Getting into the swing of playing golf

‘After more than 50 years of playing without any discernible improvement, I still soldier on o’er hill and dale, wielding my mashie niblick.’ Photograph: sturti/Getty Images

I have some sympathies with Adrian Chiles’s war of attrition with golf (I hate golf, 14 October). I too have suffered with shots to the right followed by shots to the left, and have had rounds with many bad shots, only to then have a perfect drive down the middle, or by sinking a 20-yard putt on the last green that inevitably brought me back the next week thinking that I had finally cracked it.

Over the 60 years that I have been playing, I have learned that it is possible to master some of this game some of the time, but not all of the time. There are many other pluses to this wonderful game. I have played golf on many courses in this country and in Europe, enjoying great views and friendships along the way.