I started this hobby simply because many of my mates at the time were enthusiasts: it felt like it was the thing to do. In the toolroom at ROF Chorley, several people played and talked about it incessantly, and so I picked up a cheap set of clubs and joined them. I must have played perhaps twenty or thirty rounds between 1980 and 1984, but never with much success. I regularly finished in 100 strokes, but rarely fewer. I had no consistency, managing par for two or three holes, and then be into double figures for others. I mainly played the Chorley municipal course at Duxbury and Fishwick Hall in Preston, although I have played at several other clubs. I liked playing Fishwick Hall because it was very hilly and gave me a great workout whilst playing a round. I only recently threw away my ‘Ben Hogan’ clubs, which gives an indication about how old they were when I bought them! (Ben Hogan was in his heyday in the early 1950s)
