One Direction play golf Down Under

It's probably a sad indictment of our society that my grand-daughter - eight years old tomorrow - knows a lot about the boy band One Direction - its group members, its songs and the fact that they are currently touring Australia and New Zealand.

What I'm pleased to inform her, however, is that two of them, like her grandad, also play golf and have been practising at the course alongside their hotel north of Adelaide.

Away from their screaming fans it's a chance for Harry Styles and Niall Horan to get some peace and quiet and brush up on a sport that helps them relax away from their busy schedule.

Harry and Niall have apparently been keen golfers for more that a year with Irishman Horan even having custom made clubs for his 20th birthday earlier this month. However, our spies tell us that while his kit is first class his skills aren’t quite up to scratch and bandmate Styles often has the upper hand.

According to a photographer who watched the boys play on the luxury South Australian golf course, Styles is far more accomplished and even played a round on his own when Horan decided to entertain himself elsewhere with the other band members Louis Tomlinson, Liam Payne and Zayn Malik.

The band arrived in Australia on Friday in preparation for their first gig in Adelaide. They’ll stay down under until the end of October when they wrap their Take Me Home tour . The former X-Factor stars will return to the UK to start promotional work on their new album ‘Midnight Memories.’