Wirral courses left to ruin

TWO golfy news items caught my eye last week. One concerned my home patch on Wirral, Merseyside, where the local council have taken what’s best described as an act of sporting vandalism in withdrawing funding from two splendid municipal courses called Brackenwood and Hoylake that are much loved by thousands of golfers in the area. Hopes remain that they can be sold as a going concern but, in the meantime, the Brackenwood greens have already been subjected to vandalism of a more physical kind. The saving to the council, by the way, will be just £236,000, money they’d probably recoup and more with the added interest next year when the Open comes to town. The other came from thousands of miles away in the poshest part of Los Angeles, down the road from where Adele lives. Actor Mark Wahlberg’s house has just gone on the market, and one of the chief selling points is the fact it has a five-hole golf course in the grounds. The new owner will be paying rather more than £236,000 to enjoy this private set-up. The asking price is loose change short of £68million. It’s a mad world, all right.