Martin Dempster: Character and fellowship forged through golf

W hen the inaugural Association of Golf Writers' Home Internationals event was held at St '¨Margaret's Golf Club outside Dublin in 1992, I was still very wet behind the ears, not only in terms of covering '¨this great sport but also about life in general.

Scotland's winning team, left to right, Neil McLeman, Tony Stenson, Iain Carter, Martin Dempster, Euan McLean and Colin Callander.

Imagine, then, what a thrill it was to spend time in the company of Peter Dobereiner, Ian Wood, Peter Corrigan, Colm Smith, Dai Davies and Dermot Gilleece, to name but a few, and I will forever be grateful to the Scottish captain, Alister Nicol, for inviting me on that trip.

Sadly, so many involved in that inaugural event are no longer with us but the four-cornered affair lives on, with the 25th anniversary having been marked with a hugely-
successful staging at the Montgomerie Maxx Royal in Belek, 
Turkey, last week.

It was an occasion that reminded me why golf is second to none when it comes to providing an environment in which one can have so much fun from a competitive point of view while also providing opportunities for lifelong friendships to be struck.

Golf has helped make me the person I am today and I bet I’m not alone in feeling that way.