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Golf ascent hits snow bunker

It turns out Golden Hinde, Vancouver Island’s highest mountain peak, is no place to play golf.
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Brett Standerwick of Fairwinds Golf Club takes a shot during his three-day golfing ascent of Golden Hinde in support of the annual ALS Golf-a-thon. While not making it to the mountain’s summit

It turns out Golden Hinde, Vancouver Island’s highest mountain peak, is no place to play golf.

Brett Standerwick, associate professional at Fairwinds Golf Club, has participated in the annual ALS Golf-A-Thon for the past four years and decided this year to take it up a notch by golfing to the 2,200-metre summit.

Taking a shot and tracking down the ball, Standerwick and his team worked their way up the mountain until they ran into what is likely the world’s biggest golf hazard.

“There was such an incredible snowpack this year we couldn’t get into the south face,” he said. “There were high winds and soft snow which made it really dangerous.”

Golfing to within 680 metres of the top, Standerwick had to stop short of his goal but said the trip was a success with $3,000 raised.

“In the past I’ve raised about $1,400 a year for ALS and this year we more than doubled that,” he said. “And with the media coverage, we definitely raised more awareness for ALS. I think we achieved our goal.”

Donations to the fundraiser can still be made online at www.golfathonforals.com or by calling Standerwick at 250-468-7666.

ALS – Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, – 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 and throat.  Typically, a person is immobilized or deceased within two to five years of initial diagnosis.