Martin Dempster: Nothing like the Old Course for rekindling a love of golf

You often hear about people “falling out of love with golf” and, a few years back, I knew exactly what that meant from a playing perspective.

Martin Dempster plays the 18th hole on the Old Course, St Andrews.

After too much faffing about with clubs, my game had become horrific, the low point coming in a media golf day on the Old Course at St Andrews.

I’d reached the stage where I’d forgotten that you actually had to complete a backswing to have any chance of making proper contact with the ball and felt utterly ashamed as I struggled to get the ball airborne.

Thankfully, I managed to work my way out of that torrid time, which coincided with me getting a letter from the match secretary at my local club at the end of one season that effectively confirmed I’d been a disgrace to fellow 11-handicappers.

While not the first time I’d played the Old Course since that dreadful day, it was nice, nonetheless, to discover in a hit there that you can indeed rekindle a love affair with this great game.

Feeling you’ve not hit a bad shot during a round there is probably as good as it gets, especially 
on a nice day and in great 
company.

We were done in just over three and a half hours, too, which shows you that all is not lost in the quest to make the game a bit more appealing to the masses.