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GOLF-LOVING students got into the swing of things at a driving range and had a hole lot of fun raising BD1,000 for local good causes, reports ANASUYA KESAVAN.
One hundred and twenty five Year 10 students at St Christopher's Senior School, aged between 14 and 16, hit golf balls over a combined distance of 72.125km at the Bahrain Golf Club in Riffa.
Coming from multi-national backgrounds and from different corners of the globe - including the not so sunny home of golf in Scotland in the northern hemisphere to the southern shores of Australia - the students and their seven teachers braved the hot afternoon sun (44C) to hit 10 balls each and raise individual sponsorship from family and friends for their golfing exploits.
Mark Prior, head of the year, said: "I strongly believe the traits that we need to be successful in golf mirrors those that are needed to be successful in life.
"The challenge was accessible to all of our students and provided some amusing moments with Kanaan Abu Khadra throwing his golf club further than he hit the ball and Marwan Ulhaq missing more shots than he hit!
"Additionally, I think the whole idea of the 'golfing challenge' being a team event was very important. I often talk about having a collective responsibility to students and this was a prime example ... our Year 10s worked well together and we exceeded our target of hitting more than 48km which we thought was the length of Bahrain.
"Some students have never tried to hit a golf ball before, never had a single minute of training and this made this challenge far from easy."
Pupil Oliver Vine, 15, said: "Mr Prior reckons he can play golf but this afternoon gave me the opportunity to show him who the Tiger Woods of St Christopher's really is and to do some good at the same time!"
The afternoon began with Colin Ferguson, a professional and coach at the Royal Golf Club, providing some basic golfing tips. This included a demonstration on how to grip the club, where to stand in relation to the ball and how to perform a basic stroke.
Mr Prior said: "When two students from each tutor were hitting at any one time their form tutor and friends were acting as spotters to determine where their shots landed. In all it took about 40 minutes for all students to hit their 10 golf balls and have their distances recorded.
"Every shot hit by the students was given a distance based on which sector of the driving range it landed and the results were recorded and totalled to calculate the group's combined efforts."
The Bahrain Golf Club provided the venue and golf balls for the event which was organised as part of the student's personal, social and careers education (PCSE) curriculum.
