10 Aug 2011

Back in late 2009 New Zealand corporate lawyer Michael Goldstein was stuck in a rut and looking for an adventure. Along with work colleague and good friend, Jamie Patton, he quit his job, left his girlfriend and embarked on the puregolf2010 odyssey, which involved travelling the world and playing a different golf course every single day of the year.

Fast forward to July 2011 and the young golf adventurer again made global headlines, this time becoming the first person to play ten different 18-hole golf courses in a single day. The feat was achieved at the Mission Hills Resort on Hainan Island in southern China, in the midst of a particularly steamy, tropical summer.

Beginning at 5.51am, Goldstein teed off in near darkness on the par three Double Pin course, one of two short courses at the resort, knocking a wedge to within a few inches of the hole for the first of just 12 birdies on the day. His quest ended close to 7pm, again with a birdie, this time courtesy of a 40-foot putt from off the 18th green on the tournament prepared Blackstone layout.

In between was a whole lot of hurt for this hockey player come golfer who plays a strong game with a low, single figure handicap. Fighting fatigue, oppressive humidity, torrential downpours and constant lightning proved the easy part for Goldstein, who hit an estimated 50 additional tee shots throughout the day thanks to a wonky driver and some uncooperative longer irons.

Struggling through his middle courses with a couple of scores in the mid 90s, Goldstein averaged slightly over an hour per round and shot his best score, a gutsy 79, on Sandbelt Trails, his 9thcourse for the day.

Asked after play what had prompted this latest quest, Goldstein said it was 'a unique way to experience all the new courses here at the Mission Hills Haikou Resort when on a tight schedule!' He also confided that it was a good way to get some exposure for golf in China and could send a message on pace of play. ‘A round here takes too long, even up to six hours,’ he lamented, ‘and I wanted to show the locals that golf needn't take all day.'

As his caddie for the adventure, I was able to witness Michael’s tenacity and determination first hand and was impressed by the manner in which he battled the conditions, and a deteriorating golf swing to keep playing, and keep playing quickly. At times the golf was painful to watch, but stepping out of the cart and walking the final few holes with his clubs thrown across the shoulder, in order to soak in the accomplishment, was pretty special.

As for what’s next, Goldstein is looking to Asia again for more adventures – and plans to play all 53 courses in Japan’s Fukushima prefecture in order to support the local disaster recovery effort, and shine a light on a golf industry that has been struggling since the March earthquake and tsunami.

Darius Oliver

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Tapping in for birdie on hole 1

The strain shows as Goldstein struggles through his early rounds

The media scrum greets Michael at the midway point of his quest

The 180th and final tee shot of the day

Putting through the Biarritz swale on the 2nd green at The Vintage Course Goldstein was later lectured for wasting time cleaning his ball

Time to pick up the pace

Goldstein and his uncooperative driver

Approaching the final green and final putt of the day

Celebrating an improbable closing birdie putt from off the 180th green

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