Last week's Alfred Dunhill Links Championship was superbly organised and also produced a cracking play off finale with Robert Karlsson eventually triumphant after a three way play off, but I have to say the complex format was somewhat bewildering.

For the first three days, 168 teams of one professional and one amateur, including celebrities such as soccer ace Ruud Gullit, recently retired tennis hero Tim Henman and actor Hugh Grant, competed on three different courses played in rotation.

Then the competition suddenly metamorphosised into a fully fledged professional competition for the final day, with the top 60 pros from those first three days playing off, along with the 20 leading pro-am teams regardless of whether the professional member of the team made the cut individually.

Got that?

I suppose it all made for a reasonable spectacle as the season draws to a close, but I still find it strange that some of the world's top players are expected to mix it with former cricketers and TV actors while at the same time competing in a serious tournament with big bucks at stake.

It's very rare in other sports for the top pros to compete directly alongside celebrities.

Imagine Guy Ritchie flying into a tackle on Dimitar Berbatov in a charity five-a-side, or Andrew Flintoff bowling at Ross Kemp in a celebrity Twenty/20 cricket bash.

OK, there's no physical contact on golf, so it's a little different, but you get my point.

Much better, and less confusing, to get the lighthearted, raising money for a good cause celebrity stuff out of the way in a pre-tournament bash, maybe a 'Par Three' competition as happens at some US tournaments, then clear the decks for the serious stuff to commence.

That said, at least that finale provided a decent farewell to the European Tour circus from these shores for another season, as with the demise of the World Match Play Championship, that's your lot for this year as far as Britain is concerned as the bandwagon moves on to Southern Europe for its last lap.

Roll on next April.