It was getting later Tuesday evening at the Bridgeport Country Club and Christian Marsh, admittedly, was a physically beaten man. Mentally, though, he remained sharp and felt the need to get a dig in at his cousin.

 

“I texted Matt Godfrey who is my first cousin and told him I was wiped out,” said Marsh. “He was a sophomore at (Robert C. Byrd) when I was a senior playing for Bridgeport. I said the last time I was this tired was when we beat RCB 22-21 in overtime. That gave me a bit of energy thinking about the wars we had with them on the football field, but then it all came crashing back down.”

 

It should be no surprise why Marsh was exhausted. He had just completed 16 rounds of golf – and he did it in a little over 16 hours.

 

Incredibly, Marsh completed 288 holes at the BCC Tuesday. To do that, he teed off for the first of those holes at 4:30 a.m. and he finished up at 8:50 p.m.

 

“I guess I had a little time left. What I did not have left was any energy,” said Marsh. “I didn’t think I could feel worse.”

 

Marsh was wrong. He woke up Wednesday morning feeling worse than he would feel after the biggest of battles back in his high school football games.

 

When talking about his exploits, Marsh was stuck on a couch in the late morning hours with a heating pad looking for relief. He was following that up with the first of a five-package session of cryotherapy treatments in Bridgeport to help ease his body.

 

Tomorrow, he will be back to work and then he is off on vacation.

 

“I hope I’m healed up enough for work and vacation,” said Marsh.

 

For those wondering why Marsh golfed so long, it is not because he enjoys pain. Rather, he is the United Way of Harrison County Board President and is doing his part to raise funds. Last year, he raised $25,000 by golfing 13 rounds and doing 234 holes.

 

Although he increased the number, Marsh entered Tuesday looking like he would come up well short of that total – even though had had set lofty goal of significantly increasing the amount. By Wednesday morning, it looked as if he would at least match the $25,000.

 

“I had about $17,000 when I started and (Wednesday) morning I had more than $7,000 more pledged by people, a lot of golfers, who didn’t know about it this year,” said Marsh. “Last year a lot of sponsors came from the golf courses where I posted about it and I think maybe some of the regulars weren’t golfing as much or at all because of COVID-19.”

 

Marsh helped himself by getting in more holes as many donations were based on the number of holes completed. To help reach this year’s numbers, he started an hour earlier and ended 45 minutes later.

 

“Last year, I took a decent lunch break and cut that out. This year, I took four five-minute breaks to change clothes and eat a peanut butter and jelly sandwich,” said Marsh.

 

There was one other issue Marsh had to deal with. This year, the Quality Machine Business Manager also had to face rain.

 

“That was the hardest part because it was a steady rain for an hour and a half, maybe two hours, and that was tough,” said Marsh. I had my rain gear, but I was drenched and it’s hard to play when you’re drenched,” said Marsh. “When it ended, I took one of those five-minute breaks and put on dry clothes.”

 

The good news was that, for the most part, he could play through the rain. The better part was that there was no lightning.

 

“During the worst part we stopped and stayed under tree, which we could do because there was no lightning,” said Marsh. “I guess that added to it. I know I went to bed afterwards and work up totally exhausted. That’s when you question why you do it, but it’s all worth it.”

 

And it will be worth it one more time. Marsh plans on completing a trifecta of day-long golfing in 2021. There is already a goal in mind.

 

“Along with raising more money, I want to get to 300 holes,” said Marsh. “We’ll see.”

 

Editor's Note: Top photo shows Christian Marsh taking a swing in one of many holes Tuesday. He's shown in the second hole running to keep as fast of a pace as possible, while he's shown at the end of the day celebrating. Bottom photo shows Marsh with his wife and children.  Photos by Ben Queen of Ben Queen Photography. More photos coming in the next few days.