The most important, though so far largely overlooked, consequence of Fidel Castro's long-awaited retirement is its significance for golf. Cuba is one of the world's great unexploited golf opportunities. I once had dinner with the charismatic Cuban leader after playing the island's only course at Varadero. But he showed little interest in golf even when I mentioned his match against Che Guevara, a photo of which hangs in my study in London. Cuba, with its agreeable climate and a convenient geographical position, is ripe to be turned into a land of milk and honey - in golfing terms at least.

However, the last thing Cuba needs is a proliferation of dull developer-driven resort courses surrounded by low-end holiday homes. To prevent this fate befalling a country whose economy has been held back for decades by Castro's misguided policies, a golf dictator should be appointed with a brief to make the island into the world's premier 21st-century golf destination.