Members over the moon

Earlston GC, founded in Scotland in 1906, appear to be rather pleased about their investment. Indeed club secretary Brian Thorburn enthused: "We are over the moon about it. And we hope it will not be too long before we have lots of new stars in our ranks."

The extra-terrestrial language can be explained by the nature of their purchase. For £101 they bought land on the moon from an Internet company. This was entirely understandable, given that the club's 70 members have been without a course since just after the second World War, when they ran out of funds and equipment.

There's talk of naming the 18 lunar holes after seas on the moon's surface, where US astronaut Alan Shepard, commander of Apollo 14, hit a one-handed six-iron shot 200 yards in February 1971. According to club treasurer, Brian Hunter, the lunar purchase was "a bit of fun", but he didn't rule out the possibility of his members playing there.

Meanwhile, any Irish club wishing to follow suit should contact www.MoonEstates.Com, who claim to be the UK's only extraterrestrial land agents. I did, and was informed I could purchase right now, online, my "very own piece of land on the moon, Mars or Venus". Wouldn't it be a great opportunity to retrieve Captain Shepard's ball?