Making the Rounds for Charity : Two Golfers Try to Play 300 Holes in 24 Hours for Fund-Raiser

About 5 p.m. Monday, a couple of guys in golf carts likely will be looking for a booster shot to help them continue their demented version of the 24 Hours of Daytona. Or maybe that’s 12 Hours of Daytona and 12 Hours of Nightona.

If all goes as planned, the pair should be playing hole No. 260 of a 24-hour golf marathon and in serious need of an energy infusion.

“It’ll be a little hot outside for coffee,” said Tom Clark, one of the two players involved in the event. “But we sure could use something.”

Clark, 22, and Rick Pendergast, 27, will attempt to play 300 holes at the par-70, 6,200-yard Woodland Hills Country Club. It will be the second consecutive year the pair has attempted a feat of this sort, which serves as a fund-raiser for charity. Last year, they raised $3,100 for a foundation for abused children. Proceeds from this year’s effort will benefit the Southern California Junior Golf Assn.

During the course of last year’s fairway fest, they learned some things they hope will make the dawn of Monday a little easier to take this time around.

“We teed off in the morning last year, and when it got dark, we naturally got tired,” said Clark, who graduated from Crespi High in 1982 and is now a member of the golf team at Cal State Stanislaus, the defending NCAA Division III national champion. “This time, we figured if we started at night and finished in the afternoon, it might make it a little easier.”

Last year, Pendergast, an assistant pro at the course, had a tough time staying awake in the wee hours. Dawn patrol quickly became yawn patrol.

“There were a couple of times where we had to wake him up,” Clark said. “He was so out of it one time, he actually asked us ‘why.’ We told him he had to hit another shot.”

Pendergast, a scratch player, also injured a knee.

“He was flat beat,” Clark said. “We really slowed down at night. We figure we’ve got to cut some time by playing at night first this year.”

Clark said they are counting on cutting time by cutting a few more strokes.

“Neither one of us played especially well. We’re both hitting the ball pretty good right now, and that should save us some time.”

After the sun sets, the pair will use specially manufactured golf balls that glow in the dark.

“Those things are rock hard, with no compression whatsoever,” Clark said. “You have to hit a 4-iron where you’d normally hit an 8-iron.”

Other plans include a change of carts every two rounds and a portable cassette player to provide music. At the start and finish, they will punch a time clock in the clubhouse, just to make things official.

In case you wonder why it has to be official, it seems that some members have started a pool on how many birdies the two will record.

“I think we can get 100 birdies,” Clark said. “Whoever guesses the total number splits the pot and charity gets the rest.”

And speaking of rest, there probably won’t be much for either of them.

“We have to average 90 minutes per round to make 300 holes,” Clark predicted. “I don’t know if we can keep up that pace, but we’ll give it a shot. Last year we played the first round in an hour and 16 minutes. The last round took 2:48.”

One thing Clark hopes not to cut is the response by donors. Both hope another outpouring like last year’s will result in similar fund-raising success.

“Last time everybody really jumped on the bandwagon,” Clark said. “We had a gallery out there following us and people shouting encouragement to us at 3 a.m. We had members running down to Winchell’s for doughnuts and coffee. Some even brought us sandwiches.

“Believe me, we needed it.”