It's tee-time

Golf fans who missed the chance to see A Golfer's Travels with Peter Alliss (ATV World, 6.30pm) last time it was shown in Hong Kong because they did not have access to Cable, must be pleased that ATV have snapped up the rights to show it on open-access local television.

Alliss, for those who do not know, is the most beloved and best-known golfing commentator in Britain at the moment.

As a tribute to his reputation, the BBC commissioned him to make a series of six programmes in which he was to be paid to play golf with amateur golfers even more famous than himself, on some of the world's top golf courses.

Alliss went to Scotland, to Hawaii, to Spain.

He played with the Duke of York, Alice Cooper, the members of Hootie and the Blowfish, the former president of South Africa F W de Klerk, ex-vice president Dan Quayle, Gene Hackman and Dame Kiri Te Kanawa.

Each member of this illustrious company was reduced to the same stature by Alliss' unpretentious, good-natured chat, and even more so by his expert critique of their respective golfing abilities.

Of Mr de Klerk: 'One of the overseers of apartheid, and more than a bit handy with his seven-wood.' Dame Kiri: 'Not a lot of power, but nice rhythm.' Mr Quayle: 'A desire to talk about politics rather than an out-to-in swing.' Hackman: 'Bad guy in many films and a bit of a rascal with a putter.' Even if, like me, you do not even know what a seven-wood is, this is still highly entertaining television. Alliss has modestly suggested the reason golf is so popular on television is because of the 'scenery'.