Well I was right. I was fairly awful...... My return to the fairways of Surrey didn’t go quite as I’d hoped. In mitigation I’d had an awful morning. I won’t bore you with the details, but it meant I was late for my tee-off time and you know when you’re rushing to get on the first tee, the day isn’t going to go well.

I was playing with a dear friend of mine who has been dying to have a round of golf together. And despite the fact that she had been patiently waiting a good half an hour for me to arrive, she pinged a beautiful drive right down the middle of the fairway. Trying hard not to be too intimidated, I threw a few practice shapes and plopped my drive about 300 feet into the air and about 90 yards down the fairway. It was on the fairway, which was progress, but as the rain started to teem gently down and I trod in reindeer excrement, I was radically reconsidering the bold decision to play golf in November.

You see I am a real fair weather golfer. The latest in the year I have ever played is early October and it has to be an Indian summer to entice me out. As a point of principle I refuse to even look at my clubs again until March, and even then it has to be late March..... and I wonder why my handicap never comes down. Still I have got the bug again and will be attempting another round next week.

I think I like to see myself on the course as Catherine Zeta-Jones (very keen golfer) meets Jodie Kidd (also keen and good I hear), meets Heather Locklear (no really), with a dash of Kevin Costner’s wife Christine (they met on a golf course) thrown in. Although I do draw the line at a diamond sweater and plus fours. However if you haven’t ever tried it, well I would highly recommend it. A round of golf on a summer’s day is one of my favourite things in the whole wide world.

And there are more and more women on the fairways these days. Based on 2007 figures, around 15% of all adult golf members are women. That figure is growing, but there is definitely scope for improvement. And as you can see, the fairways are increasingly star-studded, so who knows who you might run into.

And as for the notion of playing somewhere with men-only facilities, well personally I think that is just plain silly. I prefer clubs that have moved into the 21st century. I also enjoy visiting different courses, because that, I believe, is one of the beauties of the game. A different challenge every time you play. At least that is my theory. Alas, the reality is somewhat different. If you do fancy giving it a go, I have listed some useful links below. And bear in mind the word fore might come in useful. It has cetainly become a friend to me over the years.......

http://www.englishwomensgolf.org/

http://www.lgu.org/

Tags: Catherine Zeta-Jones, Kevin Costner, Heather Locklear, Jodie Kidd, Women's golf

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