A Man of Many Talents

For the first nine holes, he followed the coaches’ instructions to keep his weight centred and to take the club away smoothly – and reached the turn in the low 40s. He struggled rather more on the homeward half and, on arriving at the famous 17th, dispatched two balls into the Old Course Hotel (He's not alone – Ed). His light-hearted concern was that the second of them could have landed amid the cucumber sandwiches in the conservatory.

Yet when he arrived at the 18th, he drove 330 yards to the green’s front apron and there was no question of his ball having taken a helpful leap from the tarmac on Granny Clark’s Wynd, the road bisecting the first and 18th fairways.

Since this was only practice, the photographers asked him to pose for pictures on the Swilcan Bridge. He sat this way and that way and he stood: nothing was too much trouble for him. Then, when the professional snappers had done their bit, he came back to the tee-side of this ancient monument and took some pictures for himself.

When he had finished, he hurried to catch up with the rest of his party and, as he went over the up-side of the Swilcan's hump-back, he tripped ever so slightly.

Pistorius, who had his legs amputated betwixt knee and the ankle when he was 11 months old (he had been born without any fibulas) would explain that uphill is the only situation where he can have problems. When, for instance, he had a new house built not so long ago, he had found himself tripping on one particular stair of what looked like a perfectly uniform staircase.

He called the head builder back and, when the expert took out his measuring tape, he discovered that the step in question was ever-so-slightly higher – half an inch at the most – than its companions.

Pistorius started golf at the age of 15. His grandmother had asked what he would like for a birthday present and he had opted for a few golf clubs. The young Pistorius warmed to the game at once and would play with his friends at local courses and driving ranges, of which there are plenty in South Africa.