Day 5 (St. Andrews Castle Course)

This morning, we finished our time on the West Coast of Scotland and traveled to St. Andrews. The weather just ate us up and gave us a true test of what Scotland golf is really like. We were hoping for better from the East Coast of Scotland but didn’t have our hopes up. Driving into St. Andrews is a dream for most golfers. Dave had braved the roads of Scotland and was becoming pretty adept and negotiating the roundabouts, the on-coming passing vehicles, and the backseat driving from the fellas, which came mostly from yours truly. You could feel the energy as you drove down through town and into the St. Andrews golf courses. We jumped out of the car and immediately started snapping pictures. We had reached our destination.

Our hotel, the Old Course Hotel, is spectacular. Upon arrival, we immediately upgraded one of our rooms to the rain man suite that overlooks the 17th tee box of the Old Course. From our balcony, we would watch the golfers hit their drives on the famous Road Hole over our room, which would land either back on the course or on the roof of the hotel. Actually, we would stand there and wonder just how much of a chance we had of getting hit by a shank. As one bystander on the course told us, "I just heard one of them say the he was going to take it up over those assholes on the balcony with a draw." It was the best place we could have stayed in.

The first course that we played on the East Coast was the St. Andrews Castle Course. It’s a pretty amazing course that runs along the North Sea with some of the most spectacular and picturesque views of any course we played. This course was tough. The rough wasn’t as bad as at the courses on the West Coast but the greens were incredibly difficult. The undulation was severe, which rewarded good shot placement. Dave hit one of the best shots of the trip – a chip shot that landed just over the rough in the first cut of rough at the top of a hill and trickled directly sideways down a 15 foot high hill to the hole for a gimme. It was a shot you see on Sportscenter. The course reminded me of Snoqualmie Ridge a bit but with more severe greens.

This day ended with us having dinner back in town at a Thai restaurant and discussing the finer point of why I went completely off the grid for about 15 holes of the morning round. So glad to be on this trip with some amazing guys who get me. The higher level exchange of ideas is always the best part of a trip like this for me. I love the analysis that each of the guys provides and the perspective that I can take away to learn from. Great trip so far.

rtn