Littlehampton golf club captain and secretary finish epic charity challenge together

Ladies captain Susie de Las Casas and competition secretary Ann Carnegie walked 26 miles in a single day, taking a round trip of four local golf clubs.

They started at Bognor last Monday morning, stopping at Littlehampton, Ham Manor, Worthing, then back to Ham Manor and on to their home club Littlehampton again where they finished.

It was in aid of charity PSPA, which helps people living with degenerative brain disease Corticobasal Degeneration (CBD) or neurological condition Progressive Supranuclear Palsy (PSP).

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Susie said: “We had such a good day, the weather was brilliant and it was an absolute blast. We did the walk in seven hours and 30-something minutes, and it was great.

"This cause is very important to me because it affects one of my friends, Helen Todd, who is a member of the club. Her husband Alan has this cruel condition and when I heard about it, I thought ‘we can do something here’.”

Susie, who has been ladies captain since October, said the pair have so far raised more than £4,000, with more donations still coming in.

Some of the women at the club, who Susie has affectionately named The Pink Ladies, joined Susie and Ann on different legs of the walk, along with other club members. They had a champagne reception at the end of their walk, which Susie said was very welcome.

She added: “Everybody got behind us, which was brilliant. I’m just so glad we were able to do it. Alan and Helen were able to meet us near to Littlehampton Golf Club, and it was lovely to see them.

“Ann and I trained really hard for this, because we’re not youngsters. We’ve been going on 8/10-mile walks every other day to make sure we’re ready.”

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Susie, 72, pointed out that she and Ann, 76, have a combined age of almost 150 but said they are still very fit and have been feeling fine since they completed their challenge.

“This was the last thing on my bucket list,” Susie said. “I’ve done the Three Peaks Challenge, I’ve cycled Lands End to John O’Groats and jumped out of aeroplanes, and this was the marathon I never got to do. I couldn’t run it, because of the age I am and it jars my body too much, so I thought we’ll walk it.

“We’re really proud and pleased to have done it.”

Susie plans to do more fundraising for other causes during the rest of her term. To donate to their fundraising effort, visit https://www.justgiving.com/page/susie-de-las-casas-1708615309200