The ninth hole at the Grove in Hertfordshire can best be described as a monster. Uphill, getting on for 570 yards, it is also a reminder of how good Tigers Woods used to be, given that he eagled it three times out of four to win the World Golf Championship in 2006. A different plaque now marks the spot where on each occasion his drive landed on the fairway. Together, they measure 1,762 yards, or just over a mile.
England's footballers are based in the adjoining hotel before international games and when they took on this course before flying out to Euro 2012 the players held their own mini-contest to see who could get the closest to Woods. The winner was the youngest member of the squad, aged 18 at the time but built with uncommon power and the shoulders of an Olympian weightlifter. Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain's nickname, The Ox, is certainly an apt one. Later that evening he got to the 19th hole and proclaimed with a broad smile that the course had been well and truly "Oxed".
He turned 19 last month, growing up quickly yet still disarmingly young, as demonstrated during his first appearance at an England press conference.
Until now, Arsenal have not been keen on him being put in front of the cameras on international duty. As it turned out, they had nothing to worry about. Oxlade-Chamberlain spoke with an eloquence and self-assurance that made it difficult at times to forget this was not a seasoned professional but someone with a mere seven Premier League starts. But there were a few reminders. Oxlade-Chamberlain talked boyishly of the initiation process at Arsenal when players join the first-team squad and have to sing a song in front of all the other players. His own choice? Will Smith's Fresh Prince of Bel Air.
His first World Cup memories were of Japan and South Korea in 2002 and there was a revealing moment when he was asked whether he had suffered any nerves on this upward trajectory that had led to him being fast-tracked into the England team. The teenager thought about it for a few seconds, then replied that, no, it was nothing compared with one particular day at Glenhurst school in Havant.
"The only thing I've ever been nervous about was a speech I had to give in front of assembly," he reflected. "But once I got going I was all right."
Oxlade-Chamberlain certainly did not give the impression he would be fazed by the possibility that Roy Hodgson will turn to him in the absence of Ashley Young for the World Cup qualifiers against Moldova and Ukraine. Looking back, he described his involvement in Euro 2012 as a "massive surprise", and used the same phrase again when reflecting on the fact he started the first game against France.
"I hadn't been picked before. It was all new to me. The England guys were all superstars to me. I don't see myself as a superstar at all. I just thought I would be going there to gain some experience and learn from the likes of Steven Gerrard and the more experienced players."
Yet that does not mean he has ever felt cowed. Wayne Rooney marked one of his first training sessions with the England squad by barging a couple of defenders out of the way and chipping the goalkeeper, David James. Oxlade-Chamberlain, smiling, recounted a less auspicious start to one of his, namely Hodgson stopping play to berate him for showboating.
"I took on one player too many and, quite rightly, he told me. I just have to make sure I listen to it, learn from it, and don't make the same mistake again."
His raw ability and desire to learn and work hard has led Arsenal to instigate talks over a new contract, even though his present deal has four years to run. Looking ahead, the club want something in place to prevent their best young asset joining the list of players who feel they have to leave the Emirates, and they should be encouraged by his view on what is still possible for Arsène Wenger's team.
Arsenal have not conceded a goal in their opening three fixtures, something Oxlade-Chamberlain links with Steve Bould's appointment as assistant manager. "Pat Rice was a massive character but Steve's filled the spot really well. At Arsenal we have a lot of the ball and sometimes we are easily countered, but we've nailed that down this season. The flair is in our DNA but Steve has come in and everybody's bought into it [defensive work]."
The next two England games, starting in Chisinau on Friday, begin the journey to the 2014 World Cup in Brazil and, for Oxlade-Chamberlain, that is the great ambition. His father, Mark, was in the England side that won in the Maracanã in 1984, in the game made famous by John Barnes's slalom through the entire Brazil defence. "The only thing I've seen from that game was the John Barnes goal and my dad celebrating with him. I never actually saw my dad touch the ball."
It is said with a smile, but there is a serious side to Oxlade-Chamberlain, too. "I've always wanted this," he says. "When I said I wanted to be a footballer, my teachers would tell me: 'You've got no chance, make sure you do your homework.' But at the same time, I always knew."
