My dreadful attempts at playing golf ended after six years when I turned 18. This was mainly because my attempts at hitting the ball evoked the banjo, coo’s arse and couldnae metaphor. Other factors undermined my bid to join the Pringle sweater community, not the least of these was being told the waiting lists to join local clubs were several years long and never seemed to reduce.

And besides, some of these clubs operated men-only membership criteria. Why would a young bloke want to join any organisation where there were no women? And so, years later, I was startled to learn that both of my sons had not only embraced golf, but become rather good at it: each of them playing to scratch.

It’s one of my great regrets that I’ve been unable to share their passion, having convinced them early on that no amount of coaching would ever eradicate the faults on a swing that could be measured in instalments. Having a dad who lived a twilight existence as a journalist with awkward social skills was bad enough; but one who couldn’t hit a golf ball without falling over would have been embarrassing. It was so bad that latterly, in the throes of acute desperation, I’d taken to constructing an absurdly short backswing. That way, I thought, there was much less that could go wrong.

Nevertheless, I was delighted that they’d taken to the golf. It kept them occupied and reduced the prospect of them and their chums running about the streets with bams. Brendan, the older of the two, now runs a company that specialises in identifying young talent across the UK and giving them the opportunity to access golf scholarships in the US college sector. Yet, he’d never have been able to build a career in the game he loves had it not been for years of playing at Linn Park municipal course on Glasgow’s south side.

Brendan McKenna first played golf at the now-sadly neglected Linn Park golf course in the south side of Glasgow (Image: Mark Gibson)

Yet, ‘The Linn’ as it was fondly known locally is no more. Following Covid-19 Glasgow City Council quietly shut it down and it has since become nothing more than a professional dog-walkers’ paradise. The closure of Linn Park is part of a depressing pattern emerging across the country in recent years. Scotland could once be proud of our public golf courses. In other countries, golf is regarded as an elitist sport requiring significant cash outlays........

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