The founder of Royal & Awesome golf, Graeme Smeaton, is taking on the challenge of playing five rounds of golf every day for five days at the beginning of June.
He aims to raise £25,000 for the My Name’5 Doddie Foundation supporting MND research by starting to play at 4.30am and probably not finishing until around 10pm. Royal & Awesome will donate 15% of the sales of their Doddie Weir range to the cause.
Graeme will play every round in East Lothian, where he grew up, including the courses at Gullane, Luffness, Kilspindie and Longniddry in his itinerary. And he will not be all alone out there on the fairways. A few Scotland rugby stars, John Barclay, Andy Irvine and Roger Baird along with some friends of Doddie will accompany him in his charity challenge – hopefully with enough banter among them to keep him going.
During the challenge he will walk 125 miles, hit more than 2,000 shots and may only get about 25 hours of sleep…
Doddie Weir’s son Hamish and the friends and family of MND campaigner, Scott Stewart who died in December last year will also take part.
The idea for the challenge comes from the late Doddie Weir’s number 5 strip. Graeme will wear clothing from his own Royal & Awesome Doddie tartan range.
Graeme said: “These courses are where I fell in love with golf.
“So to take on this challenge here, for a cause as meaningful as My Name’5 Doddie Foundation’s feels incredibly special.
“I’m aiming to raise £25,000 but the main goal is to raise awareness of the incredible work the Foundation does to raise vital funds for MND research. This is nothing compared to what people living with MND go through every day. I just want to do my bit – and hopefully inspire donations along the way.”
Paul Thompson, Director of Fundraising and Communications at My Name’5 Doddie Foundation, said: “Graeme’s challenge is bold, brilliant, and full of heart – exactly the kind of energy Doddie brought to life. We’re incredibly grateful for his support and can’t wait to see him take on all 25 rounds. He’s doing something extraordinary to help fund vital research and raise awareness of MND.”
Follow Graeme and his fundraising challenge on Instagram here.
https://www.instagram.com/royalandawesome
https://www.justgiving.com/page/graeme-smeaton-2
