Retirement on horizon - 5 things I'd like to see happen in golf before then

The blokes I play golf with are all already retired. One had his birthday last week and took great joy in pointing out to me on our WhatsApp chat that “it’s great when your birthday falls on a non-working day and you’re off the next day and the next and the next….” The accompanying emojis with laughing faces said it all, really.

Especially since becoming a grandparent, I’ll admit that I do find myself thinking about retirement a lot more than I ever have and, though my wife isn’t convinced, once I reach that stage, I will be happy to close my laptop for a final time and rarely look at a mobile phone screen ever again.

That’s not to say, of course, that I don’t love my job as nothing could be further from the truth and I feel very lucky, indeed, to be gearing up for another trip to The Masters, which, on this occasion, will be followed by a first US Open at Shinnecock Hills in June then an umpteenth The Open at Royal Birkdale in July.

Add in other events like the Genesis Scottish Open, ISPS Handa Women’s Scottish Open, The Senior Open and the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship, to name but a few, and covering golf, coupled with meeting lots of people, will once again provide me with immense fulfilment, as has been the case now for close to 40 years.

There’s no guarantee, of course, that I will still be working when that August date in 2031 comes around - “we will send you a letter four months before….but check your State Pension forecast”, the letter states - because you just never know what is around the corner and someone could well make that decision for me long before then.

I have to admit, though, that it has left me thinking over the past few days about what would be some things I’d like to see happen in golf between now and then, and here are five of the main ones.

The Open returning to Muirfield

As a reporter for The Berwickshire News & East Lothian Advertiser at the time, the first Open Championship I covered was the first of Nick Faldo’s two successes at Muirfield in 1987 and I still remember the media centre being tiny in comparison to what it is today for the Claret Jug event. Having also been there for his second win five years later then the triumphs by Ernie Els and Phil Mickelson as well in 2002 and 2103 respectively, I’d be heart-broken, to be honest, if I didn’t get one final chance to cover the world’s oldest major at the brilliant East Lothian venue. I’d also like to see The Open back at Turnberry because that really does need to happen at some point, though not ahead of it being at Muirfield.

Bob MacIntyre winning a major

When you’ve written about someone for just over a decade now and watched them get to a stage where you feel quietly confident that something REALLY big could be around the corner, you want to be part of it, so to speak, if it happens, and here’s hoping that is the case with the Oban man. He said something at last year’s Ryder Cup about appreciating how people like myself have been part of his journey so far, and, as was the case with Paul Lawrie when he won The Open in 1999, it would be absolutely fantastic to get an opportunity to write thousands of words about MacIntyre becoming a major champion.

Catriona Matthew being made a Dame

I’d never really given this much thought before and I actually don’t know why because it really should have happened by now. I know that Catriona herself probably won’t be bothered too much about it because she’s not the type who’d get hot under the collar about anything. It has to be said, though, that if Laura Davies was deemed worthy of becoming a Dame, then Matthew must have a strong claim as well. After all, she not only won a major but played in nine Solheim Cups before then creating history as the first European captain to win back-to-back matches. Oh, and she also led Great Britain & Ireland to a Curtis Cup victory.

More Scots in world’s top 100

While it’s great to see MacIntyre in the top ten lately, though he actually dropped to 11th in the latest updated rankings, it really is about time that he got some company in the top 100. Calum Hill, who sits 131st, is the closest to making that happen and the sight of three Englishmen - Tommy Fleetwood, Matt Fitzpatrick and Justin Rose - in the top seven at the moment should be providing fuel for the likes of Hill, Grant Forrest, Ewen Ferguson, Connor Syme and others.

A Senior Ryder Cup/Solheim Cup

The possibility of a Senior Ryder Cup being launched is something that has been talked up recently by Ryan Howsam, the driving force behind the European Legends Tour, and, on the back of a World Champions Cup for over-50s having proved a success in the US over, it would be a terrific addition to the schedule. Even better, I have to say, if it was a mixed event that also involved former Solheim Cup players. It would be fantastic, for example, to see Matthew and Colin Montgomerie join forces representing Europe.

There, that’s my crystal ball-gazing for you and now, with 19 August 2031 set to be marked in red pen in diaries for the next few years, I’m off to check my State Pension forecast!