Ireland's golfing strength has been seriously misrepresented in the current issue of the American magazine Golf Digest, which claims, among other things, that we have fewer courses than Sweden. Through a clever device, however, they have ensured there will be no come-back.
The piece concludes: "If you take issue with these statistics, do not call Lois (the magazine's long-time Associate Editor, Lois Hains). She has retired to Florida to count seashells."
Based on an impressive array of statistics, an introductory piece asked the question: "And who knew that Sweden has more courses than Ireland?" The figures supplied are 361 courses in Sweden as opposed to 331 in this country.
In fact, at the latest count, Ireland has no fewer than 367 courses. And this is not the product of biased publicity material from Bord Failte or the GUI. It comes from the London-based Golf Research Group, which recently carried out a comprehensive survey of all key aspects of the game here.
But the US piece is nonetheless enlightening, not least because Hains' calculations indicate that there are more than 50.7 million golfers in the world. And, reflecting the strength of the game in the US, it contributes 24,740,000, or almost 50 per cent of that figure.
Meanwhile, the growth in Asia is also intriguing. A reported figure of 12 million golfers in Japan may be somewhat conservative, given that the activity of many of its players is limited to driving ranges.
Next highest is Thailand, with 900,000, while South Korea is in close contention with 800,000. And the game is also thriving in Indonesia, even if 750,000 golfers is a small percentage of that country's population of 200 million.
Surprising inclusions are Bangladesh (25,000), Laos (5,000), Sri Lanka (3,000) and Vietnam (4,000). Meanwhile, despite its scarcity of land, Hong Kong can boast five courses for its 200,000 players, which would still make for rather congested time-sheets at the weekend.
Paraguay, which made a dramatic impact on the world golfing stage through events at the Alfred Dunhill Cup of 1993, would seem to be extremely well served. That will be recalled as the occasion when Colin Montgomerie, as the Scottish captain, proclaimed: "If we can't beat Paraguay, we might as well go home." And household names such as Carlos Franco, Angel Franco and Raul Fretes proceeded to do the unthinkable. And Monty and his colleagues did go home.
In the event, Paraguay projects the image of a golfing paradise with no fewer than eight courses for its 250 players - an average of 31 players per club. Mind you, there are no golfers listed for the eight courses in Botswana, the 12 in Ghana or the 12 in Uganda. Perhaps some of South Africa's 328,000 should migrate there.
Meanwhile, though some of the figures may be questionable, the survey clearly illustrates the truly international nature of the game.
`I might pick two of my brothers, maybe Baldomero and Vicente, because I'm having trouble with Manuel at the moment." - Seve Ballesteros mischievously outlining the various options open to him in naming his Ryder Cup wild-cards.
It was sparked by a remark from Renton Laidlaw during a television commentary on Gary Player's win in the recent Wentworth Senior Masters. Noting the South African's amazing competitive longevity, Laidlaw spoke of the wonderful career he had carved out for himself since arriving in Britain more than 40 years ago.
By way of response, a certain Archie Preston phoned in with a fascinating story. It concerned the former Ryder Cup player Arthur Lees, and Gary's son Wayne, who was in Britain about 20 years ago as a promising amateur, learning his craft.
Wayne happened to be at Sunningdale practising bunker shots when Lees, the resident professional, came upon him. After watching young Player for a while, Lees could contain himself no longer. "Nay lad," he said in his inimitable Yorkshire accent. "You're not doing it right."
To which Wayne replied gently: "Thank you very much indeed, but I know all I need to know about bunker play from my father." "And who is he?" "Gary Player." The old pro paused for a moment before issuing the gentle rebuke: "And who do you think taught him all he knows?"
Peter Thomson is 68 today. To mark the occasion, I thought it might be interesting to note how one master of his craft described another. In his report of the Australian's fifth British Open triumph at Royal Birkdale in 1965, Pat Ward-Thomas of the Guardian wrote:
"This was incomparably the greatest of Thomson's victories because the field was infinitely the strongest. All day long, Thomson played composed, magnificent golf through the green, hitting the ball with authority and wonderful greatness that even he has never surpassed.
"A measure of this can be appreciated from the fact that, starting from the 11th in the last round, he missed putts of six, two, nine and four feet in succession. And a measure of his temperament was the fact that these never disturbed the superb balance and rhythm of his swing. Frankly, I did not believe that Thomson would win another Open in such company."
Word in the US last weekend was that Tiger Woods had turned down an offer of $600,000 to play in the recent Dutch Open. The sponsors, Sun Microsystems, were reportedly informed that the figure was "way short" of IMG's asking price for their star player.
Apparently, the negotiations were observed with considerable interest by the organisers of the Desert Classic in Dubai. And indications are that they may be ready to play Woods the necessary $1 million in so-called promotional money to bring him to the Emirates Club next February.
This day in golf history: On August 23rd, 1958, Anne Quast, a 20 year-old student at Stanford University, won her first US Women's Amateur title, beating Barbara Romack by 3 and 2 in the final. Quast played the last seven holes of the 36-hole final in four under par at the 6,467-yard, par-75 Wee Burn CC, Connecticut.
Born in Maryville, Washington, she later became Ms Decker, Ms Wells and Ms Sander, and won the US Amateur in 1961 and 1963 before going on to play in eight Curtis Cup matches between 1958 and 1990. Aged 43, she won the British Women's Amateur in 1980.
After changing her swing in 1986, Sander then won the US Senior Women's Amateur in 1987, 1989 and 1990 and was runner-up in 1991 and 1992. Not surprisingly, she holds the distinction of having taken part in more competitive rounds in USGA championships than any other player.
When elderly golf enthusiasts talk of putting skills in years gone by, it is important to place their observations in context. Even Jack Nicklaus has conceded that when he set the US Masters aggregate record of 271 in 1967, the Augusta National greens were appreciably slower than they are today.
This is confirmed by research into the advances in mowing equipment over the last 40 years. Findings show that in the 1950s, greens were cut to one-quarter of an inch. That was reduced to 7/32 in the 1960s; to 3/16 in the 1970s; to 5/32 in in the 1980s and to an average height of an eighth nowadays.
Though changes would have been less dramatic on sandy, links terrain, those figures mean that at top championship level, green-speeds on parkland courses have almost doubled during that period.
Teaser: A player's ball is resting against the flagstick. Without the player's authority, his opponent or a fellow-competitor removes the flagstick and the ball moves away from the hole. What is the ruling?
Answer: In matchplay, the opponent incurs a penalty stroke and the ball must be replaced against the flagstick (Rule 18-3b). In strokeplay, the ball must be replaced against the flagstick without penalty to anyone (Rule 18-4). In either form of play, the player may then move or remove the flagstick as prescribed in Rule 17-4 (". . . may move or remove the flagstick and if the ball falls into the hole, the player shall be deemed to have holed out with his last stroke").
