Don't play too much golf. Two rounds a day are plenty.
Have you ever played 36 holes in a day? How about 10 times that amount?
It's safe to say that resorts offering unlimited golf packages had better beware of one particular golfer from Kalamazoo, Mich.
Last week, Eric Dougal took part in a fundraiser for his local, Southwest Michigan chapter of The First Tee. As reported on MLive.com, he teed up a glow-in-the-dark golf ball at 4:00 a.m. at his home Kalamazoo Country Club, and finally holed out for the last time at dusk, in front of a crowd of more than a dozen appreciative onlookers, 360 holes later. In the process, he raised more than $15,000 that will be directed toward scholarships for First Tee participants.
Dougal broke a record that had stood for three years among First Tee Golf Marathon participants, shattering Grand Rapids' Eric Bixler's mark of 300 holes from 2019.
In case you're wondering, yes, Dougal did have the use of a golf cart for his marathon, as well as the help of a friend. He averaged less than 50 minutes per round.
Just some perspective for the next time you're reaching for some Advil in between nines.
(Editor's Note: GolfPass Managing Editor Jason Deegan will be participating in a golf marathon of his own this summer: a 100 Hole Hike, benefiting Youth on Course. To learn more and donate to another worthy golf-related cause, click here.)
Rounds that clock in under fifty minutes? For the ever-growing army of golfers who stubbornly remain obtuse about slow play, who have no qualms about their glacial five-hour rounds or the reality that there are other beings in the universe, the possibility of such a lively pace might become a clarion call. But would they hear it? Heed it?
On a positive note, your Vardon quote is brilliant.