Going clubbing: Survivor pounds 400-mile tee trail to fly the flag for cancer charity

AFTER enduring extensive reconstruction surgery and struggling through radiotherapy sessions, you would think the upcoming festive season would be a time of rest, relaxation and recuperation for cancer survivor Nick Edmund.

But instead of putting his feet up, the 57-year-old is embarking on a 400-mile walk that will see him travel around some of Scotland’s most iconic links golf courses – and it’s all for a good cause.

Last month, just weeks after undergoing surgery to treat his third battle with head and neck cancer, Nick began his journey to visit 25 coastal courses, from Turnberry in Ayrshire to Royal Dornoch on the north coast.

His clubs slung over his back every step of the way, Nick’s incredible journey was conceived to raise the profile of Global Golf4 Cancer, an awareness initiative that asks golfers to “fly the flag” for cancer sufferers around the world.

At each course he visits, Nick plays the fourth hole and leaves behind a distinctive flag to be displayed as a sign of support for Global Golf4 Cancer.

The Scottish tour, the second campaign walk he has undertaken, was originally meant to be finished in one mammoth journey, but Nick was forced to stop midway through to receive radiotherapy.

With his treatment now complete, Nick is back on track after setting off from Edinburgh’s famous Leith Links on Monday – and he’s very much getting into the swing of long days spent on the road. “Scotland is hugely important to me in terms of raising awareness for the campaign – it’s the home of golf,” said Nick, a golf writer and former managing director of six-time major winner Nick Faldo’s course design business.

“I knew it would take me about six weeks to complete, and I was going to walk the whole way from Turnberry to Dornoch in one go – the only reason I’m not is because I had to take a break for radiotherapy.

“The major reconstruction surgery on my forehead was just on September 11, then I started my walk on October 14 – and in that time they told me I would have to have radiotherapy in late October.

“So I walked the Ayrshire course and had a ‘break’ from walking to complete my radiotherapy.

“I finished my 20th session on the Friday before restarting again on Monday. People think I’m mad, and the nurses say to me that I’m going to be tired, but I want to finish before Christmas.

“And I think, ‘Well am I going to sit at home and feel sorry for myself or am I just going to get out there and finish this thing?’”

Nick was first diagnosed with head and neck cancer five years ago after a lump appeared on his neck.

He has since been treated for three instances of cancer, including surgery to remove the lymph nodes on the right side of his neck and his cerebral parotid gland, as well as the most recent operation which involved extensive surgery on his scalp.

Nick explained: “I got to my early 50s and was very fortunate to have always had very good health – I never spent a day in hospital in my life, and never even had a broken bone. But I had had small instances of skin cancer.

“I didn’t know it at the time, but I had damaged my head through sun exposure over a number of years – it was partly to do with having fair skin, partly not covering up enough and partly spending a lot of time outdoors in hot climates.

“The most recent surgery involved taking a patch from the inside of my left leg, and grafting that on to my scalp. When they put the graft on, in order to be sure they had eradicated all the cancer, the doctors then decided I would need radiotherapy.”

Nick first dreamed up the Global Golf4 Cancer initiative and his charity golf walks long before his own cancer battle, and he believes the challenge has spurred him on through treatment after treatment.

When his Scottish tour finishes at the end of December, he will go on to complete more walks, including Spain’s Camino de Santiago trail.

The goal is to have at least 1,000 clubs around the world flying the Global Golf4 Cancer flag within the next two years.

He said: “When I was diagnosed with cancer it made me even more determined. My reaction was, ‘This isn’t going to beat me’.

“I felt I owed it to myself and to the campaign, and it gave me a goal to work towards.

“The campaign has given me a real sense of purpose, and made me feel like I’m on a mission.

“It’s almost so overpowering that, rather than focusing on the pain, it’s made me do things that I didn’t think I was capable of.”