Narromine Golf Club, Cancer Council NSW team up to promote sun safety

The Improve Your Long Game program provides information resources and sunscreen and reminds golfers to be sun safe, with men over 40 twice as likely to die from melanoma than their female counterparts.

Men’s golf captain Peter Treseder said it was a great initiative put out by the Cancer Council and hoped it would encourage the Narromine community to “put on sunscreen and perhaps be more aware about skin cancer”.

Mr Treseder believed there was a prominent “she’ll be right” attitude in many older men. 

“I think they are the ones that are a bit too relaxed about it, that’s the biggest thing,” he said.

Improve Your Long Game reminds men that it’s never too late to be safe in the sun.

Mr Treseder mentioned that older men tended to avoid using sun protection as some see it as being ‘soft’, however he urged “it’s not being soft, it’s sensible”.

“Trying to encourage people to use it is something we are trying to push,” Mr Treseder said. 

The Improve Your Long Game program has been designed to help golf clubs keep their members sun safe by providing information and free sunscreen pump stands at the clubhouse and on the course, with a friendly reminder for golfers to apply and re-apply sunscreen.

The sunscreen stands will be located on the first and 10th holes, with sunscreen being provided at the clubhouse and smaller sunscreen tubes being provided to take with you.

While the program is aimed at men over the age of 40 Mr Treseder recognised that skin cancer could affect anyone at any age. 

“The younger we can get hold of them and start encouraging them to use it the better it will be,” he said.

For Mr Treseder The Improve your Long Game program was important to the community of Narromine to reduce the risk of melanoma. He highlighted that in a small community the effects of cancer “hit people harder because everyone knows everyone”.

“If we can reduce cancer deaths by one, then it’s a great start,” he said.

Cancer Council Western NSW Community Programs Coordinator Camilla Thompson said men over the age of 40 were 1.5 times more likely to be diagnosed with melanoma, and around twice as likely to die from it, compared to women of a similar age. 

“Recreational golfers spend extended periods of time outdoors in an environment that has minimal shade and is highly reflective of UV from surrounding surfaces like grass, sand and water. Unprotected sun exposure puts them at risk of sunburn, skin damage and skin cancer,” said Ms Thompson.