Golf in all its global glory

As Autumn approaches in the UK, golf courses in the Southern Hemisphere are gearing themselves up for a return to ‘business as usual’.

Our top spot is of course, South Africa, and a recent trip there showed me that the Rainbow Nation is ready to welcome golfing guests, looking for a guaranteed dose of winter sunshine.

The tourist season really gets going in South Africa after January 15, when all the residents are back at work and there is plenty of room for visitors to explore the numerous delights this hospitable country has to offer.  I’ll be there from the end of January to welcome all our travellers and lead our tours. Check out our website to grab your holiday and flights.

The PGA Tour finale continues this weekend at East Lake, Atlanta. I watched a remarkable recovery from McIlroy after starting triple bogey which you would have thought wiped his tournament out. But great players such as Rory put disasters behind them and carry on – one shot at a time. He fought back with seven birdies and an eagle to keep himself in the hunt for the £15m first prize…amazing stuff. Torrential rain, yes, it wasn’t just here, means the competition has come down to the putting.

For those who don’t know, and it’s the only mention I will make…The LIV tour is aptly named as it is 54 in Roman numerals, and all their competitions are 54 holes…

Closer to home, I am getting the sticks out this Bank Holiday weekend, despite a sore arm after my fourth jab. I am at my home club, Thorpe Hall in Essex, on Sunday for a weekly catch up with some great characters, normally around 12-16 of us are ready to do battle.

We play 9 hole Stableford, best 4 scores go through to a ‘final’ where the game becomes 4 ball better ball match play, draw for partners and off you go for the back nine. The remaining players continue the back 9 and play for the much heralded ‘Scum pot ‘ in stableford format with the winner often decided on countback from the 18^th. Oh, and you also play a fourball matchplay against the other pairing…also decided on countback from the 18^th if tied.

The group is called the ‘Strollers’ and has been playing this format since it was devised by Sir Michael Bonallack and his late brother Tony back in the day, it certainly makes a Sunday morning entertaining.

Wherever you are playing, enjoy the weekend.