Hell of an 80th Birthday: Golf on 6 Continents in 6 Days

Jules Verne had nothing on Harry Scott. Verne wrote Around the World in 80 Days. Scott will celebrate his approaching 80th birthday by doing it in six days, and playing golf at each stop.

Like a modern-day Phileas Fogg, the hero of Verne’s novel, this globe-trotting octogenarian could set a world record along the way — certainly for his age bracket.

To say Harry loves golf is as much an understatement as saying he loves to travel. Beginning Labor Day, his latest adventure will take in six cities on six continents in six days, and he’ll do it all solo, playing some of the greatest golf courses in the world.

Not that he doesn’t like company, but no one can keep pace with Harry, a widower and retired accountant from Ocean City, New Jersey. For the past 20 years, he has pulled off a number of mind-numbing, high-speed walkabouts, including attending 30 major-league baseball games in all 30 Major League Baseball stadiums in 30 days. In 2012, Harry played 50 golf courses in 50 states in 50 days.

When asked why he does it, Harry smiles, looks down at his shoes and says simply, “It’s fun and I want to do it while I’m still young.”

“I don’t know where he comes up with these ideas,” stated Bill Elliott, a longtime friend. He described Harry as a popular but unassuming gentleman with a quick smile who sings in the church choir and serves on a board of the local medical center. “He just has a different idea of the meaning of the word ‘vacation,’ “ Elliott observed. He even handles all his own travel arrangements — including how and when he manages to find time to sleep.”

Harry’s “aw shucks” manner reminds you of Jimmy Stewart’s role as Charles Lindbergh about to cross the Atlantic in the movie “Spirit of St. Louis.” Although perhaps less death-defying, Lucky Lindy and Stewart would still admire Harry’s pluck as he embarks on his 25,000-mile golf outing.

On August 23, Harry will depart from Philadelphia for Australia, where he will officially begin his world tour Labor Day at the Bonville Golf Resort between Sydney and Brisbane. Then it’s on to Malaysia, followed by Egypt, where he hopes to golf in sight of the pyramids as long as the current civil unrest there allows it.

The next stop is London for a round at the Stoke Park course made famous by the James Bond movie Goldfinger, then a nonstop flight to the Bahamas, where he hopes to get a full night’s rest. His final stop will be in Venezuela before returning home after what he terms, “just a nice vacation.”

Here’s his schedule:

• Mon. Sept 2, Bonville Golf Resort, Bonville, Australia
• Tue. Sept 3, Glenmarie Golf Course, Selangor, Malaysia
• Wed. Sept 4, Dreamland Golf Resort, Cairo, Egypt
• Thu. Sept 5, Stoke Park Country Club, Buckinghamshire, England
• Fri. Sept 6, Ocean Club Golf Course, Nassau, Bahamas
• Sat. Sept 7, Junko Golf and Tennis Club, El Junquito, Venezuela

Harry may seem crazy to some, but to him it’s just a nice way to spend a vacation. It’s also doubtful he knows if he’s ever set any Guinness World Records. That’s not why he does it. He just loves baseball, golf and seeing the world – oh, yes, and meeting a lot of nice people along the way, including a relative or two.

Either way, no one can argue that Harry has had a series of once-in-a-lifetime vacations that no one can match at any price, and he has still has more planned for the future. The next one: visiting 26 countries – representing every letter of the alphabet. He’s still having trouble finding a country that begins with “X.” 

— News release by Dave Benson, Performance Marketing public relations manager