Te Puke golfers team up to complete 72-hole challenge for Cancer Society

Te Puke Gold Club member Tim Finlay. Photo / Supplied

A group of Te Puke Golf Club mates are teaming up to smash the biggest golfing challenge any of them have done to raise money for the Cancer Society.

The challenge, the Longest Day, will take place today, on the summer solstice, which marks the day of the year with the most sunlight hours.

Taking advantage of maximum sunlight hours, teams around the country will be teeing up for a golfing challenge.

One of those teams is the Te Puke Golf Club team, who will play four rounds of golf - 72 holes - and clock in about 42km over the course of the day.

They will be pulling on all their mental strength as they complete a dawn to dusk golfing challenge for the Cancer Society.

The cause was an important one for Tim Finlay, who had been alongside his wife and other family members who battled cancer.

His wife has been in remission for six years, and while she was sick, the Cancer Society provided "fantastic" support.

Finlay is on the team of six golfers who he said were "pretty good". But he said the most any of them had played was 36 holes in one day, which was already difficult.

The hard part would be the mental endurance, he said.

"The mental side of golf is good and bad.

"It's good when it's going good, and it can really get inside you when it's going bad."

To offer support, their wives would head to the course in the afternoon and set up a barbecue to give them something to eat and support them through the last 20 holes.

They have raised $1340 online and also had a donation box at the golf club.

They teed off at 5.30am on December 21 on the Te Puke Golf Course and will play through to sunset, or until all four rounds have been complete.

Every day 71 New Zealanders are diagnosed with cancer, according to the Cancer Society, which is 100 per cent community funded and provides practical support for patients.

A nationwide total of $183,300 has been raised through the event and all money raised will go towards cancer research, prevention, and support services.