General / Ralph Ellis / 02 October 2008 / Leave a comment

Playing off eight, Beefy Botham tees it up in Scotland this week with David Howell in the Alfred Dunhill Links. We talk to him about golf, charities and, of course, a little bit of cricket.

This week we've been meeting one of the legends of sport - Sir Ian 'Beefy' Botham took some time before teeing off in the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship for an exclusive chat with Betfair about his golf, his next charity walk, and what he thinks of Kevin Pietersen's time so far as England captain.

First good luck with the next few days, and how is your golf? Have you been practising?

Absolutely. I've been out every day for the last week or so. We spent some time in Ireland and it's been good so we're up and running and really looking forward to this. I played in it last year and it's a great experience and a terrific time for everybody involved.

So what do you play off?

I'm on eight at the moment. I got down to four a few years ago but you have to play a hell of a lot of golf to keep that up and I've not had quite enough time. I love the sport, though, always have done. It's always a challenge because given that the pros can never master it completely everybody else has no chance!

Have you ever had a hole in one?

No, never. I think I've witnessed 14 but never had one myself. I've broken the hole, I've been around the hole, I've been in the hole and bounced out of the hole, it's just never stayed in. I would love to do it one day.

We don't mean to sound disrespectful but from our image of you we suspect you'd hit the ball a mile off the tee and then get frustrated when you are putting?

No, you are dead wrong, totally wrong in fact. It's my short game that keeps me alive. If you play off eight and have been down to four you're not a bad golfer, are you? You have to have all the elements of the game to some extent

So with everything you've done in your career will you still be nervous at the start of this event?

You bet. I defy anybody who has played any sport whatsoever not to feel that way. You might feel very comfortable in your own back garden, but when you stand on the first tee at the old course at St Andrews, with the biggest fairway in the world in front of you, the nerves still tingle. I'd defy anyone, I don't care who you are, I don't care if you are Ernie Els, you stand on that first tee and you will know all about it.

You're playing with David Howell in the team event. That sounds a good pairing...

Hope so. I'm looking forward to it because we've got a very good fourball. We're with Shane Warne who is playing with Richard Finch, so that should bring out the best in all of us. It's a fascinating event to play three different courses in three days and then there's the hope of making it to St Andrews on Sunday.

We see that your son Liam is playing as well. Who's the best golfer of the two of you?

I would say at the moment I might be winning. Hope it stays that way!

Did you teach him to play?

No. He just picked the game up when he was growing up very much the same as I did. I played with my father, just as he played with his father before. It's one of the beauties of the sport.

Walking the fairways will be a good warm up because you set off on your next charity walk next week. Looking forward to that?

I'm not sure looking forward is the right word. It's hard work every day - but I am looking forward to it being a success. We're doing nine days in nine different towns across the UK and we've changed it a bit this year by inviting people to join in. So far we've had a great response but it's not too late for anybody else who wants to enter to walk with me. Hopefully it will make a lot of money. When I started doing this in 1985 there was a 20 per cent chance of children diagnosed with Leukaemia to survive, now it's 80 per cent and we want to keep that going. The different format this time is exciting because hopefully it will make a lot of money

One cricket question: What do you think of Kevin Pietersen as England captain so far?

Very good, in fact excellent. He's been a breath of fresh air with the way he's come to the helm and inspired the team. There's a new confidence about everybody at the moment and hopefully that will carry on.

Thanks again for your time and we've a free £50 bet in aid of your favourite charity.

Well that has to go to my Leukaemia Research Fund, and if anybody wants to donate to it, or join me on one of the nine walks, the details are on www.bothamwalk.com. As for the bet I'll back my playing partner David Howell to finish in the top five of the main professional event at odds of [12.0]. I think he's a terrific player and I'm really looking forward to partnering him.