A celebrity team including BBC radio and TV personality Chris Evans and Ryder Cup winning captain Colin Montgomerie are claiming a new British record after playing 18 holes of golf on Saturday in less than 11 minutes.
Evans joined a team of eight of the world’s top golfers at the London Golf Club near Ash, Kent, as they completed their round in 10 minutes and 53 seconds, with the Radio 2 DJ holing the final putt to beat the previous record by an impressive one minute and 54 seconds.
He said: “Adrenaline always gets you going. To be frank, we had a practice earlier in the day and weren’t sure how things were going to go, but everybody did brilliantly and played their part.”
The feat was completed on the London Golf Club’s Jack Nicklaus-designed Heritage Course, with Golf Live’s big-name players completing nine circuits of the 10th and 18th holes – creating a 6,183-yard par-72 course.
Ryder Cup winning captain Colin Montgomerie and European Tour star Oli Fisher hit tee shots on the 10th and 18th respectively, while nine-time Major winner Gary Player, victorious Solheim Cup captain Alison Nicholas, Scottish teenage-sensation Carly Booth and Evans handled everything on or around the greens.
In between them, men’s tour stars Rhys Davies and Benn Barham were positioned to play approach shots from the fairways along with Ladies European Tour player Melissa Reid.
While speed was valued over accuracy the players still managed to register an impressive four-over-par score of 76, after recovering from a disastrous eight on the opening hole.
The combination of Fisher, Davies, Barham, Player and Evans proved successful on the 18th as they failed to drop a shot with nine consecutive pars.
Montgomerie’s accuracy off the tee kept the grouping on the 10th hole on track, as seven of his nine tee shots hit the fairway, while on the green Nicholas holed two crucial birdie putts.
The all-star cast were ably assisted by a group of low-handicappers selected from Evans’ listeners, who were strategically placed around the course to play any errant shots in the direction of the green.
BBC commentators Andrew Cotter and Iain Carter provided the hundreds of fans present with commentary throughout the attempt, and a wave of euphoria swept the crowd as Cotter announced the official time and a new record for Golf Live.
Golf Live www.golfliveevent.com
London Golf Club www.londongolf.co.uk