Tuesday started early for Cory Sullivan and Alex Litt. They golfed from dawn until dusk at Great River Golf Club in Milford.
"We went through a lot of golf balls today," said Litt, who organized this fundraiser with his friend Cory. "Over 430 shots."
It was a marathon day of golf, but they weren't playing for themselves.
"My dad John, he died in 2009 from ALS," said Sullivan.
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"When I found five years ago that my dad had been diagnosed with ALS, I was looking for someone else to connect with who had been through what I'm currently going through," said Litt.
The friends reconnected during a difficult time and that's when they started talking about how to take action.
"I want to do something for ALS, but I've never known what I can do," said Litt. "Let's go out and play 100 holes and do something crazy."
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"It just kind of took off and took on a life of its own," said Sullivan.
The pair played their first 100 holes in a day together last year in Austin, Texas. This year, 7 friends joined Cory and Alex to play 100 in Milford. Former UConn and NFL quarterback Dan Orlovsky even stopped by to show his support for the cause.
"Seven birdies today, which is pretty good for me," said Litt. "Don't ask me the number of lost balls."
"It doesn't have any semblance of feeling insurmountable until you're midway through the afternoon between holes like 65 and 80 and you're like woah, I'm beat," said Sullivan.
"We ended up doing IVs at about like 55 holes or so because it was a pretty hot day in Connecticut," added Litt.
From the first tee shot at 5:00 a.m. to the last at 9:00 p.m., they never forgot their purpose.
"That's been the coolest thing this year is getting to build the smaller nucleus of this community with other guys who have been through exactly what we've been through and get it," said Sullivan. "It's a club none of us would opt to be a part of but it's a reality."
"I know with this experience, golf has gotten me out of a lot of challenging situations and it's cathartic," said Litt.
"The hope with this – being one piece of the broader ALS community - is that we can all inch forward together so that when someone hears that diagnosis, it's not a terminal one," said Sullivan.
The group raised about $400,000 for ALS research, which doubled their total from last year. They hope to make this "100 holes in a day" an annual event and plan to return to Great River Golf Club in Milford next year.
