A round with Sherlock at Muirfield

Not too many golfers can claim to have played against a combination of Dracula, Sherlock Holmes and Frankenstein and lived to tell the tale.

Lee as Sherlock.

But it happened to me at Muirfield – venue for this week’s Open championship and proved a thrilling experience.

My opponent was Christopher Lee, the actor, who made all those characters famous, together with hundreds more in a career spanning over 50 years and 300 films.

"My dear boy," he told me in that deep rich voice that is still gracing films like ‘The Lord of the Rings’ and the latest ‘Star Wars’ episode and fixing me a stare that would run me through like a Musketeers’ sword, "let’s not talk about Dracula, let’s play golf."

He then proceeded to play the windswept Scottish links in 75 shots from an eight handicap and take my £5 note and stuff it in his brown tweed trousers.

"Thank you, dear boy, it was a pleasure. Shall we have lunch? I understand you’re paying."

Christopher Frank Carandini Lee, who celebrated his 80th birthday on May 27 and lives in Chelsea, just a 3-wood from his birthplace in London’s fashionable Belgravia, is an imposing figure on the golf course.

His swing is a little stiff and wooden these days, from a series of back injuries suffered from falling off horses and buildings during film incidents, but he makes good use of his 6ft 4-inch frame and has a short game which would be the envy of many a professional.

He has been a member of the exclusive Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers Club at Muirfield for more than 20 years, often staying in the club’s plush apartment between film commitments.

"Sadly," he told me, "I have never been asked to play golf in one of my roles. I would have taken great delight in advising them that I wouldn’t need a double."

However, he has played with some of the legends of the game including James Braid, five times Open champion.

"One day in the late 1940s, I was due to meet some friends for a game at Walton Heath in Surrey. They hadn’t turned up and I was putting away on the practice green when this Scots voice boomed out ‘Aye, laddie, are ye looking fur a game?’ It was Braid, who was the club professional.

"We played nine holes and it was awe-inspiring. He told me I had quite a good swing and then proceeded to give me a lesson on how to play out of Walton Heath’s heather," Lee recalled.

The man who also made famous Fu Manchu and Scaramanga and other unsavoury characters, revealed that the late Duke of Windsor was probably one of his most distasteful of golfing partners.

"I was practising at Sunningdale when the professional asked me to join the Duke for a game.

"He was the most obnoxious golfer. He claimed to play off 14 but, to be honest, wasn’t that good and I have never heard such bad language on a golf course, before or since," said Lee who said one of the biggest compliments on his own golf had come from infamous Australian Wayne Riley.

"We were playing in the Four Stars pro-am at Moor Park and, though I say it myself, I was playing quite well. After a few holes we were held up on the tee and Mr Riley said to me ‘How old are yer, mate?’

"‘I beg your pardon,’ I replied.

"‘What age are yer, Chris?’

"I told him I was just coming up to 70.

"He pondered for a moment then replied ‘Umm, not bad for an old geezer!’"

A former scratch player, who also plays at The Berkshire, Christopher Lee is still much in demand as an actor but is still waiting for the call asking him to play the role of a golfer.

Final hole at Muirfield.

Hole 1 (447 yards- par-4): Prevailing west wind in your face. Low solid drive needs to avoid horseshoe bunker on the left, deep rough on the right. Long iron approach to an oval green.

Hole 2 (351 yds, par-4): Driveable in hard conditions with back wind. Tee shot must avoid bunkers on the right and gully to the left. 8- or 9-iron approach to green which runs away off the back.