Gary Player, who is 70 today, could sit back and celebrate some glorious years in which he won nine majors. Instead, he is as interested in the future as the past, starting with developments at his stud farm in Bloemfontein.

His nine-hole course, designed for family and friends, will soon be ready for play, while he will continue to shin up and down the 400 steps he has carved into the mountainside. "I climb them with my grandchildren," he says, omitting to mention whether they share his enthusiasm for the task.

Find out what Gary Player has to say about the Atkins diet at http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/main.jhtml?xml=/sport/2005/11/01/sgplay01.xml&sSheet=/sport/2005/11/01/ixgolf.html.