We have had thunder storms in Asia. We have sheltered during endless deluges in Wales. We have had tardy starting times in Paris due to excess traffic. We have been held back in Gleneagles due to an unseasonable morning mist and again on the east coast of Scotland as a more seasonable one rolled in off the North Sea to disrupt the Dunhill event and, last week, we rounded off a laboured season on the European Tour with a wind strong enough to blow a dog off a chain. Delays, disrupted rounds and restarts seem to have been the order of the 2001 season.

These disruptions can test the most patient amongst us. Golf has become preoccupied by routines which go out the window when the weather plays havoc.

Ian Poulter was caught out in an evening squall at Montecastillo last Friday along with the rest of the leaders in the Volvo Masters. He had to abandon his second round and come back early the next day.

While he was probably happy to cut short an average round by comparison to his opening 64, the break was not to change his luck the following morning. He finished off in a brisk Andalusian wind by double-bogeying the final two holes for an 81.

He then had to return immediately to the course to start his third round. The wind was freshening, Poulter was rushed and still reeling from his disastrous finish. He hit his opening tee shot into the water, after which the officials sounded the siren to signify that play was once again suspended.

Poulter didn't take it lightly - one player who witnessed his journey back to the clubhouse admitted he has never heard so many expletives directed at the nearest official on hand.

Poulter's caddie, "Edinburgh" Jimmy, is never one to let adversity get in the way of a good slagging. So, as the tirade of abuse was flowing from his boss, he was giving a running side commentary. "So I suppose the tournament director is not getting a Christmas card this year," he said.

It is very hard to be fair to the entire field at a golf tournament, especially when 35-mile-an-hour winds blow over the course. There is constant pressure on the authorities to keep the show on the road.

There are demands on the green-keepers to prepare the truest, fastest putting surfaces possible. They had succeeded in doing this at Montecastillo. But the exposed greens, of which there were many, couldn't host anything spherical with a hurricane blowing. The result was a windy and unstable farce.

Delays can provide an otherwise preoccupied group with a rare opportunity to socialise. Due to sheer boredom, habitual non-conversationalists engaged in idle banter. The speculation ran riot, as it had done in the many delays this year. Will they take it to Monday? How many involved here are going to Japan for the World Cup? What about those going to the US Tour school second stage? What should the European Tour do to accommodate them?

Out on the range caddies took to hitting balls. This is normally an offence which warrants a fine, but the display relieved the boredom and made everyone realise how talented the pros really are.

The decision was taken late on Saturday to reduce the event to 54 holes with the first tee-off scheduled for 9.30 am. What the authorities hadn't built into the equation was a frost delay. We were greeted at the course early last Sunday by a crisp winter scene.

We had been reduced from 30 degrees of heat on Wednesday to about three degrees on Sunday. Nowhere is safe from the vagaries of the 21st-century climate.