The Times They Are A Changin
/
Auslan Cramb in the Daily Telegraph reports that Bob Dylan and his brother have purchased a Scottish mansion and speculates that the purchase was driven by the singer/songwriter's love of golf.
(Because the Scots can't fathom why else someone with a home in Malibu would want to live there?) Cramb writes:
Dylan's interest in Scotland was also revealed in 2004 when he accepted an honorary degree from St Andrews University. The only other degree he had accepted was from Princeton in 1970.
The arrival of the 65-year-old star was the talk of Nethybridge yesterday, but Dylan's status as one of the greatest singer-songwriters of the modern era appears not have fazed the residents.
Stuart Black, a local resident, said: "It should be a bit of a boost for the area. But I don't think he will be pursued by any groupies any more as I think most of his fans are now in the middle-aged bracket."
Dylan is a keen golfer and plays off a 17 handicap at Malibu Country Club in California. His new home is close to the more utilitarian Abernethy golf club, where a day ticket costs just £10, but membership is never a foregone conclusion.
Jack McCool, the treasurer, said: "Mr Dylan would have to apply in writing just like everyone else and be vetted by the committee.
"If there were no objections then he would be a member after paying the membership fee, which at present is £105."
Adam Sweeting follows up with an interesting piece on the link between musicians and golfers, with several quotes from Lawrence Donegan.
He also has this fun note for Killers fans:
Stranger still is the new wave of rockers, and even rappers, who have tooled up with Callaway clubs, preposterous trousers and spiked shoes.
Brandon Flowers, vocalist with the Killers, says: "Golf was my main thing when I was a teenager, and that's what I wanted to do."
Flowers's cousin, Craig Barlow, was a golf pro on the PGA tour until he decided the game was interfering with his Mormon faith and quit. Some credit hip hop pioneers the Beastie Boys with inventing "golf punk" fashion, while Snoop Dogg, Justin Timberlake and 2 Live Crew's Luther Campbell are enthusiastic players.
