I have grown to quite enjoy watching golf – not all golf, but big tournaments like the British or US Open and the Masters. I do not play although I have been saying for years I’d like to learn. But there you go – one thinks and says these things but obviously there is no passion to actually do it.

So I watched some of the British Open that finished yesterday and not just because it was rewarding to see a part of the British Isles that was windier and wetter than my bit. It was good to see Greg Norman – someone nearer my own age – doing so well – although, in the light of my previous item it was rather sad to see him, on the last day, wearing beige.

And that brings me nicely to the point. Some of the fun has gone from watching golf. All these guys over the last few days were out there wearing – well – mainly black. Black seems to be the current colour for serious golfers. What happened to the outrageous stripes and diamonds? The checks and the plaids? The bright colours and the silly hats? The pink and white shoes? Time was you could tell a golfer by his uniform and have a jolly good laugh at the same time. Now it’s hard to tell the golfers apart from the people watching. I thought it was fun watching these guys playing golf dressed up as clowns.

(By the way – learnt a good tip from Greg Norman just in case I ever do take up the sport. When asked, at the end of the first day, if he thought he could win the title he said he was just going to go out there and play one hole at a time. Sound advice that and I noticed all the other players must have been listening because that’s exactly what they all did for the next three days.)