A pair of professionals have managed to raise more than £10,000 for charity after taking on a golfing challenge.

Accountant Nick Forsyth and Tracey Dickens, who is a lawyer, created a fundraising challenge to raise cash for two charities - Essex and Herts Air Ambulance Trust and Farleigh Hospice.

The pair played a seemingly normal 18 holes of golf, but with the added requirement that each hole had to be played at a different course in Essex and Hertfordshire.

Both are keen golfers and members at the club in Stoke by Nayland.

Together they created a par 72 golf card taking in 18 courses across the region, which is covered by the services of the two charities.

The non-stop tournament started at 6am in Frinton and ended in Saffron Walden at 7.30pm that evening with more than 200 miles covered between the 18 courses.

Donations poured in from businesses, sponsors, colleagues, family and golfing friends.

The fundraisers were able to donate £6,261 to Essex and Herts Air Ambulance and £3,728 to Farleigh Hospice with both Just Giving pages still open for donations.

Fundraiser Nick added: “With the arrival of the coronavirus pandemic in the UK, the charity sector has been impacted significantly with services postponed and community fundraising scaled back.

“Playing 18 different clubs in Essex and Hertfordshire over one day seemed a unique way to get a wider outreach of support for our fundraising and we would like to extend our thanks to the 18 clubs and their members for allowing us to interrupt play.

“Also thank you to everybody who made a donation and supported our charity challenge.”

Essex and Herts Air Ambulance fundraising co-ordinator Clair Mitchell joined the golfers at the Essex Golf and Country Club, which is located at the same site as the air ambulance trust HQ and airbase in Earls Colne.

Clair said: “Thanks to everyone who got behind this innovative and entertaining way of raising money for the charity.

“It sounds like the golfers had a long and tiring day, but the money they have raised will cover the cost of nearly three life-saving missions so on behalf of everyone at the Essex and Herts Air Ambulance Trust, thank you.

“We can’t fly without you.

“The lockdown due to the Covid-19 pandemic has had a negative impact on our fundraising, with many events being postponed or cancelled, so donations such as this are more important than ever.”

The day was followed on social media with the hashtag #2SuitsAndAGolfCourse.