Brothers' 16-hour golf challenge in dad's memory

Two brothers are to play non-stop golf for 16 hours to raise money for charity in memory of their father who died recently from a brain tumour.

Harry and Freddie Philp, from Lightcliffe in Halifax, said they and 10 of their friends would start the 100-hole golf challenge at about 04:00 BST on Friday, finishing at about 20:00 BST.

The brothers said they had already raised over £6,000 for Brain Tumour Focus, but wanted to raise more cash as they and their team each made over 400 shots and walked about 20 miles (32km) during the challenge.

Harry, 21, said it would be "tough", but he and Freddie, 18, wanted to honour their dad, Alain, who died last year at the age of 51.

Harry said: "Golf was my dad's passion and he had been in love with it since about the age of 12. So, me and Fred were brought up with it too, as he was always playing."

He explained that some members of the team taking part in Friday's challenge at Lightcliffe Golf Club would be people the brothers had grown up with and were their own age, while others would be their dad's age and would be people "who have really looked after me and my brother and we're now good friends with".

"It's good that everyone knows each other, although we might get bored of each other after so many hours, especially as it will be so tough," Harry said.

He added that they hoped the challenge would help raise more awareness about brain tumours as they were still so "misunderstood and unknown".

Harry said that their dad had first experienced symptoms in December 2023, when he suffered a number of seizures.

"Even though he went to hospital, they didn't really pick up on it and didn't really know what it was.

"Three months later, after getting an MRI, he finally got a diagnosis of a low-grade brain tumour, and from then he just rapidly deteriorated and couldn't walk and was bed-bound by the end."

Alain suffered from a brain tumour called a glioblastoma multiforme, which Harry said was "the worst kind of brain cancer you can get and you really can't survive it".

"So we're now trying to get more money put into brain tumour research as it's so misunderstood and unknown really," he said.

The Brain Tumour Focus charity was founded by Melanie Crossland, who was diagnosed with a brain tumour in 2023 and is still receiving treatment.

The charity aims to raise £350,000 to purchase an ultra-low field portable MRI scanner for Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, which would be the first of its kind in the UK.

According to the charity, at least 12,000 people were diagnosed with a brain tumour each year, while over 5,300 people lost their lives to one each year.

A spokesperson for the charity said its long-term vision was to "drive essential research at the University of Leeds into brain tumours, one of the leading causes of cancer-related deaths in children and people under 40".

Harry said: "Any money we raise will help Leeds and Yorkshire. It would be the first portable MRI scanner in the country. It would be really amazing to have it up here.

"We want to help as we just had no idea about it and you never think anything like that could happen - and so fast."

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