Teen Completes Charity Golf Marathon

It is not often that golfers at Silvermine Golf Club play to raise funds for charity, according to General Manager Rob DeLuca. It is even less common that the person doing so hasn’t yet entered high school, as is the case with Will Essigs, who finished a three-day golf marathon to benefit sufferers of Crohn’s disease Friday.

Essigs, an incoming New Canaan High School freshman, played 162 holes between Wednesday and Friday—about three full rounds a day.

After reaching his goal he was tired enough to forget when he started. In an interview immediately after finishing he said that Monday was the only day he felt like giving up. He meant Wednesday, an 84-degree day during which he was playing from 6:45 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

The completion of his lofty goal is all the more impressive because of Essigs' brisk pace while traveling the course. An average four-person round takes about four hours; DeLuca estimated that Essigs finished his last round with shop pro Stuart Waack in just 2 hours and 15 minutes. 

Essigs came up with the idea to raise money for Crohn’s Disease, which one of his family members suffers from, on his own. He says he also did most of the fund raising, asking relatives and club members to pledge a certain amount for each hole he completed.

He did get some help along the way from his mom, who met Essigs on the course throughout the three-day session to give him dry socks and shoes. She welcomed him at the final hole with balloons along with Essigs' father and brother.

The largest single pledge was $5 a hole, a donation totalling $810. If everyone contributes their pledged amount, Essigs will have raised $9,300 for the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation of America.