BILL ELLIOTT

Golf Monthly’s editor-at-large and Golf Ambassador for Prostate Cancer UK

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Was it good for you? It was okay for me. Well, the first bit was, the second bit got more than slightly ragged, and, frankly, I lost interest. While the above is never going to cut it in a rom-com, it does fairly accurately sum up my first round of golf this weird, disconcerting year.

Strange how it often seems to happen that a significant absence from the old game means a burst of relatively excellent play. It’s natural to anticipate the worst and because of that many of us relax to the point where we manage to lob swing thoughts aside, enjoy the moment and freewheel our way to actually quite decent play.

So it was for me when I managed around before going into isolation as I prepared for hospital and a new knee (I’ve ordered the much sought-after Seve version). Eighteen points on the front nine, with each drive down the middle and no putt of 6ft or less missed, encouraged me to believe buggy golf wasn’t so bad after all. Things, I thought, can only get worse as we left the 9th green and my sons contemplated my five-point lead with a mixture of astonishment and annoyance.