Royal Dornoch duo bid to raise £10,000 in Longest Day Challenge

Bradley Smith and Calum Paterson undertaking their marathon event at Royal Dornoch on Saturday

Royal Dornoch Golf Club is again pitching in to help organisations during the COVID-19 pandemic as two members of its staff prepare to take on a golf marathon for charity.

Pro shop duo Bradley Smith and Calum Paterson are limbering up to do a Longest Day Challenge tomorrow over the world-renowned links.

The pair are looking to raise £10,000 for the valuable work of the NHS and Chest, Heart & Stroke Scotland (CHSS). CHSS is the chosen charity of club captain Rob Murray and ladies’ captain Norma Fleming.

The challenge will start at sunrise, around 4.15am, and end at sunset, around 10.30pm. The target from Bradley, Retail Manager, and Calum, Retail Supervisor, is to play as many holes as possible using both the Championship and Struie courses.

Paterson said: “The Longest Day Challenge came to us as an idea in light of the recent events in the world, as well as raising money for the Club Captains' charity at Royal Dornoch. All donations are greatly appreciated. The initial goal was £5,000 and we’re on to our next target now, so thank everyone for their support.”

The pair are also running a ‘Guess the Number of Holes’ competition, where you have the opportunity to guess how many holes they will manage during the entire day. All guesses should be emailed to [email protected] to be in with a chance of winning.

The challenge builds on Royal Dornoch’s support of local groups and the NHS earlier this year, using a percentage of the net green fees from visiting players.

With the club and most other groups closed during the coronavirus crisis, the Dornoch Area Resilience Project was given £5,000 for various projects, including providing every young person in the town with an activity pack. Another £5,000 was donated to the NHS in Sutherland.

In addition, the club donated five tablet computers to Dornoch’s two care homes to enable residents to keep in touch with relatives during lockdown.

Local members at Royal Dornoch are encouraged to show their support for Smith and Paterson's challenge by cheering them on at the golf club.

* If you would like to make a donation to support their efforts, please visit the funding page: www.gofundme.com/f/the-royal-dornoch-challenge

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