Ten years? Is it really a decade since Severiano Ballesteros Sota was finally overwhelmed by the brain cancer that brought such a rich life to so premature an end? He was 54 years and 29 days old when he died.
Of course, we had already lost him as a competitive golfer, his retirement from the old game also premature because of his neverending back problems, his announcement in the media center during The Open week at Carnoustie offering a sad preview to the 2007 Championship.
He told me on that afternoon in Scotland that while he obviously regretted leaving the jousting fields, he looked forward to continued involvement in golf, to designing courses, to promoting the game, to leadership and inspiration and motivation as well as, occasionally, to being a bit of a rascal, of the loveable kind, while enthusiastically remaining a maverick.
Instead, he was diagnosed with brain tumours. It was a seriously cruel irony that one of the most creative minds ever to embrace golf turned out to be the cradle for what destroyed him. Not that Seve railed against this too much, consoling those of us who cared deeply for him by repeatedly stressing that he had enjoyed “a wonderful life and a journey he would not change”. He didn’t want us to feel sorry for him, but we did. We also felt sorry for ourselves.
A GRAND ESTATE
Goodwood in West Sussex may be steeped in ancestral history, but about 20 years ago it elected to take its golf offering down a very different route...
The Tees Valley
Jeremy Ellwood potters about along the famous north-east river for a couple of days, basing himself at Rockliffe Hall, one of England's finest golf hotels
The Western Cape
Along with its stunning scenery, vineyards and welcoming climate, this region is home to a wealth of fine courses
Murcar Links
The 20-mile stretch of coastline northwards from Aberdeen is home to no fewer than four links in the Golf Monthly Top 100.
How to play the chip-and-run
The chip-and-run is one of the most useful shots in anyone’s short-game arsenal but most golfers don’t use it enough.
Is your angle of attack correct?
You can add serious distance to your drives if you get the upward angle of attack into impact correct
LEARN FROM THE BEST!
Star players' signature shots... and how you can play them
Confessions of a golf club fitter
Is everything always as it seems in the customfitting bay? We ask someone in the know how you can avoid some of the more unscrupulous practices
Dining at the TOP TABLE
Aaron Rai's Wyndham Championship victory has elevated his career to a new level. But, as he tells David Facey, he's taking nothing for granted...
Is golf too expensive?
The cost of membership, greens fees, gear and more can give our game a bad rap. Is that fair or are there more affordable ways to play? Michael Weston investigates...
