Driving a long way to raise funds

Students are planning a long drive – without leaving town.

Members of the St Andrews University men’s golf club will attempt to drive a golf ball the equivalent of 874 miles – the distance from Land’s End to John O’ Groats – in under 12 hours to raise money for the Prostate Cancer UK and Scottish Disability Golf and Curling (SDGC) charities.

The club’s Josh Hopkins said: “We will be attempting to drive a golf ball from one side of the UK to the other – this equates to 1,538,240 yards.

“That is 6,153 drives of 250 yards and we will be attempting to complete this across three bays at the Indoor Golf Centre in St Andrews, jointly for two great causes which are close to our hearts.”

The event will take place on Saturday February 3 with a practice and strategy get-together in January when the students return after their winter break.

The SDGC said it was grateful to the club for the fundraising but also for promoting sports for people with disabilities and for proving that having such difficulties should not be a barrier to playing.

A spokesperson said: “We will utilise any funds raised for our tuition and teaching programme for members, which operates throughout the year.”

More information about the event is available online at bit.ly/2D2YKbb and bit.ly/2mqjn7l