Golf

Playing golf is a challenge to most at the best of times, but with Meniere's Disease, it's a real challenge. "The older I get the better I used to be." to quote Lee Trevino, is one of my favourite quips and this is my other "My clubs are well used, but unfortunately not used well" from Jack Burrell. The nice thing about getting old and playing golf is that you can't remember your bad shots; I am definitely going down that track.

For me, the golf season starts with the Masters from Augusta. This is surely the most famous golf course in the world. It is almost like "crazy golf" on a large scale. The accuracy required to thread your ball between blocks of tall trees and onto an impossible green, makes this the most spectacular. There is, however one thing that annoys me about this competition, in fact it annoys me about most televised golf tournaments, it's hearing that voice from the crowd on the last day shout out Go in the hole immediately the golfer has completed his swing. In 2006, the BBC found the individual responsible for wrecking my golf enjoyment for many years, and Ken Brown asked him Are you the chap who shouts go in the hole at every competition?, he replied, with a huge grin all over his face and the words Yes sir, that's me, Ken Brown looked directly into the camera, shook his head and managed not to explode with anger. Good job I wasn't there. I would have hit him very hard with a 7-iron hoping that he would go in the hole. The things some people do for celebrity status.

My wife is a "golf nut" and we recently played the longest hole in Europe at The Alto Golf Club, near Alvor in the Algarve, Southern Portugal. The course was designed by Sir Henry Cotton in 1991. The hole is a massive 605 metres (a little over 661 yards) par 5 - I double bogied it and blame it on the heat that day, 29°C - phew! That's too warm for golf. The longest hole in the World is the 7th hole at the Sano Course at the Satsuki Golf Club in Japan. It measures a long 909 yards. If I subtract 661 yards from it, I get 248 yards, which is a good 3-wood shot, making it a tough par 6, but look at the par, it's an easy 7. Allowing for 2 putts, the average distance per approach shot is only 182 yards compared to 220 yards - cinch!

We visited a few really good golf courses in the Algarve including Palmares, which is set just inland from the beach and is very picturesque, Penina, the course used for National Portuguese competitions, including The Open, Parque Floresta, suitable for mountain goats but a beautiful course for scenery if you are very fit. The other course played was the Boa Vista, a very tough, demanding course, not only for its undulations but the required accuracy too. Plenty of water features to avoid, or if you are very hot, to cool off in.

My wife and I are members of two golf courses, Little Lakes (6298 yards) and Gaudet Luce (6040 yards). Little Lakes is very undulating and quite a tough course due to the hazards and the fact that most holes are blind (the green is not visible from the tee). After 18 holes, I certainly know I have had a good few hours exercise. Gaudet Luce (translated from Latin means Rejoice in the light) is much more sedate, having fewer hazards and not so hilly. Instead it has greens that are anything but flat, the 18th almost worthy of Augusta National, the home of The US Masters competition.

The Second Green at Little Lakes

This is the harsh result of torrential rain. Rainfall overnight on the 19th and 20th June 2007, was recorded as being 3 inches falling in 45 minutes; that's a lot. The West Sussex fire brigade (roughly 200 miles away) came to lend a hand. Other holes were destroyed too. Three bridges across a ravine were just washed away by the torrents also.

As of the end of July 2007, bridges have been replaced and greens repaired; we just need a period of warm sunny weather to get the course back into top condition.

This video is a must for all golfers. It shows how to swing the club correctly and put a ball in the way of your swing. Here you see Eldrick "Tiger" Woods hitting the ball with a great deal of force (club head speed). Look at the symmetry! If only I could a hit a ball like that.

Well, they say that practice makes permanent, and it sure does. Looking at Mr Wood’s swing, notice how high his straight left arm raises in the back swing; try it yourself to see how difficult that really is. Your arm just wants to bend, but if you bend it, and then you will shorten the radius of the arc, which in turn will give you a less powerful stroke. Look around any golf club and you will see many amateurs with bent left arms, now permanent.