PLAYING two rounds of golf in a day is par for the course for most amateur golfers.

But David Steele managed 43 rounds inside 24 hours in his bid to make the Guinness Book of Records.

Darlington-born Mr Steele played an incredible 774 holes and achieved an average score of 76.2 as he raced around a floodlit course in Spain.

His efforts fell short of the world best by about 30 holes, but he is hoping his achievement is a European best that will still earn him a place in the record books.

He said: "I was struggling to hold the club for the last couple of hours and my scoring average went up a little.

"My hands were weak. I did it for 16 hours about ten years ago, so I had an idea what was to come, but 24 hours was a bit more than the body could withstand I'm afraid."

Mr Steele's feat on the Dama de Noche course, in Marbella, raised £70,000 for cancer research.

A round of golf usually takes at least two hours but Mr Steele, who has a two handicap, averaged 33 minutes and completed the quickest one in 27 minutes.

He enlisted the help of a personal trainer to build up his fitness for the gruelling marathon.

His father, Ray, was the professional at Dinsdale Golf Club for 20 years until 1979 and Mr Steele, a former pupil of Hurworth School, Darlington, was on the PGA European Tour from 1975 to 1983.

He represented Durham County and England Youth before moving to Spain 20 years ago, and now sells golf buggies.