Josh Simpson is in the process of trying to break the Guinness World Record of playing 581 golf courses in a single year.
Having kicked off on Friday, January 24, to this date (Thursday, May 1), the 27-year-old from King’s Lynn has played 154 golf courses in 98 days – and is 27 percent of the way to his target.
Simpson is a member of both Middleton Hall and Woodhall Spa golf clubs.
He told England Golf what motivated him to take on this challenge.
“Losing my mum a couple of years ago just put everything into perspective,” he said. “I never really saw myself doing something like this, I was never really that kind of person who would think about standing out, but it made me look at life differently. I decided I wanted to do something good whilst I could, and with what happened with mum and how sudden it was – she went from completely normal to being gone within two months – it makes you realise that could happen to anyone at any time. So I thought I’d try and do something good that I’ve wanted to do, and I’ve found a way to combine the two.
“I was on a trip last year to the Netherlands with a good friend called Michael. I said I’d love to retire and buy a motorhome and travel around and play golf. My passion is playing different golf courses and it’s just rocketed from there. I mentioned the world record and he said why don’t you do it next year?
“It sounded scary but the more he spoke, the more it made sense. He said: “You’re in the prime of your life in terms of age and fitness and physically you’re able to do it. You’ve got a job but other jobs will always come.” I owned a domestic lawn care business with about 450 customers which was passed down to me by dad but I didn’t really enjoy it despite there being perks. I was very fortunate to take over a business like that, but I realised I didn’t want to do it for the rest of my life.
“I said I didn’t really have a CV that would get me a job that would pay me the same, but my friend explained that there’d be an opportunity. I thought about it and it made some sense in that if I didn’t do it now, I’d never do it. So then came the task of seeing whether it was financially possible, and with the climate we have, but after six months of pondering and sleepless nights, here we are.”
Simpson is raising money for MacMillan, and Tapping House Hospice in Norfolk. While the clubs usually cover the cost of the green fees, others can also play provided they donate an amount to charity.
“Priority number one is breaking the world record. Priority two is raising as much money as possible for charity. I don’t have a number I want to broadcast but I have a little target in my head which I’d love to achieve. Target number three is trying to break par for the first time, that’d be a cool one. I’d also like to get a hole-in-one for the journey. I’d love to see someone shoot a ridiculous score and I’m trying to keep track of the best scores I’ve played with and I’ve played with a couple who have shot three-under-par. There’s also the quest for my lowest ever score,” he said. Another target is to figure out what’s next for me, a job in golf perhaps!”
He’s already amassed some memorable moments. “I managed to put my trolley in the water at Woking recently and I’m now two cameras down, which is probably a £1,500 mistake! The trolley is okay, but not much else. The trolley hit a bit of uneven wood and jumped in the water. Luckily I was playing with a rugby player who fished it out!
“Another good one was when I was in a clubhouse and I heard a woman shout ‘ginger pig’. I thought she was talking about a beer or something like that, but it was actually for me! She tapped me on the shoulder and asked if I was that guy trying to break the world record and I said yes. She said: “Ginger Pig?!”, and I was like: “No, Ginger Golf!”. She apologised and I joked that she’d insulted me, but she offered for me to come and sit with her and friends. She asked what I was doing for the evening and when I said I was heading to a laundrette, she said: “No you won’t!”. She invited me to her house to do my washing and whilst I was there, she asked if I liked Adidas. It turned out her son-in-law is a professional footballer and can’t wear Adidas anymore, so I ended up walking out of the house with about £1000 of Adidas kit!”
But it’s not been all good news so far. “My Handicap Index® started off at 4.7 but it’s now crept up to about eight. My worst score so far has been a 94 but that’s the problem with playing every day, you don’t get to practice!
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