The eight-iron shot was tracking. The ball landed just in front of the green, trundled past the bunker, edged towards the pin and disappeared. I was convinced Podcast Partner had holed in one on the fifth at Ardglass.

The North was ranked in Continental Europe’s top 100 when my quest began in 2020, and it was the first we played during a lovely, sunny March week in the Algarve.

How many times would you expect to say “wow” during a round of golf? I reckon I uttered it between eight and a dozen times along the Pacific coastline at Te Arai’s South course.

To round off this great course with a par and a win was a genuine thrill.

“The course that my soul loves best of all the courses in the world”, wrote celebrated golf writer Bernard Darwin of Aberdovey. And as I...