I took my youngest son Maarten out golfing with me for a quick evening nine holes, to get a feel of the course, and let him be my caddy.

On the fourth hole, I hit a magnificent shot which landed right in front of the flag, and the ball rolled up to within two inches of the hole.

If only I had struck the ball a fraction of an ounce harder it might have gone in. Maarten was jumping up and down and screaming with excitement. I was also pretty excited but held my cool as any good golf professional would do.

The question remains: when will I get my first hole-in-one? You'd think that after all these years of avid golfing it should have happened more than once by now.