Magic Kingdoms

By the end of September I will hit the big 5 0 :-( , in golfing terms I will become a senior! A BLOOMIN SENIOR!

So, in my infinite wisdom, I have decided a big day needs to be marked with a big course. So to celebrate my birthday, did I really say celebrate?, by playing at TPC Sawgrass.

Now I know that, on twitter, there’s a wee sweep going on for how much balls I will dump in the water at 17!  My money is on 3 by the way! But that apart WOW!

Why WOW ?

There are very few courses or holes that are known to the non golfing public, but, everyone knows the 17th at Sawgrass, or as someone said to me “That the one with the flag in the middle of the pond?”, but I knew what they meant.

And this is one of the reasons why golf is the greatest sport in the world!

If you play golf, you can play St Andrews, if you play football you will never play at Hampden.

If you play golf, you can play Pebble Beach, if you play baseball you will never play at Fenway Park.

Earlier this year my son in law & I played at Carnoustie, what an experience.

While Carnoustie may not be the visually most stunning of the courses its still Carnoustie!


Its hosted 7, yes SEVEN, Open Championships! The winners being Armour, Cotton, Hogan, Player, Watson, Lawrie & Harrington! Not a bad list eh?

It is a truly awesome experience, you are walking in the footsteps of giants.

You stand in awe at Hogans Alley, on 17 you look at the burns running across and thing “what the hell do I hit hear” and then on 18, and I am being honest, you simply think “Don’t do a Van de Velde!”.

In just under 4 hours you have memories to last a life time.

You get my point? If you have the time, the cash and a handicap you can virtually play anywhere! Which other sport offers you that ?

But golf is so much more than a sport, isn’t it?

I love, and I mean LOVE, golfing in the states. Being Scottish that may seem like a strange statement.

While we have the best, and I mean the best, courses in the world, we also have the most inclement weather to match.

So once a year I grit my teeth over 5 hour rounds for the joy of sunshine and golfing in shorts! Its worth waiting a year for.

Which brings me to the next thing why golf is brilliant.

I have been golfing in Florida since 1998 and in that time I have made friends for life, not only from the US but from England, Northern Ireland and Canada. There are even courses where I play that from the director of golf to the bag boys know me!

And since the arrival of twitter there are even more people to meet and play with.

All because we choose to spend our leisure time hitting a tiny wee white ball around large green spaces.

Golf brings people together, regardless of sex, race, religion, ability or nationality.

So in this Ryder Cup year lets all remember that, golf brings us all together, it should never be used to divide us apart.

Let the Ryder Cup be a celebration of the greatest sport in the world.