Golf Australia is pleased to advise all clubs, districts and the Victorian Golf League of its’ endorsement of The Longest Day in 2019 to be held on any day in December, with the official date on Monday 16 December.
The Longest Day is an endurance golf challenge that tests skill, strength and stamina. The challenge is to successfully complete four rounds of golf between dawn and dusk on a single day in December and raise funds for skin cancer research.
Golf Australia and the Cancer Council encourage all Victorian clubs to promote this unique event to club members and support those players who join in this challenging 72-hole golf marathon.
All funds raised through The Longest Day this year will fund skin cancer research. Last year, funds raised by Longest Day players enabled Cancer Council Victoria to provide training and devices for Victorian GPs to detect skin cancer earlier, saving lives and unnecessary procedures.
This funding provided dermatoscopes to 76 GPs – handheld skin microscopes – used for the early detection of skin cancer, particularly in regional areas where there is a lack of dermatologists. With these dermatoscopes and proper training, these doctors will be able to find melanomas at an earlier stage and with fewer excisions, which means more lives can be saved without invasive treatments or hospital visits.
Australia has one of the highest rates of skin cancer in the world. Two in three Australians will be diagnosed with some form of skin cancer before the age of 70. This is particularly relevant to golfers, with it naturally being an outdoor sport.
The nationhas some of the highest levels of UV radiation in the world – strong enough in Victoria to cause sunburn in as little as 11 minutes on a fine January day. The good news is that the use of good sun protection will significantly cut your risk of skin cancer at any age and certainly all golfers need to consistently wear hats, sunglasses and appropriate clothing, to seek shade and to apply sunscreen when enjoying the sport.
To participate in The Longest Day, a minimum of two players need access to four tee times across the day to complete the 72-holes. Stableford is the competition format to help ensure all four rounds can be completed during daylight hours.
Beginning at dawn, players can compete in pairs and aim to complete each round in less than three hours to complete the challenge. Any day in December can be nominated for this year’s Longest Day, this way the challenge can be played on a convenient day.
To register your club or team for The Longest Day visit:
Once registered, clubs or individual players can easily set up a fundraising webpage and email the link out to family, friends or colleagues seeking sponsorship for participating in The Longest Day. All sponsorship donations are tax deductible. Sponsorship could be amounts for:
- each hole played;
- each par or birdie made;
- scoring achievements;
- general donations.
The Longest Day was initiated by Andrew Buxton, Managing Director of MAB Corporation who had previously taken on the challenge of playing multiple rounds of golf with members of his club and raising funds for charity. In 2013, the idea was taken to Cancer Council Victoria and The Longest Day became a formal fundraising event.
Further golf queries in relation to The Longest Day can be directed to David Greenhill DavidGr@golf.org.auor 03 9626 5000.
All registration and fundraising enquiries should be answered at www.longestday.org.auor can be directed to Cancer Council by calling 1300 65 65 85.