MacKenzie teeing up a magnificent seven as PGA pro prepares for Epic Scottish Charity Challenge

The PGA professional can be many things. Industrious, inventive, inspiring. They can also be pretty intrepid too. Take Peter MacKenzie, for instance.

The 45-year-old Sale Golf Club professional will return to his Scottish roots to embark on the kind of epic trek that would’ve had Hannibal turning to his legions and saying, ‘sod this boys, we’ll just head back.’

On July 26^th, MacKenzie will tee-off a charity challenge for Breast Cancer UK that will see him play seven East Lothian courses in just the one day. 

Driven on by a cause very close to his heart – his mum, Jean, had treatment for breast cancer – MacKenzie’s mighty golfing odyssey will take in the three courses at Gullane as well as Longniddry, Craigielaw and the Fidra and Direlton at Archerfield Links.

It's a fairly daunting prospect but MacKenzie is very much up for the challenge. A bout of covid recently put something of a spanner in the works but he’s fighting fit again and continues to clock up the miles in his bid to raise awareness and funds in the fight against a devastating disease.

“I’ve been walking about 20 to 25 miles a day as part of my training for this,” said MacKenzie. “You’re probably looking at 30 to 40 miles in terms of covering all the courses so this preparation will have helped. The day I do the challenge happens to be the anniversary of my mum having her breast cancer surgery so hopefully that’s a good omen.”

The effort he is putting into his charity drive means his day-to-day work as a valued PGA pro has to play second fiddle. “I need to be quite selfish for the next few weeks,” he admitted. “Being a PGA pro is time consuming, what with running a shop and teaching so I’ve had to reschedule lessons and put things on hold. Once I get this box ticked off, I’ll get back to normal.”

On the morning of the challenge, MacKenzie will be up and at it before the larks have even had time to flap a weary wing at the snooze button.

“I’m starting at Gullane No 1 and will probably tee-off about 3.45, 4am at the latest,” he said of this dawn patrol. “Hopefully, I’ll finish about 9pm. As an extra bit of preparation, I’m going to try to tee-off at 4am at my home club and see how many rounds I can do before seven in the morning

At the time of writing, MacKenzie had already raised upwards of £3000 with plenty more donations set to come in.

“The Bonnie Badger Hotel in Gullane do a charity each month and for every hotel bill or restaurant bill, they put a pound to local charities,” added MacKenzie. “Every pound in July will go to my Just Giving page for Breast Cancer UK which is great.”

MacKenzie, whose late father was from Inverness, remains proud of his Scottish heritage and his fondness for the country will, one day, have some financial benefits for the PGA in Scotland.

“I played a lot on the Tartan Tour in the early 2000s and I have great friends up there,” he said. “On my bag I have a saltire. I class myself more Scottish than English and I’m proud of those roots.

“I wanted to leave the PGA in Scotland something as a thank you for what they have done for me down the years. So when I’m gone – and hopefully that’s not for a few years yet! - there are some funds set aside which have gone through the PGA nationally which are earmarked for the Scottish region. I love my dad’s heritage and golf in Scotland and I wanted to give something back.”

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