Invermere pro finds great way to shorten up longest golf day

Participating in the PGA of B.C.’S Golfathon for ALS, the professionals at Copper Point teed off a few minutes before sunrise with a simple goal — play as many holes as possible, all in support of the fight against this deadly disease.

Brian Schaal, the general manager and executive pro at the popular hangout in Invermere, figured out one way to speed things along.

On the 61st hole of this epic day on the Ridge Course, he drained an ace.

No need to slow down for a birdie putt.

“The only problem is it’s the Longest Day of Golf for ALS, so the celebration is short-lived,” Schaal said. “You hoot and holler a little bit and then it’s, ‘OK, let’s go to the next hole!’

“But it certainly means something a little different. One of our investors said he’d donate $2,500 for any hole-in-one, so that shot alone brought in another $2,500 for a great cause.”

This gruelling fundraiser has become annual tradition at Copper Point, a 36-hole hangout that is a favourite of both locals in B.C.’S Columbia Valley and weekenders from Calgary.

Last Wednesday, the foursome of pros set their alarms for the wee hours and struck their first shots at about 4:55 a.m.

Schaal and head professional Scott Mcclain ultimately totalled 240 holes. That’s 13 rounds, and then some, before they finally called it a day at 10:38 p.m.

Copper Point’s director of instruction Dennis Bradley completed 10 laps of the par-62 Ridge Course, while assistant pro Dale Moore played nine.

All four deserve kudos.

Schaal, undoubtedly, should be credited with delivering the shot of the day.

There was no time to laser the distance, but he figured his ace on No. 7 measured about 142 yards. Pitching wedge was his weapon of choice.

“Two years ago, I made a hole-inone during the same event — the Longest Day of Golf for ALS — on No. 18,” Schaal said. “And Scott Mcclain, our head golf professional, he’s had two holes-in-one during this event. When you think about it, we do have 10 par-3s on the Ridge and it’s 13 ½ rounds of golf, so your chances are getting pretty good.”

He starts to laugh.

“But I like to say it’s just because we’re great golfers.”

Of course, golfers are not always great at managing expectations.

Schaal had several more cracks at the seventh hole prior to sunset, but he couldn’t repeat the feat.

“I think I birdied it after that, and the birdie just doesn’t seem to stand up to the one. And you’re so disappointed when you get a par,” he said with a chuckle. “But later in the day is tough, because obviously your body is not working like it normally should. Your muscles are tightening up and there are a lot of strange shots that you hit.

“You spend that much time out there, and later in the day you realize how important your muscles are to your everyday functioning. That’s something that people who are diagnosed with ALS start losing.”

Schaal & Co. raised more than $15,000 in donations for Wednesday’s dawn-until-dusker, and it’s not too late to add to that total — visit golfathonforals.com, and click Copper Point from the list of participating courses.