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On last night's edition of BBC Top Gear (Sunday 11th March 2012) , messrs Clarkson, Hammond and May proposed that it costs more to enjoy playing golf as a hobby than it does to take up motor sport. An interesting argument we thought, even though the delivery of the challenge set forward by Jeremy Clarkson lacked a little research to say the least (but let's face it, his brand of journalism isn't based on facts most of the time)! Clarkson, May and Hammond all bought relatively cheap cars to take part, against other enthusiasts, in a rally cross motor race - resulting in funny, enjoyable and entertaining television for a Sunday night.

But does golf cost more than Rally Cross? We think not.
OK, Top Gear had their fun, but it was just one day and at one race event. They didn't factor in for most of the equipment required, insurance costs, transporting the race vehicle to and from events (on a trailer presumably?), wear and tear or replacement parts. Here's what the Motor Sports Association (MSA) recommend BEFORE going onto the track:


The MSA specify that drivers must wear full safety

No one likes paying more for golf insurance than they need to - but opting for the cheapest cover is rarely the best option. It can result in you paying for a policy that does not cover all the elements you might expect.

Things cost what they do for a reason: if you buy a really cheap electrical appliance, you can’t expect it to last for years. Likewise with insurance, cheap policies may exclude certain benefits that you'd welcome if you had a problem, such as a genuine new for old equipment cover.

Quality, not cost
Cheap golf insurance may appear worthwhile, but in the event of a claim being made what you want is adequate and relatively pain-free redress. Paying a little extra to obtain the right level of cover will provide peace of mind and is a sensible approach to purchasing any insurance policy. Just remember, some insurance policies are cheap for a reason, and it’s best to be mindful of quality as well as cost when it comes to buying cover.

Whether taking out your first golf insurance policy or renewing, we should all be aware of the finer details of insurance cover and not be distracted by the lure of "FREE" rounds of golf or Low-Price Guarantees. Many automatically assume that they're covered against theft of their equipment - a sensible assumption to make wouldn't you think? After all, you're paying for specialised golf insurance! Then you'd be horrified to find out that if your prized set of clubs were stolen from the locked boot of your car between the hours of 10pm and 8am you wouldn't be able to claim on your budget golf insurance. We've also heard stories from disgruntled customers of cut-price insurers that when they can claim for replacement equipment it is provided by the insurers budget equipment supplier and is not a true "new for old" nor a "like for like" service as the equipment supplied is not of equal quality.

GolfPlan not only provides transparent, comprehensive golf insurance cover, valid in any country worldwide, but also places its golf equipment claims through PGA golf professionals based at over 2000 UK golf venues, providing the best possible claim settlement procedure for

Who would have thought playing golf could be so serious?

All we want to do is enjoy a challenging 18-holes away from the pressures of everyday life; intersperse this with some lively chat amongst friends and the day will be perfect.  The problem is many of us overlook the fact that the moment we remove a club from our bag, we legally become liable for the consequences of our actions whilst using it and in the event of an accident we are 100% responsible. 

We have all been there; a tee-shot down the fairway goes deep left into the rough, annoyed and concentrating on what we did wrong, we take a second practice backswing.  Now imagine the consequences of a team member stepping forward to the tee, his face in your club’s swing plane.  You may think this a little severe but a few years ago, a golfer did exactly that, hitting his playing partner full in the mouth.  What followed was a legal challenge for damages to cover dental and facial restructure work to the sum of £15,000.  Devastated by guilt at what he had done the golfer approached his insurer, Golfplan Insurance, and was enormously

It may seem ridiculously simple. It is, after all, just a game between like-minded individuals. But the fact is you will be inviting your clients, colleagues and suppliers. If one of these invited guests is injured at your event, they may pursue your business, or another of your guests for compensation – or both. If you do not have the policies and paperwork in place to show that you have done all that is reasonably practicable in protecting your guests at your event, the claim for compensation could be very high. A recent court case paid out a total of almost £400,000 as a result of an injury sustained on the golf course. According to GolfPlan Insurance, 12,000 injuries a year are recorded. 3,530 of which are head injuries.

Here are 18 tips to keep your event on par.

1.If you use an agency to organise your golf day, have them assessed for their health & safety and insurance policies.

2.Ensure that whoever organises your corporate golf day includes `risk management’ as a topic in their planning documentation.

3.Review the golf club’s own safety policies. These should include course safety, adverse weather announcements, any

Playing golf is often thought to be one of the safest sports in the world. After all, what harm can come to you in the middle of a beautifully landscaped golf course? Some might even think that by playing golf they are removing the risk of becoming yet another victim of crime.

However, not many golfers have cottoned on to the fact that in these austere times, expensive golf equipment is an easy steal, whether from your car boot whilst parked at home or place of work or from the club car park.

One thing is for sure, we've seen claims for stolen golf equipment escalate over the past 24 months.

Ron Channon, Managing Director explained: “The temptation to steal expensive golf equipment is just too enticing for some individuals who are facing difficult financial times. The clubhouse, golf professional shop and a golfer's car are all targets. The most common golf equipment claims range from theft from vehicle break-ins, forced lockers in the clubhouse and buggy theft.”

Golfers can avoid the bitter consequence of theft by arranging specialist golf insurance cover. However, make sure you spend wisely; buying the cheapest policy could

Golf's must-have product, Foresight Sports' GC2 ball-flight monitor, was part of the success of a golf challenge on Channel 5's The Gadget Show on the 28th November, being hailed as "one of the most accurate golf simulators in the world".

The Rio 2016 Olympic Games organisers have chosen Thomas Perrett Golf Course Architects to become the designer of the Rio de Janeiro golf course, which will host the Olympic golf event.

In October 2011, the Rio 2016 Olympic Committee launched a worldwide competition to find the architectural design of the golf course to host the 2016 Olympic Golf Event.

Requirements for the winner - applicants has to show prior course design experience, and have an office established in Rio. The golf course should serve youth sports and education and events after the games.

The applicants were whittled down to eight, with the winner Thomson Perrett being paid $300,000 for the design.

Thomson Perrett's team for the Olympic course is led by Managing Director Ross Perrett and his partner Peter Thomson a five time British Open winner, whose names are linked with created world class golf courses.

The course will be built in the Barra da Tijuca neighbourhood, which will host most of the Olympic venues.

At the R&A Open Championship Press Conference Peter Dawson, Chief Executive of the R&A and also President of the International Golf Federation (IGF), was able to update the media

44 year old Anthony Phee, from Manchester, is seeking £750,000 in damages, against Niddry Castle golf club and golfer James Gordon who took a tee shot that caused Mr Phee to lose his eye. The level of damages in the case has been agreed but liability still remains an issue.

Mr Gordon, who has a handicap of 18, told the court that he hit his shot from the eighteenth tee but it swerved towards a group of four people on the path which included Mr Phee.

Mr Gordon said after hitting the shot he immediately shouted the traditional golfers warning "fore" as the ball headed towards the group. He said: 'I shouted fore at the top of my voice.' His playing partner also called out. He added 'On the shout of fore three people went down.' But the fourth member of the group did not shield himself and instead was 'looking towards the sky.'

Mr Phee, said that he had only played a few games of golf in the past but he knew that hearing the shout of "fore" there was a stray ball and that he should take evasive action. He added that

Golfplan took part in the charity auction of Bristol Zoo's Wow! Gorillas sculptures and has successfully acquired 'Noah'.

Noah was one of 61 life-sized gorillas statues auctioned at the Victoria Rooms in Clifton after being part of a public art trail in Bristol throughout the summer.

Each Wow! Gorilla sculpture was painted by a local artist as part of Bristol Zoo's 175th birthday celebrations.

The sculptures were auctioned off to help raise funds for two charities - Bristol Zoo's conservation projects for critically endangered gorillas, as well as Wallace and Gromit's Grand Appeal for the cardiology unit at Bristol Children's Hospital.

More than 500 people attended the charity auction to place their bids and altogether helped raise over £427,000.

The 101 small gorillas which have also appeared  around Bristol this summer will be returned to the schools and nurseries which sponsored and decorated them.

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Sean O'Hair who has been working with Sean Foley since the 2008 RBC Canadian Open has decided to cut his ties with Foley due to his poor performance this year.  With O'Hair parting ways with caddie Paul Tesori at the end of last year, and recently split up with caddie Brennan Little, it seems that the trend has so far continued with Foleys departure.

It’s been two years since 28 year old O’Hair made his impressive win at Quail Hollow Championship. He has been struggling so far in 2011 and is not on top of his game; missing out on the cut of the past five consecutive tournaments, not finishing in the top 20 all year, and he will also not be taking part in this week's Wells Fargo Championship.  This is a far cry from 2010 when O’Hair made 19 out of 25 cuts and tied for 7th at the Open Championship. He finished the year ranked 43rd in the world, but O’Hairs declining game has now meant he is ranked 80th in the world and 158th on the money list.

"It's unfortunate," Foley said. "I'd say Sean in 2009 was arguably one of

From the equipment to the membership at a golf club and the golfing holidays you may take, golf can be a very expensive hobby.

Now the weathers warming up and we’re all thinking about holidays but may want to be a little kinder to our wallets with the economic situation still slow, why not look at Thailand for an exotic getaway that not only has beautiful places to see and visit but according to a recent survey conducted by Asian golf vacation specialists Golfasian, has some of the most competitive golf rates for visitors across Asia and the Middle East.

The average round of golf was 29% lower in Thailand than a similar number of clubs surveyed across six different countries. The survey compared the midweek high season visitor rates.

Mark Siegel founder of Golfasian and President of Golf in A Kingdom said, “We knew from the feedback we were getting from our regular customers, that golf here was very reasonable. However we were very surprised that our survey showed that there really was such a

Thomson Perret and Lobb, the golf course design practice founded by five-times Open Champion Peter Thomson and partners Ross Perrett and Tim Lobb, has announced work will begin on the new golf academy at Moscow’s Luzhniki Olympic Complex in spring.

The golf academy will feature an original 9-hole par-3 golf course design, with six of the holes sharing two splash-shaped greens, a driving range and a practice putting area, plus a clubhouse with indoor golf simulators.

The landmark development will introduce golf to Europe’s largest sports centre, which has already been the venue of prestigious events - the 1980 Olympics and 2008 Champions League Final between Manchester United and Chelsea, and boasts facilities for more than 40 different sports with five million visits per year.

It comes at a perfect time, with the return of golf to the Olympics in 2016.

TPL principal Tim Lobb said: “TPL has an excellent understanding of designing golf experiences that appeal to players in new markets, and I’m confident we will create an academy that compliments existing sporting facilities on

The Celtic Manor Wales Open has been hosted at this prestigious club in Newport since the year 2000 making this year its 12th, where we expect to see more major golfing names return back to The Twenty Ten course on Thursday 2nd to Sunday 5th June 2011.

Celtic Manor Resort Marketing and Commercial Director Gareth Rees Jones said:
“This year will see our 12th staging of the tournament and we are committed to host the tournament until at least 2014, so the total benefit over 15 years is likely to exceed £20m.
“The Celtic Manor Resort is also a substantial contributor to the local economy on a year-round basis with an annual outlay in excess of £14m to employees, suppliers and contractors within the NP postcode area.”

With the amount of money generated from this top European tournament, who can blame the club for wanting to keep hold of it just a little bit longer.

An IFM Sports Marketing Survey, commissioned to carry out the Economic Impact Study by The Celtic Manor Resort found that spectators attending the 2010 four day golf tournament where they watched Graeme McDowell claim The Celtic Manor Wales