Barford student and friends battle extreme weather conditions for Macmillan golf challenge

An 18-year-old from Barford and his three friends took on a charity golf challenge during extreme weather conditions this week.

Tom Hansen and his friends Will Boles, Toby Harrison and Oli Saffet-Cole challenged themselves to complete 72 holes at the Ardencote Manor Hotel golf course on Monday (August 10).

They took on the challenge as part of the 'Macmillan Longest Day Golf Challenge' and faced not only scorching temperatures but also a storm with hail and rain.

Tom said: "When the golf course reopened I got my golf bag out and the last time I played was for my granddad's memorial game - at the Warwickshire Golf Club in 2016.

"My granddad had Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma, which is a form of cancer.

"We wanted to do something in lockdown and do some good so signed up to the challenge.

"We settled on playing on August 10 - the day after the first year anniversary of when my aunt died of cancer.

"We said we would do the challenge for Macmillan and raise as much money as we could.

"This month was less than ideal to do this challenge. The longest day is usually in June or July when it is a bit cooler.

"We did it on a short day in very very hot weather.

"We started at 5.30am and finished the last hole by 9.15pm - it was getting dark so we just managed to sneak it in."

Tom and his friends faced extreme weather conditions during their challenge.

"It was very hot with no breeze and humid.

"There is a new section of the golf course which has no trees so it was very open with no breeze and no cover.

"Then we had a hailstorm and thunder and lightening as well at about 6.30pm. The hail was certainly interesting.

"We knew we were on a tight schedule so we had to go out when it was still raining."

The golf challenge was also sentimental for Tom.

He said: "My granddad taught me golf and all the clubs I used were my granddad's that he left me so it was quite a fitting way to raise money for the charity that helped him.

"Any donations would be great as it's for an incredible cause."

So far tom and his friends have raised more than £1,500.

To donate go to: https://longestdaygolf.macmillan.org.uk/Team/kesagainstcancer