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Ex-MLB Player Eric Byrnes Breaks Record by Playing 420 Holes of Golf in 24 Hours

Megan ArmstrongCorrespondent IApril 23, 2019

MESA, AZ - FEBRUARY 24: Manager Bob Melvin #6 of the Oakland Athletics talks with someone from the MLB Network while MLB Network Analyst Eric Byrnes slides into home prior to the game against the San Diego Padres at Hohokam Stadium on February 24, 2018 in Mesa, Arizona. (Photo by Michael Zagaris/Oakland Athletics/Getty Images)  *** Local Caption *** Bob Melvin;Eric Byrnes
Michael Zagaris/Getty Images

Eric Byrnes spent 11 seasons in Major League Baseball as an outfielder for five different clubs, but he is in the news Tuesday for an accomplishment on a different kind of green. 

Beginning Monday morning, Byrnes played 420 holes of golf across 24 hours on the Ocean Course at Half Moon Bay Golf Links to set a new speed golf world record for most holes played in a 24-hour span.

Let Them Play Foundation @LTPFoundation

It’s Official! We have a new 24 Hour Speed Golf @GWR World Record holder... 🏃‍♂️⛳️🥇 At 5:31AM PST, @byrnes22 completed his 402nd hole with 1 hour and 29 minutes left to play! #LetThemPlay

Mike Marcotte @mike_marcotte

Former MLB player @byrnes22 (on left) just golfed 420 holes in 24 hours! @GWR https://t.co/Se3udwSvd5

Byrnes spent the first part of his MLB career with the Oakland Athletics from 2000 to 2005 before moving on to the Colorado Rockies ('05), Baltimore Orioles ('05), Arizona Diamondbacks (2006-09) and Seattle Mariners (2010).

Half Moon Bay Golf Links is about an hour away from where Byrnes played for the A's at the Oakland Coliseum, and the 43-year-old founded his Let Them Play Foundation in the area. The charity is aimed at funding children's outdoor sports. Per Golfweek, Byrnes' golf feat is partially to raise awareness for Let Them Play.

On the official website, Byrnes is quoted as saying, "Every kid deserves the chance to play. It's not a privilege. It's their right." 

Eric Byrnes @byrnes22

Official LET THEM PLAY documentary trailer @LTPFoundation #TriAcrossAmerica 🏊‍♂️🚴‍♂️🏃‍♂️🇺🇸 #LetThemPlay 👊 https://t.co/XF6rfPYW12

Byrnes lives that motto as an adult, morphing into an endurance athlete since retiring from baseball. Daniel Brown of The Athletic dove deep into Byrnes' new world earlier this month: 

"Byrnes, 43, runs treacherous 100-mile trail races (sometimes with a camera crew in tow), did a triathlon across America last year (documentary coming soon) and works as an analyst for the MLB Network, where he crashes around the set to demonstrate home-plate collisions or show how to slam into outfield walls (for a national audience).

[...]

"And part of the reason he’s still on the go now is because Byrnes is trying to drum up financial support for schools that have had to eliminate PE classes because of budget cuts.

"This is how he channels his energy now. He completed the first-ever transcontinental triathlon last year by swimming seven miles across the San Francisco Bay, biking 2,400 miles from Oakland to Chicago and then running 905 miles from Chicago to New York City. It took 56 days."

Byrnes broke the record previously held by Australian Ian Colston, who hit the 401-hole mark in 1971.