Alliss Autobiography: Philip Reid finds the autobiography of the doyen of golf broadcasting as engaging as its author.

On the back cover of his new book - adequately and simply called My Life - there's a black-and-white photograph of Peter Alliss playing a recovery shot from what appears to be heather on a links course. He has just struck the shot and he is in a classic pose, club held aloft and eyes on the ball, as are those of the shirt-and-collar and cardigan-clad spectators in close proximity. In many ways, it is a snapshot of another era in golf. But it reminds us that Alliss, in his day, could play a bit.

These days, to most of us, Alliss is the doyen of golf broadcasting. It's a job he has been at for the best part of 43 years. Now 73, the BBC have extended his contract for another three years and, who knows, his voice could yet be heard in our living rooms for much longer than that, as the man himself has no intention of retiring.

Some would argue that Alliss, at times, is out of touch with reality; but that is not true. In his book, he reflects on his life - as a golfer, a broadcaster and family man (which includes its own share of sadness) - in a way that is revealing and interesting, without exactly grabbing the attentions of the tabloids. It's a story worth telling, and he has done it well if, at times, in a maudlin way. But, then, is that part of the legend?

Interestingly, the book has appeared on the bookshelves at a time when some on-air words from Alliss have subjected him to becoming a story in his own right. During last week's World Matchplay at Wentworth, he used the word "b*****ks" during a live broadcast after giving out a wrong score, although he apologised immediately to viewers.

"Pardon me, I'm sorry. We all make mistakes, it happens to the best of us," he said.

Of course, Alliss had made a bigger on-air mistake at the tail end of this year's US Masters when he believed that Phil Mickelson's putt on the 72nd green had earned him a play-off rather than actually securing him the title.

In his book, to be fair, Alliss puts his hands up and explains the error: "I don't really know how it happened. I'd watched Phil Mickelson and Ernie Els battle it out over the last nine holes in magnificent style and I knew full well that Mickelson had a putt to win on the final hole, but somehow or other my subconscious mind had geared itself into the strong possibility of a play-off. There were pictures of Ernie Els on the putting green talking to his various advisers, and there was Mickelson no more than fifteen feet away with a putt to win . . . In all truth I thought the putt had missed, but it didn't. And then I uttered the fateful words, 'It's not over yet . . .' Hands up - it happened and that was that."

Such mistakes in live broadcasts simply demonstrate Alliss's honesty and, throughout the book, without being hard-hitting in any sensational way, that is a trait that comes across. Whether he is detailing stories of his personal life - including divorce, remarriage, the death of his daughter Victoria, who was born with brain damage, at the age of 11 - or whether he is recounting his time on the course (remember, he played in eight Ryder Cups) or his time in the commentary booth, his memories are retold with honesty.

Some, admittedly, are told with a wistful fondness of times past, something which has endeared him to some viewers and alienated him from others.

"You shouldn't forget the past," he claimed. "I look at life now, and it doesn't seem as elegant or charming as it used to be. There is a lack of manners, a lack of courtesy nowadays, and you don't have to be Einstein to work out that the very fabric of society seems to be crumbling. Golf, at least, has kept the traditions going. Some of the fuddy-duddy rules and regulations perhaps have eased, and we could do with encouraging more youngsters, but we have kept the essence of the game as it always was.

"You can call a person anything now, but you still have to think twice before calling a golfer a cheat."

If you're an Alliss fan, you'll enjoy this book. If you're not, then it won't persuade you otherwise. But it is interesting to get an insight into this Bentley-loving broadcaster who drives around in a car with the registration PUT 3.

In his book, he is inclined to lean to Jack Nicklaus as the greatest golfer ever. As he writes, "many people wise in the ways of golf, whose judgment is to be respected, believe that Jack Nicklaus has been the greatest golfer in the history of the game.

"That puts him in a pot that holds young Tom Morris, Harry Vardon, Walter Hagen, Bobby Jones, Bobby Locke, Peter Thomson, Byron Nelson, Ben Hogan and, of course, potentially Tiger Woods. If we were to shake that pot, who is to say that Nicklaus would not come out on top?"

But that's just his observation, one of many that has been collected from a lifetime spent inside and outside the ropes.

My Life, by Peter Alliss, is published by Hodder & Stoughton.