Sports Calendar

The Spike Bar may be wrong here but I doubt whether any other competitor in the various qualifying competitions for the Open at Turnberry has ever fought a bare knuckle fight, never mind one of nearly 45 minutes. Nor participated in a bare knuckle, no-holds barred contest on the 14th green at Hounslow Heath golf club nor faced a significant jail sentence nor, briefly, been an unlicensed professional boxer who was unbeaten in 11 fights.

"Gypsy" Joe Smith, 38, has. In his fourth attempt to get into the Open Smith failed to make it past local final qualifying at Glasgow Gailes early this week, rounds of 81 and 75 being a few strokes too many. "It was one day of misery and one of pure enjoyment" he said.

During his younger days as he recalls in his book, Gypsy Joe, Smith accepts he was “hired muscle” and used to collect money from people with colleagues armed with guns. He was also once on remand for assault, after he allegedly hit a man over the head with a scaffolding pole, but the case was dropped.

His notoriety also quickly spread to the criminal world, where “muscle was always needed” and debt collection became his source of income. “If you owed someone some money, we’d come to your office on a quiet lunch hour or when there was no one around, we’d pull you over your desk and say “you pay your f****** money or I might see you up the road later!”

“I’ve been in situations where I could have got 10 or 12 years - maybe life. I’ve stood beside people with shooters. The only reason I didn’t have a shooter is I didn’t own one. If my cousin had said we had one loaded up ready to go, I would have. Imagine how long you could get for that. I thank god I was lucky not to go to jail."

Now Smith, a scrap merchant dealer in west London, is gearing up for another attempt on the pro circuit. Golf saved him after his grandfather had died and he went off the rails for a while and now it could be saving him again. "I'm going to have another go at being a full-time pro," he said. “They probably haven’t seen another golfer like me. Most people might be in awe of the great golfers but what do I have to lose? I’m a gypsy knuckle fighter in a camper van.

"I enjoyed the boxing," Smith said. "I enjoyed receiving the praise. I liked the reputation I had knowing I could go almost anywhere without any physical danger. I enjoyed the money I got but if I could have my time again I would always be a golf pro. To me golf really is the beautiful game, not soccer."

"Gypsy Joe" published by London Books £16.99.

A full diary

There are times in the year when it is a privilege to write about golf. That time is now. Why? Because of a conjunction of big events and the quality of the courses over which these events are played.

Starting it off is the Scottish Open at Loch Lomond, a course so good Tom Weiskopf almost gave his life for it. Then it's on to Turnberry for the Open, which needs no further paeans of praise from me, and from there to Sunningdale to see the seniors. Sunningdale, one of the world's best golf clubs, may at present be at the peak of its form. Finally, and by no means least, comes the Women's Open at Royal Lytham. The last time I had a run of events as good as this held on outstanding golf courses was in 2000 when in successive weeks I went from Ballybunion to Royal Liverpool, flew on to Pebble Beach and finished up at Ganton.

The long haul

Spare a thought for Billy Foster, the popular caddie, who began a 90-mile walk from Loch Lomond to Turnberry soon after 10am on Thursday. He will arrive at the Turnberry Hotel at 10am on Monday. Foster, currently having a week off from caddying for Lee Westwood, is doing it to raise money for kids in a cancer hospital in Leeds. Donations to www.justgiving.com/billyfoster.

Lion hearts

Helped by pocketing two crisp £20 notes after winning a bet with The Spike Bar as to the outcome of the recent series between South Africa and the Lions, Ernie Els was full of praise for what he saw of the three-Test series the Springboks won 2-1. "The rugby your guys played was phenomenal," the South African said. "Your backs." He rolled his eyes. "I never thought the northern hemisphere could play rugby like that. Running the ball, really attacking. Fantastic."