FOR a lot of us, getting through 18 holes of golf can be mentally and physically draining.
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Over a three to four hour period, 18 holes can bring out a range of emotions.
That being the case, how would you cope with playing 401 holes of golf in 24 hours? Crazy. Insane, you say.
Well, next week marks the 35th anniversary of an extraordinary performance that remains in the Guinness Book of World Records.
On November 27-28, 1971, Ian Colston played 22 rounds and five holes in 24 hours at the Bendigo Golf Club.
The 401 holes broke the previous record by 25 holes, set more than 30 years earlier in the United States.
Using only a six-iron, Colston, one of central Victoria's leading athletes in the 1960's and early 1970's, covered more than 160 km in the day's play.
Colston, now 70, looks on his achievement with pride. "I was a pretty good runner back then and the Bendigo Golf Club approached me about trying to break the record," Colston told The Advertiser this week from his home in Leeton.
"I'd never been a serious golfer . . . but I always enjoyed challenging myself.
"I trained extremely hard for six months and ran about 20 miles per day to make sure I was as fit as I could be.
"I enjoyed running long distances. I remember covering 147 miles in a 24-hour period." The BGC installed lights around the course, so Colston could play through the night.
"I had four motorbikes behind me all the time and I used a luminous golf ball," Colston said.
"As soon as I hit the ball one of the motorbike riders would take off to track the ball for me.
"I played smart and didn't try and hit the ball too far. I kept it straight and tried to keep out of trouble." Colston's record still stands, despite being challenged by two Americans in the mid-80s.
"A couple of Americans claimed to have beaten my record, but they used one of those electrical buggies," Colston said.
"My record stands as the most played on foot." Colston, who was born and bred in Eaglehawk, moved to Rochester in his mid-20's to work on a dairy farm.
His professional running career took him around Australia and to New Zealand.
"I'd get up early and run 10 miles, put in a days work and run another 10 miles at night," Colston said.
"I ran quite a few marathons in less than two hours, 30 minutes." Colston was a key runner and coach for the South Bendigo Athletics Club.
Colston's running career was cut short in 1974 when he was run over by a car when training for a run from Perth to Sydney.
"My left knee was badly crushed and that was the end of my running," he said.
"I still look after myself . . . I've never drank (alcohol) and I've never smoked. I've got a woodcutting business up here that I still do some work for."Colston is loyal to his birthplace. "There's only one footy team in Bendigo - that's Eaglehawk."
