Politically incorrect golf: Top 10

4. Golf Course News International, 2006. ‘Women and Golf. The Burning Issue’

Golf Course News International was a respected long-running trade magazine, which relaunched itself in 2006 after being bought by golf equipment manufacturer Seoul Nassau.

Gone were the stories about greenkeeping and course design, in its place was a front cover depicting a blonde model in a black bikini top with a flaming golf ball disappearing down her cleavage, with the justifying headline: Women And Golf, The Burning Issue.

The story it alluded to was about how attractive female golfers are, which was illustrated with pictures of women in revealing dresses on the golf course. Another article looked at sex and golf, an advert for a ball-washing machine featured a naked model squeezing a bar of soap and a spot-the-difference competition asked readers to identify 10 changes in a picture of a bikini-clad model against the background of a golf course. Perhaps most shockingly, a story about Chinese golfers referred to them as ‘Chinks’.

The revamp proved to be probably the biggest error in golf publishing history. St Andrews Links Trust said it would not be displaying the magazine anymore, subscribers cancelled their subscriptions and advertisers pulled out.

The revamp lasted two issues and it returned to trade publishing by issue three. But by then the damage had been done. The magazine has not been seen since 2007.