Scotland - The Birthplace of Golf

On the Swilken Bridge in 2017

Many golfers pine of making the pilgrimage to walk the hallowed grounds of St. Andrews. Many dream of playing the Old Course, and to many, it will always be just that, a dream.  You know the kind that causes you to momentarily lose focus on the world around you and, for a brief moment, you are oblivious to your surroundings as you visualize yourself teeing off of the 18^th hole in anticipation of walking across the Swilken Bridge.  After living in Scotland for nearly a year, I knew my opportunity, as slight as it was, to actually “play” the course was slipping away.  Jodi and I had already accomplished the feat of walking the grounds, which we did last August in between our trip to Venice and Edinburgh where we experienced “The Fringe” and attended the Military Tattoo.  

While we were at St. Andrews I of course had my picture taken on the famous Swilken Bridge. So, in a sense, a golfers dream was achieved…….but deep in the recesses of my golfers fantasy, I still yearned to actually play the course.

So, June was coming up to mark our 1 year anniversary in Scotland and my end-of-assignment date was set for September – so I only had a few months left and there was a lot of activity on the radar map: First we had the holiday in May where we were to go off to Marseille France for a four day, then Mike and Heather Erhart were coming for a week, and then Jodi’s mom was coming in mid-June, then Glenda Schlahta in mid-July, followed by my two sisters Leslie and Mary, my brother in law John, and possibly Kathryn in August, and then Heather and Josh would come in from Aberdeen for a few days.  With all that, it just did not seem practical to work out a trip to St. Andrews.  

And just getting to St. Andrews was no guarantee to actually play it.  You see, with all of the pressure to get tee times by those other dreamers, they don’t give them out to “singles”.  Being a single, the only way to get a tee time is to show up in the morning for the 6:00 opening and then see if they can squeeze you in to an open slot.  Understand that this approach is chosen by many with crowds of 20-40 vying for a handful of slots.  Many of these souls show up before midnight to heighten the opportunity to actually get a tee time – and often the late comers go home without the opportunity to play.  So that was the “optimistic” picture I had facing me in May (enter pitiful sounding music in the background and a collective AWWW).

Then, Jodi tells me she was rethinking what to do when her mom came, and she was entertaining the possibility of taking her on a cruise to the Fjords of Norway.  We had discussed this possibility in the past but ruled it out for several reasons, but now, Jodi was rethinking it.  Hmmmm, the possibilities….. So, after much mulling it about, the decision was set: Jodi's mother would stay here for a week and then a 7 day cruise to Norway.  Now, just what was I to do with myself over that time?  Golf of course, but the real question was where?  

So I started day dreaming about St. Andrews and looking at hotels.  There was a special anniversary gig happening and the Old Course was booked for Saturday AND Sunday for the weekend opportunity I had (a rare event as they practice the time honored tradition of keeping the Old Course closed on Sundays to allow for the local residents to practice their battle skills in case of an invasion – now mainly used for just picnics and strolls of course 😊).  So, the hotels in the immediate area were pretty much booked, but a quaint little hotel came up with a reasonable price, and it was only a 45 minute drive to St. Andrews.  It was the Carnoustie Hotel, and all of a sudden my vision expanded!  

Now Carnoustie is another premier links golf course in Scotland that has hosted “The Open” on seven previous occasions and that is where The Open was going to be played in July of this year!  So, at this point you can either hear the gears moving (or smell the smoke), but either way I was starting to expand my fantasy dream – what IF I could stay at Carnoustie, play Carnoustie and then while I was there get a chance for a day-of tee time at the Old Course?  This was sounding plausible, because at least that way I would be guaranteed of playing an “Open” course and have two shots at St. Andrews.

So, I booked a refundable four-day stay at Carnoustie (was not going to make the 5 hour trip if the weather forecast was rotten) and started inquiring about a tee time at Carnoustie.  To my surprise, they had an opening for a single and slipped me in for a Saturday afternoon tee-time.  Things were looking up.  The next month went by and the days ahead of the trip forecasted an uncommonly good weather outlook – 20-25 Celsius with winds below 10 for all four days – not typical Scotland weather. The Golf Gods were smiling favorably on this old hacker 😊.

The 1st Tee on the left, 18th Green on the right

Friday the 22^nd finally came and Jodi and Lorraine got on the train to start their adventure in Norway and I went to work.  I took an hour off early from work and left at 3:15, stopped by the house to pick up my gear and trekked over to the Kingdom of Fife, arriving a bit after 9:00.  I had received an earlier offer to upgrade my room to a Junior Suite for an extra 15 a night and decided to take them up on it – got the Bernhard Langer Suite that had a view overlooking the #1 tee and 18^th green grand stands. From the upgraded room I was able to look down and watch players start and finish their round – cool way to pass the time.

Saturday – Carnoustie.  So my tee time was 3:20 leaving me with plenty of time to kill. Found out where the driving range was and was honestly looking forward to a real range – you know the type where you fork over a few bills, get a large bucket, hit your balls, and leave it for someone else to clean up.  Well, if you read my earlier posts on golfing you would know that is not the way they do it in the north of Scotland – go to “the” mat, hit your own balls, go retrieve your balls, and let someone else hit.  So, you can imagine I was looking forward to a little bit of normalcy.  I pulled up, saw a class going on over on the left side, and half the range open on the right.  Got out, looked around, and realized the several hackers on the right where hitting balls from their bag – not a bucket.  How does that work?  So I waited for an opportunity and then asked one of the guys practicing how this works. He gave me a look, and then said – well you hit your balls, and then you go collect them – pretty obvious don’t you think?  But, wait, there are several of you hitting – how do you know which balls are yours?  Answer: you mark them, and besides, who cares, they are practice balls. Go figure.  So, I pulled out my green ball marker and started placing pock marks all over my balls, so I could recognize them – and then did as he said, hit my balls and then fetched – probably lost one or two, but I did pick up most of my balls. On to the course.

Plenty of wispy grass waiting to catch your ball!

Carnoustie, or affectionately called Car-nasty, was a challenge.  The group I played with had two caddies for a Father/Son combo and then myself and Johan (from Spain) were on our own.  I eves dropped on the advice but refrained from asking the caddies for advice – whilst Johan felt free to ask questions – the caddies were not cooperative with their advice.  Example: should I hit a driver here?  Well, if you think so.  Subtle way of letting Johan know they were not there to help him out, but the funny part was that it was too subtle – he kept asking.  I chatted with the caddies as we walked and at the turn I bought their lunch and suddenly had all the advice and guidance I could want 😊.  Tipped them both at the end and got even more guidance on where to go eat for the evening.  Anyhow, the round was fun, and the course was tough.  Lots of ball on the edges which got into the high grass – could easily find the ball but hitting it cleanly was always a challenge.  The long grass (18” high) was wispy but thick enough to guarantee that your downswing 


was going to be challenged by the wheat strands stripping control and power.  So, most shots were good just to get back to the fairway – several were not as they found the burns (creeks).  Also, as the course was being groomed for “The Open” they had small mats (8” X 12” plastic mats) for you to hit your ball off of so that you did not leave a scar in the ground for the cameras to see during “The Open”. So, I was either in the rough or hitting off a light weight plastic mat which of course messed with my feeble mind.  All in all, it was still a blast and would recommend playing the course – would gladly do so again.  So, now what to do for the remaining three days?  I still had to figure out a way to get on St. Andrews.

Check out the blue skies and wide beaches!

Sunday morning I got up and drove the 45 minutes to St. Andrews and found the “New Course”.  The “Old Course” is not open on Sundays except for special events, which in this case one was happening, but getting on was not an option.  I was able to jump in as a single in between two groups and had a thoroughly enjoyable round on old Tom Morris’s course – kept out of the Gorse (an evil spiny bush that eats balls and anything else foolish enough to enter) but still struggled with the wispy rough strands and a few of the pot bunkers – but no burns.  So, by now, I had achieved more than anticipated when I left and was hoping to strike the trifecta by coming out on Monday morning.  I talked with the starter at the New Course and he advised me to be at the Pavilion by 4:00 to stand a chance to get one of the few openings that may be present when the Pavilion opened at 6:00.  Leaving Carnoustie at 3:15 just did not seem palatable, but if I wanted the Old Course…..

Monday morning, I left Carnoustie at 4:15 (3:15 just was not in the cards) arrived at 5 and became #19 of what turned out to be 22 of us waiting at the door when they opened at 6:00.  #1 and #2 had arrived at 1130 the previous evening and stayed there all night to get their chance – reminded me of those fools who camp out at Best Buy for Black Friday to get their chance at the discounted X-box.  Anyhow, as we were chatting I was told that the “on-line” tee time sheet only had 8 single openings for that day so my hopes of making it as #19 was seeming a bit dashed – those fools who came at 11:30 started looking pretty smart 😊.  

Hanging out with 21 of my closest friends hoping for a Tee Time!

So 6:00 came, they opened the doors, and in we went as I watched the early folk get their times, but then they kept bringing people up and I watched them leave with a smile on their face – my hopes were being buoyed. Then there was a group that I think were 14-17 that wanted a foursome time but had to get it early to be off the course by 2:00.  There was a foursome opening from a group that had cancelled at 3:20 so they could either take that or just hang out and hope for a late minute cancellation – they chose the hang out and hope approach, allowing #18-21 to take that 3:20 tee time – I was in!  

So back to Carnoustie for a day at the spa – Suana, Hot Tub, Massage – nice lunch – living the high life waiting for the clock to tick closer.  Left at 1:00 to St. Andrews, hit some practice balls at a real range where I DID NOT have to go fetch, and then hung around at the starters box.  Somewhere around 30 minutes to my tee time I decided to ask if there was a Caddie available, which I was told probably not but they would call.  As it turned out, there was one just finishing and agreed to come caddie for me – a great gent by the name of Collin – so glad I did, just for the experience of see how a player with game actually thinks and plays the course, and of course for the priceless advice I had throughout the round.  It was a fun course and I made it more challenging than it should have been – the holes were not overly long, but as with the other courses, accuracy was required and being in the wispy grass came at a price – and so did one of the pit bunkers – three shots to get out. All in all, I hit the trifecta as far as I was concerned and went back to Carnoustie for a good night’s rest in preparation for the 5 hour drive home. 

My Caddie Collin and I on #1 Tee - Old Course

You know how you can get when things are going your way, and you start getting a little greedy?  Well, on the way home is another premier course a little over an hour from home called Royal Dornoch.  Royal Dornoch’s history goes back to 1616 and has been modified over the years.  The current course credits Donald Ross as the architect who was also involved with the design of over 400 courses including Pinehurst #2. Donald Ross learned from Old Tom Morris the business of club-making and green keeping. So, back to feeling greedy….. I went on line and sure enough, there was an opening at 12:40 – plenty of time for me to eat breakfast, check out, and head home.  Arrived with 30 minutes to spare.  

Royal Dornoch lined with Gorse waiting to eat your wayward shots

Another great course – actually birdied 2 of the holes on the front nine!  The back nine had its way with me and I was relegated to another 91, but what a beautiful course.  Sir Robert described the course in 1628 as the fairest and largest links or green fields of any part of Scotland, fit for archery, golfing, riding and all other exercises, they do surpass the fields of Montrose or St. Andrews.  I would have to agree.  While I thoroughly loved playing both the St. Andrews courses, I would place Carnoustie and Royal Dornoch as the better two of the group.

Course Books

So, after starting out with low expectations, in the span of four days, I played four premier links style golf courses that many can only dream of playing.  Jodi and I have been blessed in so many ways with this opportunity to work and live in Scotland, and this four-day golf vacation was a wonderful cherry on top of a bountiful cake.  

My only regret is that I was not able to experience this with any of my friends – but I think that is a problem with a viable solution in the next couple of years 😊.

On the Swilken Bridge - playing the course this time!