“I’M a golf pro and I wouldn’t fancy playing four rounds on one day.”

So said Mark Winterburn, the professional at Forest Park Golf Club after watching club member Brian Bircumshaw – a grandfather of seven – complete the 72-hole feat on the day he turned 72 years old.

There was a special reason for his stoic efforts – he was raising money for the British Heart Foundation, after his son, Ian, of Huntington, suffered a heart attack last year, aged 45, and underwent successful triple heart bypass surgery.

Winterburn was astonished by the veteran’s stamina. “It’s amazing really,” he said. “Considering he was raising money for the British Heart Foundation, I don’t think he’s any problems himself.”

Bircumshaw, of Stockton-on-the-Forest, explained: “My son last year had a heart attack and York Hospital and Leeds General between them did him a great job and got him back to work within a couple of months.

“He did a coast-to-coast bike ride in November, six months after a triple heart bypass, to prove he was fit. I thought I’d just try to do something to repay all the good things we had from the heart departments at the hospitals. You can’t contribute directly but you can through the British Heart Foundation.”

Bircumshaw has so far raised about £750 but is hopeful of cracking four figures.

He persuaded his younger son, Stephen, now of Teesside, to sponsor him £1 per hole – “after raising his offer from 1p per hole” – and was also sent $100 from his daughter, Caron, who lives in Tennessee. Lots of other donations have come from pals and club members, while an old family friend – and Lottery-winner – from Manchester has promised to double the final total.

Bircumshaw played golf as a young man at Scarborough South Cliff. He only returned to the game after he retired.

A member at Forest Park GC for eight years, he has a handicap of 21 and on the day in question carded remarkably consistent rounds of 95, 93, 97 and 94 over the par-71 Forest Park course.

Friend John Hall was with him at 5am to tee off his first round, Olly Shriver, who works at York Hospital, played the next two rounds with him, and Forest Park club owner David Crossley was with him over the final 18.

Bircumshaw joked: “I popped back to the club the day after to prove I was still alive, but I actually felt no ill-effects.

“It was hard. The third round was the worst as I hadn’t had a real break between each round but between the third and fourth I went home for dinner and to shower and get changed and the last round was a bit better.”

As for his actual golf, he said: “I just managed to keep everything together.

“I didn’t try to break any records. I wanted to prove to myself my heart was still pretty fit, and golf provides a good cardiovascular exercise.

“I modified my swing slightly to conserve energy and, while it meant it took some distance off, my scores were not much worse than I’d normally have.”

He added: “It was an unusual birthday but it was worth it.”