It has long been known that the desire to play on different courses is an inherent feature of the golfer's psyche. Why should golfers have to find the same bunker in their local club every week when there are so many bunkers scattered around the globe? The golfer's need to seek bunkers new explains why golf is the biggest sport-related travel industry in the world, with current figures describing a $12 billion sector that's growing at 12-15 per cent per annum. It has also long been known (this time in cyberspace), that golfers form one of the largest and most established "Internet-savvy" groups. Almost every conceivable aspect of the game, from every perspective, can be found online. No other sport has had so much web space devoted to it for so long.

Naturally, large numbers of golfers use the Internet to research and purchase golfing holidays. Irish golfers can purchase foreign golfing holidays online via a number of Irish and foreign sites, while sites like www.golfireland.com and www.irishgolf.com are a few among many Irish sites carrying information aimed at international (mostly American) golfers looking for Irish golfing holidays.

Now golfers' travel needs and Internet know-how have been brought together in a special way and an Irish dot com is behind it.

The TIGERegister site (www.tigeregister.com) is the brainchild of Irish engineer and golfer, Kevin McGrath.

One summer some years ago, McGrath and an American friend of his agreed to exchange homes for a couple of weeks' holidays. McGrath has a second home in Liscannor near to Lahinch, where he is a member of the local club. His friend owns a second home in Jupiter, Florida: near the Loxahatchee Club, just north of Palm Beach.

McGrath explains: "Having played a Jack Nicklaus designed course in the morning of my first day there, I was sitting at the private pool of my friend's home when the idea came to me that thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, of golfers would love the opportunity to exchange their homes if it was properly controlled and monitored. I bounced the idea off a lot of my US golfing friends, especially those with second homes, and received very positive feedback.'

McGrath gathered a team with the idea of developing an internet-based home exchange service that would give golfers the opportunity to travel in pursuit of their sport in a cost-effective way and would open up access to courses that might otherwise be inaccessible to them. The end product of that team's work is the TIGERegister: an online database of golfers willing to exchange their homes with other golfers, secure in the knowledge that the facilities they will find at the other end will be of a certain standard.

This is how it works:

New members of the programme begin by submitting their home to the register. (If you're thinking of doing this, be sure to get out the vacuum cleaner first: every home that is submitted is inspected by a local representative and given a rating from Par to Albatross, based on the house's facilities, ambience and environs.)

TIGERegister is based on timesharing principles - you "deposit" weeks (make your own home available to others) and "withdraw" weeks (take a week at another home on the register. Once their home has been accepted, members can enjoy a week in the house of their choice for every week they make their own home available. Since members don't have to withdraw the same weeks they have deposited, the set-up is perfect for those with second homes.

Members cannot exchange for homes that have a higher rating than their own. McGrath says: "TIGERegister's concept is unique in that it is exclusively for golfers who are members of private and semi-private golf clubs throughout the world and who abide by the traditions of this great game."

Despite showing some initial hesitancy in the face of a new idea, clubs are now signing up to McGrath's programme in significant numbers. No wonder clubs are warming to the idea: it means no extra play on golf courses because it is based on exchange principles. This means that clubs can earn additional green fee revenue with no additional play, which benefits both the club and (one hopes) their members.

Approximately 75 clubs around the world have confirmed their affiliation and that figure is expected to reach the 100-mark by the end of this year.

One of the most important features of the Internet is that it allows people to communicate quickly and easily across international boundaries. Every so often an idea comes along that uses this flexibility in a unique way. TIGERegister does it for golfers - offering the opportunity to find bunkers all over the world.

The K Club (left) and Harbour Town in Hilton Head, South Carolina are two of the courses signed up to the TIGERegister.