Golf: On course for a record

Played every golf course in your area? That's not a bad achievement for any golfing afficionado to boast.

How about playing every golf course ... in the country!

The challenge of playing every single course in New Zealand can't come soon enough for Paraparaumu man Ricky Bartlett.

He's itching to get his clubs out and line up a ball on the number one tee at the Kauri Cliffs in the Bay of Islands course.

"It's been on my mind for a while but in the last six months I've been really thinking about how it's going to work and now it's really close.

"It's funny because I was thinking the other day I will have to get my hair cut at some stage during the year."

The golfing odyssey wasn't something he dreamed up. It came after flicking through a national golf course guidebook.

"At first I thought I would do it when I retired but then I thought I might not even get there and also, by the time I do retire, I could be too knackered."

The 40-year-old will play 400 courses, starting with the prestigioius Kauri Cliffs course on August 1 and finishing at his home club Paraparaumu Beach about July 29 next year.

He reckons he'll average about eight courses a week.

Each course will be walked but if certain clubs require him to drive a golf cart then he'll oblige.

Bartlett, a cricket development officer from Raumati South, has been allowed to take a year off work.

He is hopeful some sponsors will come through to keep him financially afloat.

Embarking on his trip isn't cheap.

There are mortgage payments, fuel costs, food and all those little things like buying washing up powder.

He will even have to shell out for the odd green fee as a handful of courses have turned their noses up to his request.

"Out of the 400 I suppose I'm still waiting for replies from 150 and out of the 250 that have got back to me only about 10 to 15 have said they're not interested in helping me out.

"The ones who have said no I'll just black mark them in my book," he grins.

Bartlett, on a three handicap, will travel by himself in a sponsored campervan but hopes people will join him throughout the year to keep him sane.

"I'm relying on the golf clubs to have at least one person who is willing to have a round of golf with me otherwise I can't put my card in and people will say 'I don't know if you played that one'."

An itinerary has been sent out to all the clubs so they can prepare for his arrival.

As well as proving doubters wrong a key part of the trip is to raise money for charities -- SPCA, Amnesty International, Cancer Society and Ronald McDonald House.

When he approached the clubs he asked if they might be able to run some kind of event or raffles. Most have agreed to do something.

Some charity dinners are being lined up and a few celebrity players have been roped in to help out.

While sorting out last-minute bits and pieces Bartlett has been running and stretching to increase his fitness levels and will increase his play before he goes into golf overdrive.

The irony is that though he earns his living through sport, that sport isn't golf. The English-raised Bartlett used to play cricket for Somerset before coming to New Zealand to help develop cricket here.

After 365 days on the road and 400 courses, maybe he'll change his sporting affiliations. Or, just possibly, a total absence from golf will be a most welcome change of pace!

- HOROWHENUA-KAPITI CHRONICLE