Royal Portrush Golf Club: Beauty lies in being bold
Royal Portrush has the honour of being the only club outside mainland Britain to host the Open Championship. The Wandering Golfers went to Antrim to play it a matter of weeks before the 2019 edition came to town…
The Masters: the inspiration for ‘unique’ Augusta National
Augusta National Golf Club is, unquestionably, unique. The vibrant natural beauty, the stunningly manicured fairways and greens, the magic and the mystique of Magnolia Lane. A tradition unlike any other, as the saying goes. And yet if you look just beneath the surface, it’s clear that deep within its DNA, the ancestry of this most American of golf clubs can be traced back to some of the greatest golf courses in the United Kingdom. Unsurprisingly, elements of The Old Course, St Andrews feature heavily. But there are also fleeting glimpses of many more, including Muirfield and North Berwick in East Lothian,…
Sean Connery: secrets behind best Bond’s golf love affair
Sean Connery stands in front of me having just emerged from his dressing room at Pinewood Studios after a heated phone call with executives at 20th Century Fox. The nexsht time I say the word American, remind me to put f**king in front of it.” He doesn’t mean it for a second, of course. This is just his way of blowing off steam and putting those of us around him at ease. He is almost 70, at this point, but the broad smile he is wearing hasn’t aged a day while his energy and sheer presence also remain undimmed. “Right,…
Does England deserve more acclaim as a golf destination?
If Scotland is the home of golf, Ireland the luxury holiday villa you can’t wait to go back to, what of England? Scotland and Ireland are quite rightly lauded as mythical golf destinations the world over – St Andrews, Ballybunion, Royal Dornoch, Lahinch – the names trip off the tongue. But a new golf travel book, The Golf Lover’s Guide to England, is seeking to redress the balance a little by paying homage to the quality, history and variety of 33 of the country’s best golf courses, highlighting the incredible richness on offer in a nation that can, at times,…