Man Set to Shatter Golf Guinness World Record

In 2010, a 64-year-old retired man set a Guinness World Record for most rounds of golf played in year with 611 rounds.  By the end of 2016, that record will likely have been destroyed by a man named Barry Gibbons.

Gibbons, who recently retired from IBM, was, as he puts it, “looking for something to do.”  He randomly came across the world record in 2015 and began his pursuit in January playing three rounds a day through March.  That put him at 200 rounds, three months into the new year.  He would add another 150 rounds from April to May.

Since then he’s been playing two rounds a day, putting his total at 565 rounds of golf (as of last week), and on pace to eclipse the current record by the end of September.  He plans on playing the record-breaking round with his 82 year-old- father on the same course in which his dad introduced him to the game.

But Gibbons doesn’t plan on stopping there.  “I want to see how far I can go,” he said, “I’m trying to get to 850 rounds.”

“I had one day where I shot rounds of 72, 74 and 75. Then the next day I didn’t break 80,” said Gibbons. “Another time I had eight pars and a birdie on the back nine at the Ridgefield Golf Course. Fourteen hours later, I played the same nine holes and had eight bogeys and a par.”

Keep in mind, in order to satisfy the Guinness World Record standards for the record, he has had to walk and carry his own clubs for every round.  Meaning he has walked the radius of the earth and then some, covering over 4,000 miles on foot.  He says he’s gone through eleven pairs of shoes.

Some other quick stats, courtesy of Tim Murphy and the Ridgefield Press:

• Gibbons has spotted over 1,000 golf balls, collecting about 700 along the way.
• He once used one ball for 125 straight holes.
• He’s played with more than 500 people, including a former NBA referee and NFL head coach.
• He once completed three rounds in six-and-a-half hours.
• He has used the same set of clubs for all of his rounds, replacing a few driver shafts along the way.

You can follow along on his quest at BreakTheGolfRecord.com

Finally, I can tell you this, on the day after I retire, I will begin my own quest of chasing down Barry’s record, whatever that final number may be.

Worst case scenario, I fall short while still playing a whole lot of golf.

Cover Photo via BreaktheGolfRecord.com