i mentioned but we are members at gifford if that helps after the gullane mention

[Houchy]

Hopefully we are close to getting an idea of how many people are interested and where these people are located so we can start planning 6-8 clubs in the surrounding areas that I'll write to and request courtesy times.

As Scott mentioned, we've still got quite a bit of time before this takes place but I just wanted to get things started before anything is launched on the macmillan website and everyone starts applying to various goilf clubs for times, making it more difficult for us to get further times.

Great response so far though and I really am overwhelmed by everyones enthusiasm so thank you all for your intrest.

[Godsahibby]

Hi Folks,

This is something i've read about before, I seem to remember a big thing in one of the golf mags last years about it, and while i'm fortunate enough to not be directly effected with the work Macmillan carry out I believe it is a very good cause.

I'd be more than willing to take part in this.

I've got good mate who's one of the pro's at dunbar so could come in useful with arranging courses.

[Sylar]

Welcome aboard.

If you get a moment, could you PM your proper name, town of residence and rough handicap/club of membership (if applicable for the last 2)?

Thanks kindly!

[Sylar]

Small update:

I've been utterly and totally swamped with Uni work for the last 4 months or so, and it doesn't look like letting up anytime soon, so I've put very little thought into this event.

I did check the MacMillan website today though and the details of the day are up if anyone fancies having a read over it:

Details here

[Hibbyradge]

It's a great idea but I struggle to make 2 rounds these days, so 4 is a no go for me.

Sorry.

[Houchy]

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Small update:

I've been utterly and totally swamped with Uni work for the last 4 months or so, and it doesn't look like letting up anytime soon, so I've put very little thought into this event.

I did check the MacMillan website today though and the details of the day are up if anyone fancies having a read over it:

Details here

As Scott says, the details are now up on their website so i'm going to start writing out to the relevant golf clubs.

After discussions with Scott, it turns out that a majority of people interested are in West Lothian with only 2 from Edinburgh. The courses we were therefore looking at were: Bathgate, Uphall, Turnhouse and hopefully Dalmahoy to finish with (the last 2 to try and accomodate the edinburgers).

If anyone is a member of any of these clubs, could you drop me a pm to see if we could use your membership status to soften up the relevant clubs.

Also if anyone as any objections to these courses, again please let me know as I will try to accomodate everyone as best I can.

Dates discussed were 9th or 10th of July although I am on holiday again from the 3rd for 2 weeks so maybe looking towards w/c 20th July (again, so long as everyone is cool with that.

Numbers wise we have around 12 people now (so 3 fourballs). If anyone can help with driving it would obviously be much appreciated. (I'm happy to drive if anyone needs picked up/dropped off).

Thanks everyone.
Lawrence.