After playing 252 holes from dawn to dusk for charity Monday, Addison Lovsin was hoping to tee off again Tuesday afternoon at the Spallumcheen Golf and Country Club.
Nobody was reporting the 22-year-old Spall assistant pro for slow golf Monday. Actually, members and green-fee players moved aside and let the monster-hitter take shots in a hurry during the 13th annual PGA of B.C. Golfathon for ALS.
“I’m feeling a little sore today (Tuesday), especially in my legs,” laughed Lovsin, who finished the 14-round marathon right at 9 p.m. “I felt a touch out of it a few times, but I got my energy back with a snack. By the end of the day, I was fine. I went home, ate an entire pepperoni pizza, had a shower and went to bed. That felt really good.”
Lovsin, a two handicap, hasn’t totalled all the pledges but expects the number to be somewhere north of $3,000. He crushed Spall pro Myles Johnson’s record of 200 holes, set last year.
The 2013 Fulton grad, who munched on Power Bars and sipped energy drinks, registered his lone eagle by chipping in for three on the par-5 18th hole during his second-last round. Member Randy Strang pledged $10 for any eagles, while several other members donated cash at the pro shop.
“Show off,” laughed one female player, after watching Lovsin land a 130-yard approach shot just feet away from the cup on the ninth hole.
“Look at him, he makes a birdie putt with a camera right in front of him,” chuckled a male player after Lovsin canned a putt on No. 8.
Lovsin, who rode a power cart, opened with a 2-over 73 with three birdies before registering a 69 with six birdies. The first round took just 80 minutes. He also carded a 69 in Round 6. His highest score was a 1-over 74. Members Dan Gardiner, Larry Doyle, Harry Bowker, Dennis Lyle and Alan Siewertsen took turns driving the cart.
“They were all nice enough to drive the cart for a few hours which gave me time to eat and refuel. All the members and green-fee-ers were nice about letting me through.”
Lovsin, in his first year at the Spall pro shop, uses Titleist irons and a Taylor-Made driver. The lefty used the same glove for all 252 holes and it now has a hole in the palm.
“He started at 4:55 this morning and it was really dark and stormy,” said longtime Spall teaching pro Al Pisch, at noon Monday. “I told him to hold off a while but he was having none of that.”
The PGA of BC has raised more than $1.4 million in a dozen years through the golf marathon.
Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS ), also referred to as Lou Gehrig’s Disease, is a fatal neurodegenerative disorder that affects the person’s motor neurons that carry messages to the muscles resulting in weakness and wasting in arms, legs, mouth, throat and elsewhere; typically the person is immobilized within two to five years of the initial diagnosis.
