One thing I was hoping for with our golf trip to Scotland was that we could play the Old Course and I could get a photo of the 4 of us on the Swilcan Bridge which is in the 18th fairway. Well, I was just going through all my digital pics and found this one.
If you click the photo, you can see the full sized image.
Today was the last day of golf and boy did we end it the right way. We got to play the Old Course at St. Andrews (the oldest course in the world). What a magnificent day. It was sunny for most of the day, but we got a taste of true Scottish golf when it rained for about 2 holes. I wish I could have played better, but I was so entraced by the place, it really didn't matter.
We each had a caddy, which was wonderful. Playing a course like the Old Course, you want to have someone there to tell you where to hit the ball, or, more importantly, where not to hit the ball.
When we first started this trip, the Old Course was #1 on our 'must play' list. To be able to play the Old Course with my dad, brother and uncle is something that words could not express adequately. I had to choke back tears as we walked up the 18th fairway, and afterwards, I pretty much lost it when I was talking to my wife about the experience.
Speaking of my wife, one thing I have not yet mentioned here, but tell everyone, is that she is a main reason for this trip. When it was first discussed about me speaking at Scotch on the Rocks, I had asked her if I could stay a few extra days to play golf. She suggested asking my father if he would like to fly over for a few days to play. The idea morphed into a week and asking my brother and uncle as well.
We played 3 Open Championship courses, 4 courses in the world's top 100 in 6 days. This was truly a trip of a lifetime and one I will cherish forever.
Tomorrow we head back home and I plan on blogging about things I discovered about the Scots purely by playing golf here. I also plan on weeding through the hundreds of pictures to post some.
Goodbye Scotland, I will truly miss thee.
I have been to paradise, and its name is Turnberry.
Today we played Turnberry, the site of next year's Open Championship and let me say, I find it difficult to believe that there is a golf course in the world with better scenery. This was by far the most beautiful course I have ever played. The view of the Irish Sea was simply stunning.
I shot a 94 today, not bad considering at one point I was playing so bad I said I was not playing tomorrow. I parred 17 & 18 3rd day in a row I finished with a par), as well as the #2 handicap hole (2nd hardest hole on the course) directly into a 30-40 miles an hour wind, uphill.
This has been an amazing experience, which will be made better by the fact that we actaully got a tee time at The Old Course tomorrow at 11:00 Am GMT. This will be the perfect ending to what has been, so far, a perfect trip.
Today we played a course named Longniddry. It is not a very well known course like some of the others, and was in good condition, but will suffer by comparision. If you plan a golf trip and a course like Longniddry is the worst course you play, it would have been a great vacation.
The rough was incredibly tough to get out of and we finally got some real Scottish weather with consistent 20-25 miles per hour with gusts of up to 35-49 miles per hour. It also semed like the wind was always in our faces. On the second day in a row I parred the last hole into a strong wind.
Next up is Turnberry, another Open Championship course (the Open will be played there in 2009). From the weather report, it looks like we will have some stereotypical weather there as well. They are calling for winds of 15 MPH and light rain. We are really looking forward to this course. We have been told by several different people that Turnberry is spectacular.
We have a few more options for playing the Old Course. We have entered the daily lottery for tomorrow and the current plan is that if we do not make the lottery, we will drive up there and try to get on by breaking up into 2 twosomes. Keep your fingers crossed, pray, meditate, or whatever it is you do that we can get on one way or another.
Today, we walked in the footsteps of legends at Carnoustie. To those who do not know, Carnoustie is one of the courses in the Open Championship (British Open) and was last contested there in 2007.
First, let me say this was the most difficult course I have ever played. The bunkers are almost impossiblt to avoid and ever harder to get out of AND advance the ball. You either had to hit the ball sideways, or as happened to me frequently, backwards.
Second, this course was awesome! Playing a course I have seen on TV during the Open Championship was incredible. Hitting some of the same shots I have seen pro golfers play was humbling. However, I did do something the Jean Van DeVelde could not do on 18 in the final round...I hit it right down the middle of the fairway.
Lastly, the weather was perfect. We were told they had a 'warm wind', which apparently means that it was blowing from inland rather than off the Firth. On 18 the wind changed and started coming of the firth and the temperature dropped about 10 degrees.
So far, this has been an amazing vacation. Next up, Longniddry. I will post pictures soon, I promise.
Today we played North Berwick. I must say, this is one of the most underrated courses I have ever played...and its rated in the top 100 courses in the world by GOLF magazine. It was easily the most scenic course I have ever played. I will post pics soon...I swear.
Tomorrow, we tee of at Carnoustie. If you want to see us embarass ourselves at one of the toughest courses in the UK, check out this link at 3:20 GMT (10:20 EDT).
Scotch on the Rocks wrapped up today and I must say Fuzzy Orange did a fantastic did a fantastic job. I highly recommend this conference next year to anyone in Europe (or even the US).
Alos, we started the golf part of our vacation. My dad, brother and uncle arrived around 1:30 PM and we headed out to St Andrews. We were not able to get on the Old Course, but we did get a tee time at the New Course. Just playing golf there was amazing...and seeing parts of the Old Course was astounding. We still have 2 more chances to get on the Old Course.
Time for dinner...pictures to come later.
As I mentoined here, when going over to Scotland for Scotch on the Rocks and then a little vacation, we where hoping to get a tee time at Turnberry. We got confirmation the other day that we did indeed secure a tee time.
This means we are playing 2 courses in the Open Championship (British Open) rotation, and according to Golf Magazine, we are playing 3 of the top 100 courses in the world. We are planning to try and get on the Old Course as well, so those numbers may change.
Also, I found out a while back that Carnoustie has a web cam on the first tee so that anyone interested can watch me emabarass myself. You can check out the web cam here. Our tee time is at 3:20 PM GMT, which makes it 10:20 AM EDT on June 8th.
T-minus 4 days and counting....
Edited to enter the date we are playing Carnoustie.
As I mentioned here, I am kind of organizing a trip to see Iron Man during CF.Objective(). I also set up a tee time at the Unniversity of Minnesota - Les Bolstad Golf Course for myself, Dan Wilson, Phill Nacelli and Scott Pinkston. We are playing at 3:00 PM on Thursday May 1st. If anyone else would like to join us on the links, just drop a comment below and call to make a tee time.
As I mentioned here, I am speaking at Scotch on the Rocks this year. After the conference, my father, brother and uncle are flying over so we can play golf for a few days. We are going to spend a few days in Edinburgh and a few days in Glasgow.
Here are the places we are playing so far,
I am looking for some suggestions for courses in or near Glasgow. If anyone knows of some quality courses in the Glasgow area, please comment below. We are already trying to get a time at Turnberry, but will not find out if our request will be fulfilled until mid-May.
Thanx in advance!
