The golf

The first challenge was always to find the hole - identified by the green tee shelter

The Nullarbor Links is the world's longest golf course stretching 1365km from Ceduna to Kalgoorlie. Not only is it long, it's also long. The par 5 'Dingo's Den' is a fairly substantial 588 yards.

The length of the course and my general lack of skills were not the only handicaps to overcome. Quite apart from the lack of fairways, the tiny rock-hard artificial 'greens' and a limited bag of clubs consisting of only four assorted irons and a putter (the 6 iron being a left-handed club for the first two holes!), we had to cope variously with wind, heat, swarming flies, low-flying aircraft, thieving crows, and the ever-present threat of deadly snakes. In the event we managed to play down the landing strip on the 5th before any planes required the use of the same space and the only reptiles that we encountered were the ubiquitous Shinglebacks.

Mum was a wonderful caddy and provided a much-appreciated calming influence on course but even she could do nothing on one hole when the crow swooped. It was always going to be impossible to guard two balls at once and despite valiantly dashing across the scrub to try, the crow picked up my ball and disappeared into the distance.

 Emus on the 13th green

We had good holes (both shooting par 3 on the 175 yard 6th) and bad holes (I ran up a 9 on one of the longer par 5's) before we eventually ended the round at the PGA course in Kalgoorlie. After scrapping through the bush for a week or so that was a real treat and we both finished the last two holes like pros!

Kalgoorlie golf course

We'd not been thinking about scores for the whole time but once the numbers were added up I walked away with a round of 105. Dad's superior short game ensured him the win by a single stroke!