38 hours straight to play golf ?? A Georgia man is setting a new record

At 5:58 pm this past Sunday, Mike Woodard went out for a walk on his home course in Georgia.

He wasn’t chasing daylight. He wanted something else.

As darkness fell over the Cartersville Country Club, Woodard switched to glow balls and continued to play, shooting sticks topped with toy lights so he could be seen, his path lit by volunteers with lights. The morning started, and Woodard stuck to it, opening the building all day Monday and the second night before leaving for the last time at 7:58 a.m. Tuesday.

In the thirty-eight hours without sleep after he started, Woodard, 40, had not yet set what organizers say is a new world record for consecutive hours playing golf. He also raised more than $180,000 for children’s health care.

“When you think about the lengths some parents have to go to get medical help for their children, 38 hours of golf doesn’t seem like much,” Woodward said.

Wooward was a kid when he got into golf. The local muni doubles as a kind of kindergarten. He went on to earn a PGA management qualification and found work as an assistant professional. He has since traded that job for a different one — he now owns an employee benefits company — but he hasn’t given up on the game, playing about once a week the way most golfers do on the weekends: with a cart and putts allowed freely.

It was a friend who first floated the idea of ​​equipping it for a bigger cause: raising money for Live2540, a non-profit organization that funds health care programs for children in the West African country of Liberia. A long distance race, done in the name of charity, seemed to be the way to do it, even better if you broke the world record.

With a single-digit handicap, Woodard was unprepared for the grind at the range. Instead, he worked on his endurance, taking long walks after work and concentrating on his homework. Parts of it, though. “I would take the cart to my ball and walk to the green from there,” he said.

Travel was, in fact, a requirement of the record attempt, but Woodard was not responsible for it alone. Buggies followed him for support, and hundreds of spectators arrived over the course of two days, along with alternating shifts of volunteers lighting the way after dark and keeping him stocked with snacks and fluids.

“I don’t think I’ve ever used so many electrolytes in my life,” Woodward said.

He needed them. Monday was the hottest day of 2026, with temperatures breaking triple digits. Monday night was cool in both senses of the word: the full moon illuminated the trail like a lamp.

The rules allowed him to take a five-minute break every hour, though Woodard often banked them, saving the minutes for longer stops later. Cartersville is a flat, walkable course, but the heat still takes its toll. Wooward changed his socks every three to four hours, along with his shirt, shorts, and cap, and wore sneakers instead of golf shoes to avoid blisters.

However, the real challenge, he said, was not physical but mental, especially in what proved to be the ultimate miracle. With six to eight hours to go, Woodard began hallucinating, seeing trees and accidents that weren’t there and, by his account, “talking nonsense.” He credits volunteers for carrying him through, and the encouragement of Stephen Scroggins, a Green Beret friend who flew in from Colorado to walk his final hours by his side.

“This was really a community effort,” Wooward said. “I get emotional when I think about it.”

For those keeping tabs at home, this was the final count: 144 holes, or eight full rounds, and every shot counted. Woodard’s best score was a 78; The worst was 88. On his last approach, in the pale light of Tuesday morning, he stuck it close. But, golf golf, the putt didn’t go down.

Not that he was counting. The only amount that mattered was the money raised.

When it was over, Woodward returned to the home where he lives with his wife, Nicole, and their two children. He took pictures of the family, then fell asleep, waking up briefly in the evening before going out again and sleeping until morning.

On Thursday, he was back in the office. And by Friday, he was back on the course, playing his usual game with friends.

They had planned to finish well before dark.