100 Holes? In One Day? Yes And Yes

Scott Ashworth and Anthony Valverde combined to shoot just 11 over par for 200 holes at Kiele Waikahe. David Simon photo

I manage to get out on the golf course a handful of times each year. Usually by about the 15th hole, my shoulders start to get a little sore, my feet get a little tired and my mind begins to wander farther than the last errant tee shot.

Well, 18 holes is now child’s play for Anthony Valverde and Scott Ashworth, who played the Kiele Waikahe Nine course at Kaua’i Lagoons Aug. 29 for 11 complete rounds and one more hole for good measure, totaling 100 holes of golf. The effort was a charity event that benefited both Aloha Section PGA Foundation and ASPGA Japan Tsunami Relief Fund.

“First ball was in the air at 6:45 this morning and the last putt dropped at 4:30,” Valverde said, putting the duo’s time under 10 hours. “I knew we had to average playing each hole in nine minutes, and I think we averaged six minutes.”

Valverde is the executive director of ASPGA. Ashworth is ASPGA president, as well as the director of golf at Kaua’i Lagoons.

The idea for this type of fundraiser, a departure from a typical scramble or best ball event, came collectively from the ASPGA board, which wanted to do something different. Valverde says they were able to raise about $2,500 for their efforts.

The twosome who had the nine-hole course to themselves wasn’t just running to the tee box, slamming the ball with little concern for direction and not worrying about results. Ashworth finished with an even 400 strokes, good for 1-over par. Valverde wasn’t far behind with a 10-over par 409.

The mental stamina to play 100 holes of golf in succession, especially at that level of skill, seems beyond words. Put it this way, MidWeek Kaua’i editor Don Chapman has played in several 100-holes-inone-day charity events, including one year “with a friend who had previously done the Ironman at Kona and the Run To The Sun up Haleakala on Maui, and he said playing 100 holes was tougher mentally.”

I’m certain that, for me, the inevitable daydreaming would be too much to overcome.

“There were definitely some errant shots where I was like, ‘I wasn’t even paying attention that time.’ A couple putts, I took the club back and I forgot where I was going,” Valverde admits.

Having never played more than 36 holes in one day before, he says he’d like to make this an annual fundraiser, but that once a year will be plenty.

“We stopped and had lunch after 54 holes, and that nine coming back after lunch was my roughest nine,” Valverde says. “I hit the wall there; it was my worst nine that I had. But at the end of it, I feel better than I thought I would feel.”

I always say that when I play golf, my goal is to shoot 100. If I’m speaking to Ashworth or Valverde, I now know I’ll have to be more specific.