You can forgive Tom Bucci if he doesn’t want to pick up a golf club for the next two weeks.
The 44-year-old Latham resident played enough rounds of golf last week to last a year. And he did it all to fight diabetes.
Bucci played 1,801 holes of golf last week (100 rounds plus one hole) at the Albany Country Club in Guilderland to benefit the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation and the American Diabetes Association.
In the process, Bucci set a Guinness world record for most holes played over seven days, beating out Troy Grant’s record set five years ago in Australia by one hole. But, Bucci said, setting the world record wasn’t his primary objective.
It’s about raising the money and the awareness about diabetes, said Bucci, whose wife, Sheila, has been battling the disease for nearly 38 years. `The golf was just the side show to raising awareness about this disease.`
Bucci planned this fund-raising event since last fall, but didn’t let his family in on his plans until last month.
`When they found out, they thought it was pretty neat,` said Bucci, who has two daughters ` Kristi, 18, and Karli, 10. `They thought I could do it, even if I had my doubts.`
In order to pull off the feat, Bucci needed to be at Albany Country Club (where he is a member) every morning to tee off at 5 a.m. and not stop playing until it got too dark to see.
`Everything was done on the course, except to go to the bathroom,` said Bucci. `My family and friends brought me peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, Gatorade [and] bananas, and I ate on the course.`
Initially, Bucci tried commuting from his Latham home to the golf course, but getting up at 4 a.m. every morning to hustle his way to Guilderland became too much for him to take.
`When I was driving down [from Latham], I thought, ‘What am I doing? I can’t keep doing this,’` said Bucci. `Fortunately, I had a couple of friends who lived right around the corner from the golf course. So, I stayed with them Thursday and Friday night.`
Once on the course, Bucci had to be quick with his pace. He averaged between three and four minutes per hole to get in as much golfing as possible.
`I’d hit the ball, get in the [golf] cart and book it to where the ball landed,` said Bucci.
The weather didn’t always cooperate with Bucci. A thunderstorm last Monday forced Bucci off the course for more than an hour, and he had to dodge more rain drops last Thursday.
One good thing came out of Thursday’s rainy weather; Bucci recorded his first career hole-in-one on the par-3 16th hole.
`I was shooting from the green tee so it was only about a 125- or 130-yard shot, but I hit it on the fly,` said Bucci. `I think the guys who were with me had more fun with that than I did.`
Bucci always had company on the course ` a necessity to fulfill the requirements of the Guinness Book of World Records, which stipulates that any world record attempt needs a witness.
`There were witnesses ` there were plenty of them, actually,` said Bucci. `I sent out a [Microsoft] Excel spreadsheet to all my friends at the club to sign them up to be caddies, to drive the cart and to handle the score cards.`
As Bucci made his way around Albany Country Club, his Web site ` www.golfing4acure.com ` kept track of his progress.
`As I turned my score cards in to [head golf pro] Glenn Davis and the pro-shop staff, they’d update the site,` said Bucci.
The pursuit of the record ended shortly before 2:30 p.m. last Saturday when Bucci sank a par putt on the ninth hole to complete his 1,801st hole.
`I didn’t really think about the physical toll because emotionally I was so relieved that it was over,` said Bucci.
Bucci’s pursuit of the record may have ended, but his pursuit of raising money for the JDRF and the ADA isn’t. As of Monday evening, more than $15,700 had been donated by people visiting the golfing4acure Web site, but Bucci said he is hoping to raise $20,000.
As for when he’ll pick up a golf club again, Bucci doesn’t have a time table.
`I won’t say I don’t have any interest in playing, but physically I can’t right now,` he said.
After 100 rounds of golf in a week, can you blame him?“