Alpha male Glen’s drive
Sep 23 2008 by Richard Fletcher, The Journal
GOLF-CRAZY Glen Copeland is putting in the miles to carry out an international charity challenge.
The captain of Burgham Park Golf Club, near Felton, Northumberland, is finishing off a nationwide tour to play a round at 26 courses, each beginning with a different letter of the alphabet.
His A to Z odyssey has taken him from Alyth in Perthshire in April down to Yeovil in Somerset. But to complete the full complement, he has to play a course beginning with Z – and will travel to Holland this week to find it.
Glen, from Abbeyfield Close, Gateshead, who works at Revolution Performance Motorstore, said: “It’s been tight – I’m playing four more next week.
“A lot of them had to be rescheduled with courses being closed because of the wet weather. If it had been a normal summer, I would have finished it by now.
“During 2007 I heard that a lady member of Burgham Park had lost her father to motor neurone disease. This drove my decision regarding what charity to support as captain in 2008.
“All I had to do then was think of a good challenge to raise the money for this charity.
“I decided to combine my love of playing golf with my wish to raise money and chose to play the 26 courses.”
The letter X also provided a bit of a challenge, but luckily his backers granted Glen dispensation to use Exeter – which saved him quite a lengthy trip.
He said: “A lot of it was location and distance and I used Exeter for X. That was the only concession because I didn’t fancy travelling to China.”
Although several of the courses were found in the North East, Glen, 33, fitted in several letters on his trip to Exeter, even finding one that he used to live near to in Dorset.
He said: “I’ve played some very good courses and some I’ve always wanted to play, but the highlight was Dorset.
“I went to boarding school there and one of the courses I played was one I’d never heard of, just outside the school.
“It was a little gem, a fantastic golf course.
“The staff were very friendly and made us feel welcome.
“Travelling to Exeter it was hammering down with rain, but they let us play and for the rest of the week it was sunny.”
Wife Teresa has caddied some of the courses for Glen.
His next match will mean catching the ferry tomorrow night to Zandvoort in Holland, and he will then be back the next day to carry on his tour of Britain.
WESTWOOD BLAMES US CAPTAIN: PAGE 74
