Manitoba golfers set unofficial record of 333 holes of golf in 12 hours

One golf course, two men, 12 hours and 333 holes of golf played. That’s how the 13th annual Marathon Monday shaped up for Patrick Law and Dylan Thornborough, which ended up being an unofficial world record.

The pair have been participating in the golf fundraiser since 2012 to raise money in the fight against cancer – a cause that hit close to home.

“In 2012, or just before that, we were talking about wanting to do a golf marathon. And unfortunately, at that time, Patrick’s mom got diagnosed with breast cancer,” Thornborough said.

For this year’s edition, Law and Thornborough had the added goal of trying to break the unofficial world record of 306 holes of golf in 12 hours.

“Our previous record was 225. We did that over a longer period of time. We were both riding in the same carts, not rushing like we were yesterday.”

In order to break the record, the Glenboro Golf and Country Club was closed down for the day and only available to them, and they had golf cart drivers to get them to their ball as quickly as possible.

“It was mainly just planning on logistics, on how we’re going to do it and ways to save time versus years past,” said Law, who noted they didn’t really prepare their bodies for the physical part of the game and they were feeling quite sore afterward.

“I’m going to have a hard time getting out of this chair when this (interview) is over,” Law laughed.

Patrick Law and Dylan Thornborough at there 333 golf hole on July 29, 2024. (Paige Thornborough)

The preparation paid off, as the duo were able to complete 333 holes in 12 hours, averaging a hole every two minutes and six seconds.

They also managed to hit a hole-in-one in the process.

“It was the 64th hole of the day and the way our day (went), we kind of just hit the shots and don’t really watch them after that. We know generally where they’re going to go and the drivers were great that way at saying, ‘Oh yeah, you’re over here.’ We both hit our tee shots on the hole and got up to the green and one of them was in the hole. We had to differentiate whose it was. I got the hole-in-one,” said Law.

The event has grown over the years. What started as just them doing the marathon has grown to 10 different marathons around Manitoba.

They have also been able to raise around $170,000 in that time – with about $30,000 coming this year alone.

“We started off with a goal of 100 holes and to raise $1,000 just to get started. We got those 100 holes pretty quick that first year and had a pretty good year fundraising. But to see those totals to where we’re at now is crazy,” said Thornborough.

As for what next year’s marathon could look like, the pair said they will talk about it more as they rest up, but they don’t think they will be passing this year’s record anytime soon.

“We’re getting older. It’s getting harder on the body, so I don’t know if we’ll be surpassing that anytime soon,” said Thornborough.

If people are wanting to participate, more information can be found online.