Golf, by TourMiss

I have been asked often during the course of so many decades reporting on men’s pro golf: ‘Who is the toughest golfer you’ve ever had to work with?”. The answer to that question is unquestionably Darren Clarke. You see, as a freelancer I was writing for a number Irish-based outlets including the Irish Independent, the Irish Star, the Irish Examiner and Irish Golfer Magazine, so if Clarke was playing well I needed to speak with him. Though Clarke was not always obliging, including ...

With over 80 golf courses and sunshine practically all year, Portgual has always been a mecca for golfers boasting as it does five strong golf regions – the famed Algarve, Lisbon, Porto, the Azores and Maderia. It’s the Algarve that is most widely known boasting 10 seperate golfing destinations including Villamoura where you’ll find such courses as the Victoria that played host to the Portugal Masters and others including the Old Course, Pinhall and Millennium courses. And while ...

There is three golf courses I’ve played that boast bunkers of a ‘different’ kind. When I say of a ‘different’ kind I am referring to concrete bunkers.  I hear you say: “Concrete bunkers?”.  Yes, concrete bunkers and defence bunkers built during World War 11. There is an anti-aircraft bunker still in position at the back of the seventh green on the Craighead Links course at my home club in Crail, Scotland.  The bunker at Crail faces the North Sea is among ...

I have spoken often of the great pleasure in travelling the world reporting on the ancient club-and-ball game and also equally teeing-up in so many different countries. This includes also teeing-up along the shoreline of the world’s oceans and seas and to then have the good fortune to enjoy a round on the opposite shoreline of the same ocean or sea. An example of what I am referring is Australia’s Crescent Head Golf Club course and recently featured on this website (See: http://www.golfbytourmiss.com/2024/12/crescent-head-country-club-a-stunning-6-hole-gem-overlooking-the-mighty-blue-pacific/ ...

One of the great delights of living or visiting Sydney is the dozen and dozens of pristine beaches to the north and south of Australia’s largest city. So, when it comes to golden sand beaches located right on your front doorstep then Sydney has to be the envy of the world as there is close to 100 Pacific Ocean coastline beaches in a 100-kilometre stretch from Palm Beach in the north of the city to Garie Beach in the south. Indeed the entire coastline of the state of New South Wales (NSW) boasts ...

Not for a moment in looking back over the past 30-years when I lost my then full-time job working for a politician following the governments defeat in an Australian State election and then bizarrely two days later winning a golf tournament promotion, would I have thought in becoming a full-time golf journalist that it would have led to me now having played golf in 47 different countries (As of 1st November, 2024). My first round of golf in growing up in northern Sydney suburb of Willoughby was at ...

There is some really great names when it comes to naming golf holes. Famed holes that feature on the Open Championship rota while each April the focus of the golf world is the Masters at Augusta National and golf hole names that most fans of the ancient club-and-ball game are very familiar. Here is a small selection of famed golf holes and some not that well known. * The Road Hole – 17th on the Old Course at St. Andrews (Long been one of the hardest holes in golf) * Calamity Corner – ...