During last month's Dunhill Links Championship in and around St Andrews, organisers reduced no fewer than 39 handicaps for competing amateurs, who were perceived to be somewhat better than their official status would have suggested. Now it has emerged that for other Americans, the prize of a Scottish holiday has been withdrawn, because of an apparently outrageous, handicap abuse.

It happened in the "Iron Men of Golf" charity event. Alarm bells began to ring for the organisers when they learned that a member of the triumphant line-up had shot a course-record 62 at the Blue Bell CC, Pennsylvania. It transpired that far from being a bona fide amateur with an official handicap of 4.6, he was, in fact, a professional.

Declaring him to be ineligible, they withdrew the prize from the winning team. Now, legal action has been taken against them by the iron man they have accused of bending the rules. And all in the name of charity!

This day in golf history ..... On November 10th 1957, the Long Beach Open marked a highly-significant breakthrough. With a 54-hole aggregate of 203, Charlie Sifford took top prize of $1,200 to become the first black golfer to win an official professional tournament. n TEASER: In an 18-hole match, the players by mistake play three holes out of sequence. The error is discovered before the match concludes. What is the ruling?

Answer: The holes played out of sequence should be discarded and the match resumed at the proper hole. However, if such procedure would delay the competition, both players should be disqualified, unless one of them concedes the match to the other.