Twelve intrepid Drouin golfers each completed 72 holes of golf recently to raise money for the Cancer Council of Australia.

In its eighth year, “The Longest Day” is a charity event held at golf clubs across Australia aimed at raising funds for cancer research.

This was the second year the event was held at Drouin Golf Club and the numbers increased to 12 this year up from four in 2019.

This year the group dubbed “The Dirty Dozen” raised more than $4000 for the charity.

Last year, the Australian golfing community raised an incredible $1.4 million towards skin cancer research and treatment initiatives including over 200 dermatoscopes – handheld skin microscopes – which were provided to GPs for the early detection of skin cancer, particularly in regional areas.

With access to the dermatoscopes and related training, doctors have been 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.

This year, 4649 golfers across Australia played a combined 334,728 golf holes and raised $3,057,339 to date for the Cancer Council - more than doubling last year’s amount raised.

The Drouin 12 played 864 holes combined, each covering an estimated 36kms - provided they kept their ball on the fairway most of the time. Depending on ability, each member of the team swung a golf club somewhere between 280 to 390 times. Blisters, sore feet, calves and backs were the most complained about ailments at the end of the day - try telling these guys that golf is not an athletic endeavour.

Conditions on the day ended up a hot 33 degrees and participants were thankful they began the golfing odyssey at the break of dawn. Not losing momentum was key, so breaks between rounds were kept short.

However, at the end of each 18, an almost Formula 1 style pit stop was taken with replenishment of drinks, food and changes of socks, shoes and, for some, an entire outfit change before commencing the next round. At times during the latter rounds, chatter was minimal as players concentrated on putting one foot in front of the other.

The group comprising Matt Long, Ryan Hammond, Glenn Vandeligt and Matthew Guy completed the four rounds in a sizzling nine and a half hours - an average of under two-and-a-half hours per round. With regular Saturday or weekly 18 holes taking around four hours, this was a supreme effort in the tough conditions.

Funds for the charity are generated through sponsorship of either the individual golfer or the teams who participate. Family, friends, work colleagues and club members are encouraged to provide support for an amount for each hole played, overall score goals or simply a general donation.

Australia has one of the highest rates of skin cancer in the world with nearly 2000 Australians dying each year. Two out of every three Australians will be diagnosed with skin cancer by the age of 70. Men over 40 are 1.5 times more likely than women to be diagnosed with melanoma and twice as likely to die from it.

The Longest Day of Golf was initiated by MAB Corporation managing director Andrew Buxton, 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 the Cancer Council and the Longest Day became a formal fundraising event which this year involves every Australian state and territory.

All funds raised are directed towards national research projects and/or early detection/treatment of melanoma skin cancers in each specific state or territory where funds are raised.

Drouin hopes to attract more participants again next year with a view to making it a successful annual event on the local golfing calendar.

Those interested can still donate by visiting www.longestday.org.au/fundraisers/thedirtydozen.