Growing up in Scotland, I hit my first golf balls on what we called back then a "corporation" course.

I got hooked on the game at Deaconsbank on Glasgow's southside - a club designed by the renowned course architect James Braid at the start of last century, but owned by the local council. Later as an Edinburgh student I played at Braid Hills - a spectacular venue overlooking the capital, which is still publicly funded, as are five others in the city today.

There are numerous such tax-payer owned, pay-and-play clubs within the national total of 580 registered courses. Many offer cheap lessons too. They are considered important, affordable recreational facilities, much like Victorian swimming centers.