I note, from the website Scottish Golf View that the recession is hitting many golf clubs hard with “membership levels in Scotland having dropped by 2.6 per cent in the men’s game and 4.6 per cent on the ladies’ front over the past year”.

But, fear not for the Scottish Golf Union has a number of contacts “experts in finance, legal, general business and so on” – as chair Douglas Connon points out “You tend to find people on the committee of a club with issues often have businesses with some issues as well”.

Maybe if they didn’t spend so much time on the golf course, their businesses wouldn’t be in so much trouble, eh?