By Tate Papworth
A round of golf is often considered a relaxing way to spend the afternoon – four rounds in one day is a different matter.
Hillside resident Tim Shackle is taking on the 72-hole marathon task, dubbed The Longest Day, on December 14 and while a little nervous, he said there’s plenty of motivation.
“The money raised from the event goes to the Cancer Council, which is a charity I really like,“ he said.
“My old man passed away in 2016. He was only 58 years-old so I kind of want to get out there and raise awareness around what a fantastic job Cancer Council does.“
Mr Shackle was an avid golfer as a teenager, but injury forced him to put the clubs away.
“I’ve really only just picked the clubs up again recently,“ he said.
“I played as a kid and got a nasty back injury as a result of golf, but now I’ve got a new swing that doesn’t hurt so hopefully I hit it alright and don’t destroy the back.“
While wary of his injury, Mr Shackle said he wasn’t sure there was a “right“ way to train for such a high endurance event.
“I loved golf, obviously it didn’t reciprocate that love and I got a bad injury … It actually got to the point where I was struggling to get out of bed as a 15-16 year-old.
“I’ve done some training with some pros and seen a physio, but I’m not really sure what the best way to train for 14 hours worth of golf is. I’ll just have to wing it and hope we get through it.
“At the end of the day it’s all about raising money for a good cause.“
To support Mr Shackle visit: www.longestday.org.au/fundraiser/timshackle
