Golfing gossip

By Iain Carter BBC Five Live golf correspondent

Five Live's golf correspondent Iain Carter speaks to golfing legend Seve Ballesteros, enjoys the Bovey Castle course and reveals that changes could be made to the format of the Ryder Cup as well as answering your questions.

A WORD WITH SEVE

"We'll do it in five minutes," said the living legend. He'd just completed a television interview and wanted a break.

Ballesteros last won a tournament in 1995

He headed out on to his hotel room balcony to be greeted by a chill Irish wind. Within thirty seconds he was back inside "okay let's do it now". Seve Ballesteros doesn't do cold.

It's become clear that his golfing career is nearing its end but among the many subjects that came up in our conversation, he revealed he may not have played his last Open.

After his comeback at Hoylake last year, the three-time champion is considering entering the 2007 Championship at Carnoustie.

We were chatting at The Heritage in Ireland where he was promoting next year's Seve Trophy match between Great Britain and Ireland and Continental Europe.

Ballesteros recalls with much fondness his return to the Open last year.

"I take away from it just the fact that I was able to play again, to be able to still have a good connection with the people and above all it was a great feeling to have had my son caddying for me," he said.

"To be able to explain to him things during the rounds and to make sure he really found out who I was.

"I still haven't decided anything but I'm thinking there's a possibility that I will go back to the Open next year."

Seve explained that the majority of his golf is now played at weekends with his sons.

Seve will also be concentrating on his design work

He's still in love with the game and there are always a few euros at stake to satisfy his competitive edge.

"Javier's handicap is zero and Miguel plays off five and we play basically every weekend and I try to teach them as much as I can.

"I still love to practise in good weather back in Santander. It's great just to be on the golf course, to walk the course and just breathe the air," he adds, agreeing that is where he feels most at home.

Ballesteros is also very proud of the way that Europe has performed in the Ryder Cup since the inception of the Seve Trophy matches in 2000, saying that the record-breaking wins enjoyed by the teams of Bernhard Langer and Ian Woosnam have come as no surprise.

He adds that Nick Faldo will gain valuable experience for the next Ryder Cup when he leads the Great Britain and Ireland team at the Heritage next September.

Seve will also be concentrating on his design work, which includes his first course in England, the Shire to the North of London, which is due to open next year.

DARTMOOR DELIGHT

The subject of design crossed my mind when I played the magnificent Bovey Castle on the edge of Dartmoor last week.

It's a wonderful course that uses one of Seve's key maxims which is to be in keeping with the local terrain.

This happens all the time at Bovey Castle. It's as though the land was made for golf - most noticeably on the par-four 7th, a hole which was a particular favourite of the late Sir Henry Cotton.

Bordered on both sides by narrow rivers there is no need for bunkers as the hole puts an absolute premium on accuracy and, when into the prevailing wind, length as well.

It's a fantastic experience set in delightful surrounds but, if my round is anything to go by, take plenty of balls.

COMMENTATOR QUERIES

One of the many e-mails I've received came from Phil in the UK who asks whether we commentators get the chance to play the courses we cover.

The intrinsic nature of the game is to deal with whatever the course and weather throws at you

Occasionally we're lucky enough to get the chance - particularly at Open venues - so I'm looking forward to playing Carnoustie next year.

It certainly helps the subsequent commentary even if the golf I play bears no relation to that produced by the Open players.

Terry is irritated by commentators leaving out the definite article - saying a player is "taking driver" rather than "a driver".

I blame the Americans, but will try to make sure I don't annoy Terry in the future.

David in the US points out the unfairness of landing in a sand filled divot in the middle of a fairway and feels the rules should be reviewed to allow relief.

It makes sense if you think golf should be fair, but the intrinsic nature of the game is to deal with whatever the course and weather throws at you.

It would be interesting to know what you think.

RYDER CUP CHANGES?

It seems the prospect of lengthening the Ryder Cup from three to four days may still be on the cards.

The format of the Ryder Cup could be changing

One highly-placed insider told me that the new American calendar means that future matches may need to move to October.

Would there be enough daylight to complete matches under the current format?

It could be that if it were played over four days they could play just 18 holes a day with no players being left out.

The format could be something like: six fourballs on the first day, six foursomes on the next day and then six more on the Saturday before the final twelve singles - making it a 30-point match rather than the current 28.

Both Europe and the US would have to agree to such changes and they would still be some way off, but it certainly looks like being a topic of conversation.

While it would be a shame to change the current magical format, there is some merit in the argument, especially when you consider the difficulties of moving vast crowds in hours of darkness.

---

If you'd like to email Iain on a golfing topic, just fill in the form below. He'll answer a pick of them in his next column.

Terms & Conditions