LOCAL GOLFING YOUNGSTERS

The top photo was taken in the early/mid 80's and has a bunch of youngsters trying out their golfing skills somewhere in Dundee. I'm not too sure which course it is they are on, Camperdown pitch & putt possibly. Anyway, if anyone can say for certain where the scene is taking place, or even recognise someone, feel free to pass on your knowledge.

The one below it I can definitely nail because that sporty looking chap is me! Yes that's yours truly in 1969 aged 11 playing on our championship course in our back garden. We turned the entire length of our lawn into a mini golf course, a 6 holer stretching from the side of the house, through the washing green and all the way down to the plot at the bottom lawn. It was mostly used for putting. One of the holes was located in front of a greenie pole which was like a giant flag pole and that allowed you to get great rebound shots!

For pitch & putt, some of the hazards were - the ball rolling under the shed, getting snagged in the hedge, rolling down the rockery onto the pathy slabs (out of bounds) or ending up in the plot amongst the rhubarb.

For real golf swing work-outs with a driver, being surrounded by housing, we had to use a plastic practise ball for obvious reasons. However, the inevitable happened one day when our mate had a go and gave one a full wallop, but he made the mistake of ignoring the guidelines and used a real golf ball - then it was CRASH..tinkle, tinkle - straight through the kitchen window!

Needless to say, golf was banned on our course for a short while afterwards.
That said, I didn't take up the sport at all - I've never set foot on any golf course!

The other image next to me is a toy my wee brother got for xmas, early 70's - Arnold Palmer's Pro Shot Golf. This was a great invention that had a miniature golfer on the end of a club handle, which, when you pulled a trigger mechanism, made the player swing and hit the ball. It came with various items such as sand traps, putting green, score cards and a set of clubs. Great fun.

By the way, the image of me and the toy box are not to scale..!!