Six of the best in 24-hour charity endurance golf

Six golfers are set to play right through the night, in a 24-hour charity golf marathon at St Mellion International Resort next month. Among them will be the husband and father of 35-year old Davida Gass, who died in November 2014 after battling pancreas and liver cancer.

The event starts at 6pm on Tuesday, 23 June, on the Kernow Course with play continuing for 24 hours, with the final 18 holes on the resort’s world-famous Nicklaus Signature Course. Night Golf equipment, including glowing golf balls and light sticks, will be used as darkness falls. Spectators are being encouraged, and collections are being made both before, during and after the event for the CLIC Sargent charity.

Davida’s father, ex-Aston Villa football legend Allan Evans, will play in the event which has been organised by PGA golf professional Darren Gass, Davida’s husband, who is in his 16th year at the resort and currently heads up the coaching academy there. Also joining them will be David Moon, PGA pro and golf manager at St Mellion and the resort’s head PGA pro Ben Waters, plus St Mellion PGA pros Jason Avery and Ross Whitelock.

With this event Darren, Allan and their friends aim to raise over £10,000 for CLIC Sargent, the charity for children with cancer. Five years before Davida was herself diagnosed with incurable cancer in 2013, the Gass family was rocked when they learnt that their baby son Foster, aged only three months at the time, had a life-threatening tumour. Over the years that followed, both the Bristol Royal Children’s Hospital and CLIC Sargent provided superb care and support for the parents, as Foster went through prolonged and gruelling treatment.

Happily Foster, who had initially been given just a 20 percent chance to live, is now an energetic seven year old boy, and Davida Gass subsequently threw herself into supporting CLIC Sargent by way of thanks.

Gass commented, “Davida showed incredible courage while Foster was going through his treatment, and she showed the same strength when she was faced with her own individual challenge. CLIC Sargent was very precious to her, so I urge as many people as possible to donate to our page on JustGiving, which can be found at www.justgiving.com/Davida-Gass/

“We’ve had unbelievable support from the team at St Mellion, and all of its members too. We really could not have asked for better support from the resort, over the last few years. We’re looking forward to seeing a nice crowd as we approach the final hole on 24 June. My son, Foster, will hole the final putt on the 18th green. The rest of us will probably be too tired to lift a putter by then!”

Pictured from left: David Moon, Ben Waters, Darren Gass and Ross Whitelock

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A graduate of Cardiff University’s highly respected post-graduate magazine journalism course, Andy has successfully edited four different publications across the B2B, trade and consumer sectors. He is skilled at all aspects of the magazine process in addition to editing websites and managing social media channels.