The thwack of a golf ball being hit, followed by a salvo of obscenities and flying clubs, is music to Bill Nichol\u2019s ears.<\/p>\n
The 79-year-old lives next to one of the Taieri\u2019s three golf courses, and the chances are, if you have lost a golf ball recently, you will be able to buy it back from The Hospice Shop in Mosgiel.<\/p>\n
\u2018\u2018The voices carry from the golf course quite easily, and you can usually tell just what’s going on.<\/p>\n
\u2018\u2018A lot of them [the balls] come over the fence and into my paddock.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n
So many in fact, that over the past 12 years, he has collected about 20,000 stray golf balls for the charity, which sells them for about $1 and puts the money towards specialist palliative care for people with terminal illnesses.<\/p>\n
He was quite surprised at how many balls came on to his property, considering they had to travel from the golf course, over a two-lane road and a 2m-tall hedge, to reach his paddocks.<\/p>\n
Mr Nichol said he started collecting them partly out of necessity, but mostly out of gratitude.<\/p>\n
On average, about 32 balls a week ended up on his side of the fence, and if he did not pick them up, they would pile up, he said.<\/p>\n
The collecting started after his wife died of cancer 13 years ago.<\/p>\n
\u2018\u2018My wife was in the hospice.<\/p>\n
\u2018\u2018If this is going to help somebody in that sort of position, I’m happy to do it.<\/p>\n
\u2018\u2018This is my way of giving back to the hospice, for all the support they gave me and my wife.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n
While he continues to work on his sons\u2019 farms, he spends most rainy days at home, washing golf balls in his laundry tub.<\/p>\n
\u2018\u2018A lot of people, on a wet day, do their GST, but I clean golf balls.<\/p>\n
\u2018\u2018It\u2019s my hobby now, I guess. I don’t like other people climbing over my fence and pinching them.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n
Mosgiel Hospice Shop manager Anke Hoggett-Schnebeck said the charity was \u2018\u2018extremely grateful\u2019\u2019 for Mr Nichol\u2019s support.<\/p>\n
\u2018\u2018And it’s been continuous support \u2014 I mean, we’re talking years here, it\u2019s not just recently.<\/p>\n
\u2018\u2018He’s been bringing up those golf balls for years and years, and he’s raised thousands of dollars for hospice by doing that.<\/p>\n
\u2018\u2018So he’s helping to fundraise in a big way, and we’re extremely grateful for that.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n