Scots man fundraising for Doddie Weir charity to play 25 golf rounds in 5 days
"This is nothing compared to what people living with MND go through every day. I just want to do my bit - and hopefully inspire donations along the way."
A Scots man is set to play 25 rounds of golf over five days to honour the late rugby legend Doddie Weir, and fundraise for research into motor neurone disease (MND).
Graeme Smeaton aims to raise £25,000 for the My Name'5 Doddie Foundation, set up in memory of Weir, who died aged 52 in 2022 following a battle with the condition.
Between Monday, June 2 and Friday, June 6, he will walk a total of 125 miles and hit over 2,000 shots, with less than 25 hours of sleep over the five days.
The challenge will be staged on East Lothian courses at Gullane, Luffness, Kilspindie and Longniddry.
Ahead of the impressive feat, he said: "These courses are where I fell in love with golf.
"So to take on this challenge here, for a cause as meaningful as My Name'5 Doddie Foundation's feels incredibly special.
"I'm aiming to raise £25,000 but the main goal is to raise awareness of the incredible work the Foundation does to raise vital funds for MND research.
"This is nothing compared to what people living with MND go through every day. I just want to do my bit - and hopefully inspire donations along the way."
Graeme's JustGiving page has already amassed over £2,000 in donations, with just over a week to go until his challenge kicks off.
He will be joined by former Scotland rugby internationals John Barclay, Andy Irvine, and Roger Baird will join him across the week to keep pace and morale high.
Also involved will be Doddie's son Hamish Weir, and friends and family of MND campaigner Scott Stewart, who lost his battle with MND in December 2024.
Join the Daily Record WhatsApp community!
Get the latest news sent straight to your messages by joining our WhatsApp community today.
You'll receive daily updates on breaking news as well as the top headlines across Scotland.
No one will be able to see who is signed up and no one can send messages except the Daily Record team.
All you have to do is click here if you're on mobile, select 'Join Community' and you're in!
If you're on a desktop, simply scan the QR code above with your phone and click 'Join Community'.
We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don't like our community, you can check out any time you like.
To leave our community click on the name at the top of your screen and choose 'exit group'.
If you're curious, you can read our Privacy Notice.
Graeme will don trousers in the official Doddie tartan designed in memory of Weir. The trousers were created by Graeme's own company Royal and Awesome, which produces eye-catching and colourful golf clothing. 15% of each sale will go to the charity.
Paul Thompson, director of fundraising and communications at My Name'5 Doddie Foundation, said: "Graeme's challenge is bold, brilliant, and full of heart, exactly the kind of energy Doddie brought to life.
"We're incredibly grateful for his support and can't wait to see him take on all 25 rounds. He's doing something extraordinary to help fund vital research and raise awareness of MND."
Graeme's fundraising page can be found here. He will also post updates about his challenge on his Instagram account.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Scottish Sun
3 hours ago
- Scottish Sun
Scots diving sensation, 18, wins medal in FIRST senior major championships – just weeks after finishing school
He was up against some top opposition NEW HEIGHTS Scots diving sensation, 18, wins medal in FIRST senior major championships – just weeks after finishing school Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) A YOUNG Scots diving sensation has claimed a silver medal on his FIRST ever appearance at a senior major championships. And he was agonisingly close to gold! Sign up for Scottish Sun newsletter Sign up 1 Noah Penman poses with his silver medal Credit: Getty Noah Penman, 18, from Aberdeen, produced a stunning performance in the final of the 3m springboard at the European Diving Championships in Antalya, Turkey to win the silver medal. He finished with a score of score of 429.70 and missed out on gold by just 1.55 points to Andrzej Rzeszutek of Poland - a man 15 years his senior. Rzeszutek won a gold medal at the European Aquatics Championships in Belgrade last year in the 1m springboard. Moritz Wesemann of Germany came in third to take bronze with a score of 426.85. Penman - who only finished high school a few weeks ago - had a first dive that scored 70.5, three points higher than Rzeszutek's opening effort. But the Pole steadily increased the difficulty levels and held onto top spot from the fourth dives until the sixth and final dive to claim victory. Penman trains out of Aberdeen Diving Club and had an extremely successful junior career, across both springboard and platform disciplines. The youngster won silver in the A/B Boys platform synchro at the 2023 European Juniors, before winning his first individual international medal a year later in the same competition in the Boys A 1m springboard. Penman is the latest Scots diver to medal at an international event following Scotland's resurgence in the sport in recent years. Grace Reid and James Heatly have won medals at World, European and Commonwealth level. Duncan Scott: Scotland's Most Decorated Olympian They partnered one another to a bronze in the mixed 3m synchro gold at the 2022 World Championships and later that year they would be crowned champions in the same event at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham. At the 2018 Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast, Reid became the first Scottish female diver to win a medal at the games when she won the 1m springboard event. Reid also partnered Tom Daley before his retirement, winning gold at the 2016 European Aquatics Championships in the 3m synchro. Keep up to date with ALL the latest news and transfers at the Scottish Sun football page
The Herald Scotland
6 hours ago
- The Herald Scotland
Jamie Ritchie & Rory Darge react to British & Irish Lions snub
Both Edinburgh's Ritchie and Glasgow Warriors' Rory Darge were not included in the squad for the tour of Australia as eight Scots made the cut. Scott Cummings, Zander Fagerson and Pierre Schoeman are the Scottish representatives among a 21-strong selection of forwards for the Lions. Huw Jones, Blair Kinghorn, Finn Russell, Sione Tuipulotu and Duhan van der Merwe feature in the 17-man backs selection. The eight-man Scotland inclusion matches the number of Scots involved in the last tour in 2021, and is one shy of the all-time record from 1989. Ritchie and Darge were overlooked but neither player required support after the decision with the experience to be used as motivation moving forward as both men remain satisfied with their efforts even if they were not selected. 'Personally, I feel like I'd done all I could in terms of how I performed and stuff, so I was comfortable with that," said Ricthie on the BBC Scotland Rugby Podcast. 'At the end of the day, it's down to someone's opinion and decision-making and what they feel they need in their squad. At that point, it's outside of my control. For 2021, I feel like I was further away than I was this year, but I was more upset then. Read more: 'I'm a bit more mature now in terms of how I react to these things. Obviously, it would have been nice to have that moment, but I'm comfortable with the performances that I've put in to put myself in the mix. I said this to my wife because she was quite upset when we watched it together. 'I said to her, if you look at the position we were in a year ago after Six Nations, where it hadn't gone the way I wanted to in terms of selection and missing out on the captaincy and humming and hawing about whether or not I was going to go on the summer tour, if we'd said we'd be sitting here at the Lions announcement day, feeling like we were in with a real shout and then disappointed when it didn't happen, we would absolutely have taken it. 'That's the perspective that I'm taking on at the moment. I felt like I did all I could. The call didn't come, and that's OK.' Ritchie discussed the thinking behind selections with Lions and Scotland coach John Dalziel but has not had any official word over making a standby list for the tour. 'I know how much I put into this game and how much I put into preparing and going out and playing and putting my body through, so why should other people get to experience that?' said Darge. 'And I'm not saying that from a negative point of view, it's purely a positive point of view. 'I was delighted for the guys that are involved and it just was a bit of a motivator for me, really, and something to aspire to. 'You have to have that initial bit where you are gutted and you're like, 'why can't I be involved in that?' But then, really quickly you're able to be like, that's something to aspire to, that's something to hopefully one day be a part of.'
BBC News
8 hours ago
- BBC News
Kevin Sinfield 2025 challenge to honour Leeds teammate Rob Burrow
A former England rugby league star has announced he will take on another seven ultra-marathons over seven days, in honour of his late teammate Rob Sinfield, 44, said he and his team will begin this year's challenge - which takes place across the UK and Ireland - on 1 December, raising money and awareness for motor neurone disease (MND).This year he hopes to raise £777,777 - to add to funds of more than £10m raised since he began running marathons in 2020, following his friend's diagnosis in Sinfield said he was excited to take on another challenge, adding it "feels like a form of therapy at times" - particularly last year following Rob Burrow's death, at the age of 41. He told BBC Breakfast: "The five challenges we've done so far have been really tough and challenging, but the people we've met so far, they've all been amazing - so it's important we keep Rob's legacy going and get the other two done."Hearing people's stories along the way is a massive energy-giver, as there's some dark moments on the road [when] it's dark and wet and cold, and your body is telling you to give up."But you take all that energy and emotion on the road and use it as fuel. We share our stories with each other every night, about what's gone on during the day, so it is really powerful."The team will start in Bury St Edmunds before travelling to Ipswich, Cork, Swansea, Sheffield, Workington, Whitehaven, Dundee, and North Yorkshire, arriving in Leeds on 7 December. The money raised will be split between the MND Association, the Leeds Hospital Charity, Irish MND Association, the My Name'5 Doddie Foundation, MND Scotland and The Darby Rimmer in Cork, the team will pause to remember former Warrington Rugby League player and Munster Rugby Union coach Paul Darbyshire, who died in 2011 from MND. "The challenge is good for me," Mr Sinfield said, adding: "It's almost like a form of therapy at times, and has given us something to really go after."We can't just expect to rock up on the 1st December and expect it to happen, so there's 10-12 weeks before where we put a lot of time and effort in, and that involves putting yourself in a dark place - the training is the difficult bit."I don't like being in the dark spot but I enjoy coming through it... knowing I've been in there." Listen to highlights from West Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North.
