Click on any scorecard to enlarge.
Turnberry
 |
Western Gailes |
Prestwick
Royal Troon-Old Course
Royal Troon-Portland Course
St. Andrews-Castle Course
Kingsbarns
Carnoustie
St. Andrews-Old Course
Wednesday, July 11, 2012
Wednesday, September 7, 2011
Videos
Check out these videos to see some of the sweet shots that were hit during the trip.
Neal hit a perfect tee ball at Turnberry with the famous lighthouse in the background after consulting with his caddie Tommy "Leadbetter."
Jeff at Turnberry
DP at the signature 15th hole at Kingsbarns. He hit a great shot and stuffed it in to a difficult pin position.
Harrington at the signature 15th hole at Kingsbarns.
Harrington in the greenside bunker at the par 3 13th at Carnoustie.
Mowing the green at 18 on the Old Course at St. Andrews as the sun starts to come up.
Cutting the cup at 18 on The Old Course at St. Andrews.
Neal hit a perfect tee ball at Turnberry with the famous lighthouse in the background after consulting with his caddie Tommy "Leadbetter."
Jeff at Turnberry
DP at the signature 15th hole at Kingsbarns. He hit a great shot and stuffed it in to a difficult pin position.
Harrington at the signature 15th hole at Kingsbarns.
Harrington in the greenside bunker at the par 3 13th at Carnoustie.
Mowing the green at 18 on the Old Course at St. Andrews as the sun starts to come up.
Cutting the cup at 18 on The Old Course at St. Andrews.
Tuesday, September 6, 2011
The Final Round
We had perfect playing conditions for our last round of the trip and Neal and DP took full advantage as we played the Old Course for a second time in two days. Neal was steady as can be off the tee and with his irons. He screwed up the par 3 11th the day prior and made amends his second time around by stuffing his tee ball to four feet before burying the putt for a birdie 2. Knowing he was going to break 80 after a solid par at The Road Hole 17th, he needed to simply avoid barfing all over himself and he'd have a round that he would consider the best round of his life. He understood the pressure that tour players feel as they are trying to close out a major when he stepped up to his ball in the middle of the fairway on 18. A short iron and two putts was all he needed to do, but now the blood was rushing through his veins a little quicker, the hands gripped the club a little tighter and the beads of sweat on his brow were now a little larger. He addressed the ball and proceeded to lay the sod over it. He chunked it 50 yards up the fairway. Now it was up to his faithful caddie, who he had requested after a great partnership developed the day before, to calm him down and talk him through the simple half wedge shot that was needed to give him a chance to save par or worst case a bogey. Neal executed the shot, missed the par putt and tapped in for bogey to cap off a round of 77. It was a hell of a round that just nipped DP by a stroke for low round of the day and low round of the trip. Dave was solid all day long and you won't hear him complaining about that 78 any time soon. Harrington was slightly off from the day before and we all blame his caddie whose second hand smoke caused Ryan to smoke a pack and a half. I shot 84 with the crazy hole being #6. It's a short par 4 and I hit a tee shot right down the middle leaving me 70 yard to the pin. We walk up to my ball and my caddie pulls out the putter. He said he saw Jack Nicklaus putt from 120 yards out in the British Open ten years ago and he made par. I reminded my caddie that I'm no Jack Nicklaus and told him that he should be well aware of that by now since he's been carrying my bag for 5 holes. I told him it would make for a great story regardless of what I scored so I grabbed the putter, stared down the line I was given and hammered a putt like never before. It snaked up, over and around mounds of grass and fescue before eventually making its way onto the front of the green. I was able to two putt from there and for a moment in time play golf like Jack Nicklaus.
Sunday, September 4, 2011
Day 8 (Old Course)
Mmmmmmmm, sleep. It’s a beautiful
thing. You don’t realize how important it is to get a good night of sleep until you spend an evening trying to get some shut eye on concrete. We got about 7 cherished hours of sleep and woke up to our customary complimentary breakfast – Dave, Ryan, and I got a toned down version while Juvy still went for the full boat tasting order. Refreshed and rejuvenated, we made our way down to the shuttle for our ride to the course.We rolled in like we were on the Tour. Our personal driver drops us off right at the tee box, we stroll right past the people in line to the front, and we set our bags next to the first tee box like we own the place.
We’d paid our dues the night before and had made the ballot. There’s a certain level of respect and sympathy for the current group of people in the line who are desperate for a tee time and worried with fatigue and anticipation of the day’s round. We know the feeling. But having your own tee time that you worked so hard to get makes it better. It’s a cool feeling when the starter of the Old Course says “Welcome back gentlemen” and the caddies come over and say hi before heading to get their daily assignments. You feel part of the whole experience on the most famous golf course in the world. Nothing matches this in golf.
The round was great. First of all, it was great to get back on that course with everyone in the same tee time. We
had a great time the day before but comparing notes after the fact with the foursome isn’t the same as talking about shots that you saw a guy hit. Second, playing the course a second time was so much better than the first time. We had a much better idea of the trouble on the course and had much better goals set for ourselves. Dave and I had personal goals of redemption at the 11th hole, which we had both doubled the day before. Third, our caddies were awesome. Dave and I had the same guys from yesterday (they requested to get us again) and both were the best caddies we had the entire trip. Great guys with funny personalities and a level of golf intelligence that was top notch. Everything was set up for a great round, we could only get in the way of ourselves.I’ll let the fellas go
into the details about their rounds and add the color commentary since there was a lot of it. We had some great shots and some amazing plays early. Jeff and I birdied the 7th hole and Dave barely missed his birdie putt. I finished the front nine even with a birdie, a bogey, and seven pars. Time to get some course management on the back nine. It was a constant battle with my caddies to keep the driver out of my hands. I didn’t need it most of the time and was having a tough time hitting it straight. I scored a birdie on 11 and Dave made a ridiculous two putt for par from like 100 feet that almost went in – redemption accomplished – to go one under. I had two bad shots – both shots were missed drivers off the tee – and putted really well for the first time on the trip. I took a double and a triple on the two holes. I grinded out a 77 (two birdies, twelve pars, two bogeys, a double bogey, and a triple bogey) on the most
famous course in the world and felt ecstatic. My nerves were so raw by the end I had a slight headache and my hands were shaking. Nothing a celebratory whisky wouldn’t cure however.After taking pictures and exchanging contact information with our caddies, we headed back to the hotel in the shuttle to watch the Walker Cup players play #2 and #3 from our balcony. Sightseeing, shopping, spa, dinner and a little crib to end the night. Trip of a lifetime.
Friday, September 2, 2011
We Won the Ballot!!!
We get to play The Old Course again tomorrow before we fly home Sunday! What a great way to end an unbelievable trip.
We Can Die in Peace
DP got to hit the first shot of the day at The Old Course. Dave and Neal got paired up with a twosome that had the first tee time of the day. Dave said, "let me show you boys how to do it" and bombed a drive down #1 fairway. Much more to come, but here are the scores...DP 84, RTN 87, RH 85, JVJ 93.
Day 7 (Old Course, Carnoustie)
- 2:30am: arrival at the Old Course starter shack… first in line… no one else in sight… huge. 
- 2:35am: we await anxiously for the flood of people we expect to show up, be jealous at our amazing spots in line, and kick themselves for not getting up 15 minutes earlier to beat us to the course.
- 3:00am: single Canadian guy arrives. Procedes to tell slightly uncomfortable stories about Niagara Falls strippers and steals coffee and pastries from a local hotel (I only stole coffee, he was over the line).
- 4:00am: the concrete around the starters shack starts to feel comfortable. Or I’ve officially lost all feeling in my legs and ass.
- 4:30am: single Finnish guy arrives. Can’t understand that we showed up at 2:30am. Not sure if it was the language barrier or the fact that it was incomprehensible that someone would show up that early for golf.
- 4:45am: Canadian guy starts to bug me so I batten down the hatches and try to catch some z’s by sitting on my golf towel on the concrete and leaning against the concrete starters shack. Bad idea in retrospect. Got a couple “You’re a dumbshit” calls from my caddy early in the round as I couldn’t finish my swing without my back seizing.
- 5:15am: cool Midwest couple show up. Harrington gets adopted by the rich couple. He’s now in their will.
- 5:45am: weird Asian dude shows up in matching top and bottom track suit rain gear. No engrish. Tries to cut in line. Dave tackles him.
- 6:15am: First actual tee time shows up. Everyone in line is burning with jealousy but doesn’t want to show it in the hopes they won’t deny us joining their groups. Cash bribes are discussed and we pool our quids.
- 6:30am: Starter shows up and Dave and I are in the first group with a twosome from Nigeria. We hug and weep. People uncomfortably avert their eyes.
- 6:45am: I realize that sitting on concrete for 4 hours isn’t good for your swing. All of the sudden, the road left of the 18 fairway comes into play…
- 7:00am: Our tee time is called from the R&A and we both pipe our drives down the middle. Not so much for our playing partners who just picked up the game 5 years ago.
- The Round: Being the first guys out of the gate, we ended up finishing in 3:30. Average rounds from both me and Dave and a need for some serious redemption on many of the holes. I was a circus and my caddy loved pointing it out. Dave and I had great caddies, both great guys. My guy was actually pretty professional until I told him that I heard the St. Andrews Club members were a bunch of assholes, of which he’s a member. After that, I got the “Great shot for a little shit” or “If you Americans knew how to play real golf, you might actually score well on this
course.” The worst came when, after going into my seventh pot bunker of the day on the 16 green (getting out in one shot on all but one) I felt bad for my chain-smoking caddy and decided to rake it for him. He
tried to stop me but I insisted. As I was getting out, I leaned on the rake to help climb out and the damn thing snapped at the head. I’ve never seen a big man laugh that hard. I took a picture of him and told him I wanted to show everyone I had Shrek caddy for me today. I asked him if he played Rugby in high school and he said, "no, street fighting." I believe him. Dave and I ended up finishing the round well, both scoring pars on the final hole to shoot in the 80's. Not bad for never playing the course and preparing for the round like a homeless person.
- 10:30am: Our caddies tell us they’d try to get us on tomorrow and would caddy for us again. Bryan, my caddy, tells me to take some of the shit out of my heavy bag tomorrow if I could. I open my bag and pull out the four small bottles of whisky, a cribbage board, four cigars, and the two sets of rain gear I was packing. He didn’t think it was as funny as I did.
- 10:35am: Chatted with our playing partners, real estate developers in Nigeria and abroad. Exchanged email addresses and listened to the pros and cons of having two wives.
- 11:00am: Hustled back to the hotel and went to the suite to watch Juvy and Harrington come up 16 and tee of
f on 17. Decaf coffee and beer are poured.
- 11:30am: Still no sign of the guys. The other half of the Nigerian contingency was playing so slow, their caddies were openly talking about it. Walking past us, I overheard a caddy tell a lady that he couldn’t stop and take her picture because he was on “Caddy overtime”.
- 12:00pm: The fellas appear. Juvy shanks his approach OB on 16 and proceeds to try to give us sign language to tell us where his ball went… We saw dude.
- 12:10pm: Harrington bombs his drive over the “O” in Course. Juvy takes it over the logo. Both great drives on the Road Hole.
- 12:15pm: Clothes change. Race off to see the fellas finish.
- 12:45pm: Juvy gets a filthy up and down for par out of the deep rough on 18. The crowd literally went wild. Biggest roar of applause we’d heard the entire trip on that hole when he drained that putt.
Off to Carnoustie for the afternoon round.
2:30pm: Arrive at Carnoustie. No one is looking forward to the beating we’re likely going to take on this course. The smell of fear permeates the car.
2:45pm: Old guy from the hotel blows me off completely in the Carnoustie pro shop after I say something about his hat. Some people just can’t take a joke.
2:46pm: Juvy disappears for his 3rd deuce of the day. This guy destroyed more bathrooms in the UK than the Germans.
3:10pm: We get our caddies. I ask who wants the heavy bag without realizing the only caddy without a bag was the oldest guy of the bunch. He realized he was in for a long day.
3:20pm: Tee balls fly on one of the most spectacular courses in the world.
4:00pm: Old Course ballot results are posted for Saturday… 7:10am: D Parrish, R Neal, J Jiovanazzo, R Harrington – West Seattle Golf Club. And there was much rejoicing.
The Round: Carnoustie turned out to be one of all of our favorite courses of the trip. It had so much character, so much history, and wasn’t as unfair and difficult as everyone had said. There’s a great potential to score and the course was in such great shape. My caddy was in my head. He was not that great of a c
addy when it came to reading putts and shot selection, but he was dead on accurate with distance and was an amazing guy from a personality standpoint. We talked about everything Scottish from his family Burn’s Night traditions to his 
daughter’s Scottish cooking on Hogmanay. Great time and great scores. The tradition out at Carnoustie just blows you away. Despite the fact that Dave and I both yanked our drives OB left on Hogan’s Alley, it was pretty cool to get a picture of the commemorative stone (even though I had to send my old caddy running back there to get the shot since I forgot the first time – he earned a little extra for the 
effort) and very cool to walk by Nicklaus’s bunker. The layout was superb and the greens were fair. All the makings of a great golf course.
6:35pm: We ask the caddies to take our picture. Billy, Jeff's caddy asks if we want clubs. Dave says no clubs. Billy says, "Well I just didn't want you to look like four gay boys on holiday." We took the clubs.
7:30pm: Tee off on 18 at dusk with Doc Brown’s clock tower in the distance.
7:40pm: Juvy gets a neck cramp from sleeping like Vivi in a car seat with his head lolled to the side.
8:59pm: Juvy gets second neck cramp from passing out on the arm of the couch. Forgot to write that Juvy and I lightened my bag by drinking the scotch and smoking a cigar on Carnoustie.
After finishing the most exhausting day of golf we’ve ever played, we hit the sack early with Road Hole wishes and Hell Bunker dreams.
- 2:35am: we await anxiously for the flood of people we expect to show up, be jealous at our amazing spots in line, and kick themselves for not getting up 15 minutes earlier to beat us to the course.
- 3:00am: single Canadian guy arrives. Procedes to tell slightly uncomfortable stories about Niagara Falls strippers and steals coffee and pastries from a local hotel (I only stole coffee, he was over the line).
- 4:00am: the concrete around the starters shack starts to feel comfortable. Or I’ve officially lost all feeling in my legs and ass.
- 4:30am: single Finnish guy arrives. Can’t understand that we showed up at 2:30am. Not sure if it was the language barrier or the fact that it was incomprehensible that someone would show up that early for golf.
- 4:45am: Canadian guy starts to bug me so I batten down the hatches and try to catch some z’s by sitting on my golf towel on the concrete and leaning against the concrete starters shack. Bad idea in retrospect. Got a couple “You’re a dumbshit” calls from my caddy early in the round as I couldn’t finish my swing without my back seizing.
- 5:15am: cool Midwest couple show up. Harrington gets adopted by the rich couple. He’s now in their will.
- 5:45am: weird Asian dude shows up in matching top and bottom track suit rain gear. No engrish. Tries to cut in line. Dave tackles him.
- 6:15am: First actual tee time shows up. Everyone in line is burning with jealousy but doesn’t want to show it in the hopes they won’t deny us joining their groups. Cash bribes are discussed and we pool our quids.
- 6:30am: Starter shows up and Dave and I are in the first group with a twosome from Nigeria. We hug and weep. People uncomfortably avert their eyes.
- 6:45am: I realize that sitting on concrete for 4 hours isn’t good for your swing. All of the sudden, the road left of the 18 fairway comes into play…
- 7:00am: Our tee time is called from the R&A and we both pipe our drives down the middle. Not so much for our playing partners who just picked up the game 5 years ago.
- The Round: Being the first guys out of the gate, we ended up finishing in 3:30. Average rounds from both me and Dave and a need for some serious redemption on many of the holes. I was a circus and my caddy loved pointing it out. Dave and I had great caddies, both great guys. My guy was actually pretty professional until I told him that I heard the St. Andrews Club members were a bunch of assholes, of which he’s a member. After that, I got the “Great shot for a little shit” or “If you Americans knew how to play real golf, you might actually score well on this
course.” The worst came when, after going into my seventh pot bunker of the day on the 16 green (getting out in one shot on all but one) I felt bad for my chain-smoking caddy and decided to rake it for him. He
tried to stop me but I insisted. As I was getting out, I leaned on the rake to help climb out and the damn thing snapped at the head. I’ve never seen a big man laugh that hard. I took a picture of him and told him I wanted to show everyone I had Shrek caddy for me today. I asked him if he played Rugby in high school and he said, "no, street fighting." I believe him. Dave and I ended up finishing the round well, both scoring pars on the final hole to shoot in the 80's. Not bad for never playing the course and preparing for the round like a homeless person.
- 10:30am: Our caddies tell us they’d try to get us on tomorrow and would caddy for us again. Bryan, my caddy, tells me to take some of the shit out of my heavy bag tomorrow if I could. I open my bag and pull out the four small bottles of whisky, a cribbage board, four cigars, and the two sets of rain gear I was packing. He didn’t think it was as funny as I did.
- 10:35am: Chatted with our playing partners, real estate developers in Nigeria and abroad. Exchanged email addresses and listened to the pros and cons of having two wives.
- 11:00am: Hustled back to the hotel and went to the suite to watch Juvy and Harrington come up 16 and tee of
f on 17. Decaf coffee and beer are poured.
- 11:30am: Still no sign of the guys. The other half of the Nigerian contingency was playing so slow, their caddies were openly talking about it. Walking past us, I overheard a caddy tell a lady that he couldn’t stop and take her picture because he was on “Caddy overtime”.
- 12:00pm: The fellas appear. Juvy shanks his approach OB on 16 and proceeds to try to give us sign language to tell us where his ball went… We saw dude.
- 12:10pm: Harrington bombs his drive over the “O” in Course. Juvy takes it over the logo. Both great drives on the Road Hole.
- 12:15pm: Clothes change. Race off to see the fellas finish.
- 12:45pm: Juvy gets a filthy up and down for par out of the deep rough on 18. The crowd literally went wild. Biggest roar of applause we’d heard the entire trip on that hole when he drained that putt.
Off to Carnoustie for the afternoon round.
2:30pm: Arrive at Carnoustie. No one is looking forward to the beating we’re likely going to take on this course. The smell of fear permeates the car.
2:45pm: Old guy from the hotel blows me off completely in the Carnoustie pro shop after I say something about his hat. Some people just can’t take a joke.
2:46pm: Juvy disappears for his 3rd deuce of the day. This guy destroyed more bathrooms in the UK than the Germans.
3:10pm: We get our caddies. I ask who wants the heavy bag without realizing the only caddy without a bag was the oldest guy of the bunch. He realized he was in for a long day.
3:20pm: Tee balls fly on one of the most spectacular courses in the world.
4:00pm: Old Course ballot results are posted for Saturday… 7:10am: D Parrish, R Neal, J Jiovanazzo, R Harrington – West Seattle Golf Club. And there was much rejoicing.
The Round: Carnoustie turned out to be one of all of our favorite courses of the trip. It had so much character, so much history, and wasn’t as unfair and difficult as everyone had said. There’s a great potential to score and the course was in such great shape. My caddy was in my head. He was not that great of a c
addy when it came to reading putts and shot selection, but he was dead on accurate with distance and was an amazing guy from a personality standpoint. We talked about everything Scottish from his family Burn’s Night traditions to his 
daughter’s Scottish cooking on Hogmanay. Great time and great scores. The tradition out at Carnoustie just blows you away. Despite the fact that Dave and I both yanked our drives OB left on Hogan’s Alley, it was pretty cool to get a picture of the commemorative stone (even though I had to send my old caddy running back there to get the shot since I forgot the first time – he earned a little extra for the 
effort) and very cool to walk by Nicklaus’s bunker. The layout was superb and the greens were fair. All the makings of a great golf course.
6:35pm: We ask the caddies to take our picture. Billy, Jeff's caddy asks if we want clubs. Dave says no clubs. Billy says, "Well I just didn't want you to look like four gay boys on holiday." We took the clubs.
7:30pm: Tee off on 18 at dusk with Doc Brown’s clock tower in the distance.
7:40pm: Juvy gets a neck cramp from sleeping like Vivi in a car seat with his head lolled to the side.
8:59pm: Juvy gets second neck cramp from passing out on the arm of the couch. Forgot to write that Juvy and I lightened my bag by drinking the scotch and smoking a cigar on Carnoustie.
After finishing the most exhausting day of golf we’ve ever played, we hit the sack early with Road Hole wishes and Hell Bunker dreams.
We're on!
Momentarily we will be on The Old Course. We've been in line since 2:30 am to fill in twosomes and threesomes. We were the first ones in line. Can't wait!
One for the fellas...
Ahhhhhhh yeah!
Can you tell who was running the TV jukebox over there? I'm ashamed and need Photoshop.
Can you tell who was running the TV jukebox over there? I'm ashamed and need Photoshop.
Day 6 (Kingsbarns)
Today we played Kingsbarns which is one of the best courses
we’ve played so far. It was almost as picturesque as the Castle Course (it’s just five minutes south on the same coast) but was a much more fair course. The greens were some of the best that we’d played on so far – they rolled well, had subtle but true breaks, and held reasonably well. The signature hole is the par 3 is all carry over the water with a bail out area on the left. Of course I hit it fat and went into the seaweed at low tide… We've had great weather on this coast - mid to high 50's with low wind and no rain. These conditions are exponentially easier to play golf in, not only physically but mentally and emotionally. I cried a few times during the 45 mph winds at Western Gailes and was very appreciative of these calm conditions.
Dave came out of the gates firing with a 36 on the front nine. He hit some amazing shots and we all just tried to keep up. When this guy is hitting the ball well, it's pretty. Shots are shaped perfectly, chips are landed in the perfect spot, and putts are drained in
the back of the cup. Dave's caddy had a serious man-crush on Dave early on and was loving the possibility of a low round out of his guy - and a larger tip. Dave held it together until the last hole where a couple chip shots came up a few feet short and forced him into the burn that runs down the right side. Couldn't have had anything to do with the fact that Harrington hit his drive so far right that it went over the event tent into the sitting area next to the pro shop. His caddy said he'd never seen anyone hit it over there in his entire career as a caddy.
After the round, we had a great dinner after spending the majority of the afternoon trying to find a way to weasel our way on the Old Course. We had
missed our third ballot of the trip and we were all incredibly nervous about the possibility of coming all of this way and not playing the Old Course. It’s like going down to Vegas and not going to the Royale for some craps, just can’t happen. After a few cocktails and a session at the spa, it was decided that if we wanted to ensure our round at St. Andrews, we needed to make sure we were the first in line for the Friday tee times. The plan was hatched to get up at 2am to make it to the waiting line at the Old Course Starter’s shack at 2:30am… Somewhat drunk and in our robes, we talked the concierge into 1) making our complimentary breakfast early, 2) delivering that breakfast to us at 2am, and 3) driving us to the start shack so that we could be first in line. Can I say that I’ve never seen someone better at immediately establishing a relationship with customer service reps than Jeff? He’s unbelievable. People love this guy.
Off to bed at 10pm to get up at 2. We’re very sick people.
we’ve played so far. It was almost as picturesque as the Castle Course (it’s just five minutes south on the same coast) but was a much more fair course. The greens were some of the best that we’d played on so far – they rolled well, had subtle but true breaks, and held reasonably well. The signature hole is the par 3 is all carry over the water with a bail out area on the left. Of course I hit it fat and went into the seaweed at low tide… We've had great weather on this coast - mid to high 50's with low wind and no rain. These conditions are exponentially easier to play golf in, not only physically but mentally and emotionally. I cried a few times during the 45 mph winds at Western Gailes and was very appreciative of these calm conditions.
Dave came out of the gates firing with a 36 on the front nine. He hit some amazing shots and we all just tried to keep up. When this guy is hitting the ball well, it's pretty. Shots are shaped perfectly, chips are landed in the perfect spot, and putts are drained in
the back of the cup. Dave's caddy had a serious man-crush on Dave early on and was loving the possibility of a low round out of his guy - and a larger tip. Dave held it together until the last hole where a couple chip shots came up a few feet short and forced him into the burn that runs down the right side. Couldn't have had anything to do with the fact that Harrington hit his drive so far right that it went over the event tent into the sitting area next to the pro shop. His caddy said he'd never seen anyone hit it over there in his entire career as a caddy.
After the round, we had a great dinner after spending the majority of the afternoon trying to find a way to weasel our way on the Old Course. We had
missed our third ballot of the trip and we were all incredibly nervous about the possibility of coming all of this way and not playing the Old Course. It’s like going down to Vegas and not going to the Royale for some craps, just can’t happen. After a few cocktails and a session at the spa, it was decided that if we wanted to ensure our round at St. Andrews, we needed to make sure we were the first in line for the Friday tee times. The plan was hatched to get up at 2am to make it to the waiting line at the Old Course Starter’s shack at 2:30am… Somewhat drunk and in our robes, we talked the concierge into 1) making our complimentary breakfast early, 2) delivering that breakfast to us at 2am, and 3) driving us to the start shack so that we could be first in line. Can I say that I’ve never seen someone better at immediately establishing a relationship with customer service reps than Jeff? He’s unbelievable. People love this guy.
Off to bed at 10pm to get up at 2. We’re very sick people.
Thursday, September 1, 2011
The food...
About the food… This hotel has the most ridiculous complimentary breakfast I’ve seen since our buffet breakfast 
at the Krabi Sheraton in Thailand at my wedding. You could order anything off the menu and multiple plates of it. Dave and I ordered our first breakfast at the hotel which consisted of cranberry juice, orange juice, decaf coffee, regular coffee, fried eggs and bacon, scrambled eggs and smoked salmon, hard boiled eggs, waffles, oatmeal, smoked haddock, toast, and fresh fruit (pictured right). We
couldn’t believe the sent it all to us. We also had a ridiculous breakfast at Ebi's in Lanark on the way down to Turnberry. Best coffee we'd had on the trip and Harrington's french toast with bacon in the middle was amazing (pictured left). The dinners were spectacular as well. We ate a mix of Scottish food (fish and chips, steak pie, shepherd’s pie, and haggis) as well as traditional American food (steak, chicken, pasta, and burgers). Everyone says that the food in the UK is plain and bland, but we found the exact opposite. The only mediocre meals we had in the trip were the burgers we ordered in a pinch in Edinburgh when we stopped in a hotel bar after an hour of trying to find a seat (festival season again – see prior blog) and the final dinner of the trip at the “gourmet” restaurant at the top of the Old Course hotel. Otherwise, the food was spectacular all the way around.
at the Krabi Sheraton in Thailand at my wedding. You could order anything off the menu and multiple plates of it. Dave and I ordered our first breakfast at the hotel which consisted of cranberry juice, orange juice, decaf coffee, regular coffee, fried eggs and bacon, scrambled eggs and smoked salmon, hard boiled eggs, waffles, oatmeal, smoked haddock, toast, and fresh fruit (pictured right). We
couldn’t believe the sent it all to us. We also had a ridiculous breakfast at Ebi's in Lanark on the way down to Turnberry. Best coffee we'd had on the trip and Harrington's french toast with bacon in the middle was amazing (pictured left). The dinners were spectacular as well. We ate a mix of Scottish food (fish and chips, steak pie, shepherd’s pie, and haggis) as well as traditional American food (steak, chicken, pasta, and burgers). Everyone says that the food in the UK is plain and bland, but we found the exact opposite. The only mediocre meals we had in the trip were the burgers we ordered in a pinch in Edinburgh when we stopped in a hotel bar after an hour of trying to find a seat (festival season again – see prior blog) and the final dinner of the trip at the “gourmet” restaurant at the top of the Old Course hotel. Otherwise, the food was spectacular all the way around.
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
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
Wednesday, August 31, 2011
JVJ-He's a Mudder
This one's for Heil...You know it's coming down when the Scottish caddy says, "it just doesn't rain this hard in Scotland.". Royal Troon started out cold and wet which was the exact opposite of the 64 and sunny that was forecast an hour before our tee time, but like we've been told many times, if you don't like the weather just wait 15 minutes. The first 8 holes were played in those nasty conditions before it got incredibly nice the rest of the day.
As if we didn't know this already, even in crazy wind and rain golf is considerably easier down wind. We were able to hit long irons off the first few tees (Neal almost all 18 tees). I was getting all the good bounces and was starting to put together a solid round heading on to the famous 8th tee (Postage Stamp). The hole was playing 117 yards but to give you an idea of the wind we hit our 145 clubs. DP hit the green, the winter green. It was pulled a wee bit left. He then hit a brilliant shot onto the proper green before watching it roll agonizingly off the green and almost as if it were in slow motion the ball rolled around one of the monster pot bunkers as if to tease Dave that it might not roll in before dribbling in leaving him with a nasty lie against the lip. We don't need to mention his score, but he didn't hole out for par. I hit a pure 9 iron and it didn't move off my line as it fought the wind. It landed right in the center of the green. I was thrilled and as I walked to the putting surface I've never wanted to make a 12 footer as badly as I wanted to bury this putt. I gave it a chance, but it missed on the right. A solid par and some confidence was fine by me as I was keeping a solid round going.
I didn't want to tell my playing partners or the caddies, but I really didn't want it to stop raining. I was now officially a mudder. My game had been junk when I was dry, but now the rain had cleansed me and washed away the bad swings. The last 11 holes were played in semi-sunny conditions which was actually quite nice. In the end I kept it together, never got into a single bunker all round long and posted a 78. Life is good again.
To top it off I got to talk to my wife and babies before bed. Life is really good again.
As if we didn't know this already, even in crazy wind and rain golf is considerably easier down wind. We were able to hit long irons off the first few tees (Neal almost all 18 tees). I was getting all the good bounces and was starting to put together a solid round heading on to the famous 8th tee (Postage Stamp). The hole was playing 117 yards but to give you an idea of the wind we hit our 145 clubs. DP hit the green, the winter green. It was pulled a wee bit left. He then hit a brilliant shot onto the proper green before watching it roll agonizingly off the green and almost as if it were in slow motion the ball rolled around one of the monster pot bunkers as if to tease Dave that it might not roll in before dribbling in leaving him with a nasty lie against the lip. We don't need to mention his score, but he didn't hole out for par. I hit a pure 9 iron and it didn't move off my line as it fought the wind. It landed right in the center of the green. I was thrilled and as I walked to the putting surface I've never wanted to make a 12 footer as badly as I wanted to bury this putt. I gave it a chance, but it missed on the right. A solid par and some confidence was fine by me as I was keeping a solid round going.
I didn't want to tell my playing partners or the caddies, but I really didn't want it to stop raining. I was now officially a mudder. My game had been junk when I was dry, but now the rain had cleansed me and washed away the bad swings. The last 11 holes were played in semi-sunny conditions which was actually quite nice. In the end I kept it together, never got into a single bunker all round long and posted a 78. Life is good again.
To top it off I got to talk to my wife and babies before bed. Life is really good again.
Day 4 (Troon Old Course, Troon Portland Course)
And then the rain came… Day four started steps outside our hotel at Troon. We had a morning tee time at the Old Course and an afternoon time at the Portland Course. After a good night’s sleep (and no fire alarm wake-up call), we had breakfast at the hotel and made our way over to the Old Course at Troon. It’s a short walk down a path from the hotel as the Barcelo Troon Marine Hotel sits between both courses with spectacular views of the water. We customarily walked through the clubhouse and the pro shop, did our shopping, and went out to the first tee – no warm up. By the time we met our caddies, made a few putts, and walked up to the first tee, it was pissing on us. Everyone broke out the rain gear and battened down the hatches getting ready for what was looking to be a taste of Scotland’s finest weather.
Sensing my left to right misses with my woods were still lurking, I decided to go 4 iron off the tee and proceeded to go the whole day with
irons off the tee. I didn’t break out the driver once on the first 18 and only used my 3 wood twice on my caddy’s strong insistence not to be such a pussy. It worked out and I shot my best round yet, an 83 on a course that played pretty tough under those conditions. It was wet. We were soaked. Harrington had the only umbrella and I forgot my bag cover at home (to which my caddy remarked, “Didn’t you know you were going to Scotland?”). My goal the entire round was to keep my hands and my grips dry. The culmination of my arduous club-drying routine came on the postage stamp hole. I went through a long, painstaking process of putting my tee in the ground, wiping my hands with my towel (while trying to keep the grip on my 8 iron dry), and wiping my grip off with my towel (while trying to keep my hands dry). As I started towards address, I dropped my club on the ground and heard about four or five chuckles from the group (notice that number would include caddies, not just my playing partners). I was THAT guy. And yes, I started all over again…
We finished the Old Course strong and hit the clubhouse for some lunch – untoasted club sandwiches with butter, very solid. Then off to the Portland Course, which was our first round without caddies. The bags were heavy; heavier than I think my bag has ever felt. No one could read a putt and everyone had trouble with the distances. It’s funny how quick we had come to
relying on the caddies and how much they help on shot selection and green reading. Good news was I was finally able to break out the flask I stashed in my bag and trade Captain shots with Juvy to loosen up the round. I played night and day throwing up a 50 on the front nine (two triples and a double) and a 40 on the back nine for a cool 90. The crazy thing about these courses is that they aren’t more difficult than courses in the states if you keep it in the fairway and on the green. But if you get in trouble, they just punish you. I had two bunkers on the day that I couldn’t get out of in the first shot. Juvy developed a stress fracture in his left hand from hacking out of the deep rough. And I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard from my caddy, “oh you’re fucked.”
It makes me appreciate how good a low round is out here. The course conditions are some of the toughest I’ve ever played on, and the weather conditions are some of the craziest I’ve ever played in. Everyone is constantly on an emotional rollercoaster going from elation to near depression. That’s what makes the trip so amazing – it’s a true test for a golfer.
rtn
Sensing my left to right misses with my woods were still lurking, I decided to go 4 iron off the tee and proceeded to go the whole day with
irons off the tee. I didn’t break out the driver once on the first 18 and only used my 3 wood twice on my caddy’s strong insistence not to be such a pussy. It worked out and I shot my best round yet, an 83 on a course that played pretty tough under those conditions. It was wet. We were soaked. Harrington had the only umbrella and I forgot my bag cover at home (to which my caddy remarked, “Didn’t you know you were going to Scotland?”). My goal the entire round was to keep my hands and my grips dry. The culmination of my arduous club-drying routine came on the postage stamp hole. I went through a long, painstaking process of putting my tee in the ground, wiping my hands with my towel (while trying to keep the grip on my 8 iron dry), and wiping my grip off with my towel (while trying to keep my hands dry). As I started towards address, I dropped my club on the ground and heard about four or five chuckles from the group (notice that number would include caddies, not just my playing partners). I was THAT guy. And yes, I started all over again…
We finished the Old Course strong and hit the clubhouse for some lunch – untoasted club sandwiches with butter, very solid. Then off to the Portland Course, which was our first round without caddies. The bags were heavy; heavier than I think my bag has ever felt. No one could read a putt and everyone had trouble with the distances. It’s funny how quick we had come to
relying on the caddies and how much they help on shot selection and green reading. Good news was I was finally able to break out the flask I stashed in my bag and trade Captain shots with Juvy to loosen up the round. I played night and day throwing up a 50 on the front nine (two triples and a double) and a 40 on the back nine for a cool 90. The crazy thing about these courses is that they aren’t more difficult than courses in the states if you keep it in the fairway and on the green. But if you get in trouble, they just punish you. I had two bunkers on the day that I couldn’t get out of in the first shot. Juvy developed a stress fracture in his left hand from hacking out of the deep rough. And I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard from my caddy, “oh you’re fucked.”
It makes me appreciate how good a low round is out here. The course conditions are some of the toughest I’ve ever played on, and the weather conditions are some of the craziest I’ve ever played in. Everyone is constantly on an emotional rollercoaster going from elation to near depression. That’s what makes the trip so amazing – it’s a true test for a golfer.
rtn
DJP - Day 1,2, and 3 continued......
Back to it. Here is a recap of Day 2.
Day 2 - Turnbery via Lanark:
Day 2 began with an early start out of Edinburgh and a road trip to Lanark. Neal's neighbor is from this town and we decided to stop by have breakfast at a great place called Ebi's Diner and snap a few photos of the neighbor's original home. After a short visit we were off to Turnberry. For me this was the course I was probably most excited to play and it showed on the first tee when I topped my 4 iron and it went 50 yards. Scratched out a bogey 5 and on to the next. The Turnberry experience really came alive for me at the 4th our first par 3 of the trip. With the water and beach to the left and the wind right in our faces I hit the same 4 iron I topped on #1 pure and it ended up 8 feet from the cup. 4 holes to calm down but I had my first birdie putt and converted it for the deuce. We all struggled a bit on this extremely hard course in tough wind conditions but I think that all that went away for us when we walked up to the tee on #9. I have to say that this is for me the most beautiful place I've visited in my life to this point. Playing the game I love at one of the most famous golf courses in the world, looking at the Irish Sea and Firth of Clyde with the lighthouse next to the ruins of Robert the Bruce's original castle was a lot to take in but let's just say I was at perfect peace and ease for a few moments. No words or pictures can do this place justice. Felt like home to me. Scratched out an 85 which felt like a 75 in the conditions. Drove the ball great, putting was a bit suspect, and a few holes jumped up and bit me but as we sat in the grill watching the sunset I can truly say it was a moment and experince I'l never forget. We were the last people to walk out of the clubhouse that night in the dark. One more picture in front of the Turnberry Crest with the crew and we were off to Troon. Cheers Turnberry........I hope to be tested by your links again soon.
To be continued........
Leaving from Troon to St. Andrews in 5 mins. As the driver it's tough for me to fit these blog posts in:) Day 3 and 4 later.
All the best to everyone stateside!!
DP
Day 2 - Turnbery via Lanark:
Day 2 began with an early start out of Edinburgh and a road trip to Lanark. Neal's neighbor is from this town and we decided to stop by have breakfast at a great place called Ebi's Diner and snap a few photos of the neighbor's original home. After a short visit we were off to Turnberry. For me this was the course I was probably most excited to play and it showed on the first tee when I topped my 4 iron and it went 50 yards. Scratched out a bogey 5 and on to the next. The Turnberry experience really came alive for me at the 4th our first par 3 of the trip. With the water and beach to the left and the wind right in our faces I hit the same 4 iron I topped on #1 pure and it ended up 8 feet from the cup. 4 holes to calm down but I had my first birdie putt and converted it for the deuce. We all struggled a bit on this extremely hard course in tough wind conditions but I think that all that went away for us when we walked up to the tee on #9. I have to say that this is for me the most beautiful place I've visited in my life to this point. Playing the game I love at one of the most famous golf courses in the world, looking at the Irish Sea and Firth of Clyde with the lighthouse next to the ruins of Robert the Bruce's original castle was a lot to take in but let's just say I was at perfect peace and ease for a few moments. No words or pictures can do this place justice. Felt like home to me. Scratched out an 85 which felt like a 75 in the conditions. Drove the ball great, putting was a bit suspect, and a few holes jumped up and bit me but as we sat in the grill watching the sunset I can truly say it was a moment and experince I'l never forget. We were the last people to walk out of the clubhouse that night in the dark. One more picture in front of the Turnberry Crest with the crew and we were off to Troon. Cheers Turnberry........I hope to be tested by your links again soon.
To be continued........
Leaving from Troon to St. Andrews in 5 mins. As the driver it's tough for me to fit these blog posts in:) Day 3 and 4 later.
All the best to everyone stateside!!
DP
Tuesday, August 30, 2011
Harrington: Finally Showing Up to the Party
It's time to actually do something for this trip and it's only a simple post. Still waiting to hear on a hookup for St. Andrews doesn't look to good. We may be camping out Saturday morning. The golf has been great but what's even better is the heated conversations solving the worlds problems or just simply spending 20 minutes debating the wakeup time for the following morning.
My favorite part thus far has been the caddies. I'll give you the quick rundown of my group so far in rank order.
#1. Tommy - Prestwick - 60, Scotsman who spends half his time in the states. Shot my best round with him 81 with 3 birdies and 3 triple bogeys. Tommy wasn't too
interested in tracking down balls in the rough. He preferred that I hit it down the center. If not, he would get a little angry as mentioned by Neal in his post. I think from
time to time Tommy thought we were on the tour. He said he caddied for John Daly and Chip Beck, I'm guessing it wasn't in the Master when he laid up. I may call BS on that one.
#2 - Gordan - Turnberry - 23 - wants to caddie on the tour. Gordan was a good guy. Don't have too much to say about him. Real pleasant lad. Good caddy. Good conversation. The type of guy you to date your daughter expect for the first comment
of he wants to be a tour caddy.
#3 - Peter - Royal Troon - 45 - caddy and cab driver. Peter wasn't to excited to have me as his partner today. I wouldn't have been either. It started out raining for the first 8 holes. In that 8 holes Peter mentioned about 15 times that he would never play in this rain. He wad lightning quick with the umbrella. Overall made some great reads for me but wad completely disinterested. Most likely because I couldn't hit a fairway and he was searching for my ball all day.
#4 - Bryan - 51 - huh let start with he had more fingers than teeth, took a shower when it rained and had a killer gold hoop earing. He and his buddy showed up straight from the bar and ready to go. He was a nice guy and could find any ball you hit. His caddy partners kept giving him trouble on how he was clubbing me but I think a lot of that was due to execution. My favorite part of my time with Bryan was how he was cheering when the other guys missed putts.... Yep that's because they were all betting on us...too bad for them. On 17, Juvie missed a five footer and Bryan and Parrish's caddy did a jumping high five... Hilarious
My favorite part thus far has been the caddies. I'll give you the quick rundown of my group so far in rank order.
#1. Tommy - Prestwick - 60, Scotsman who spends half his time in the states. Shot my best round with him 81 with 3 birdies and 3 triple bogeys. Tommy wasn't too
interested in tracking down balls in the rough. He preferred that I hit it down the center. If not, he would get a little angry as mentioned by Neal in his post. I think from
time to time Tommy thought we were on the tour. He said he caddied for John Daly and Chip Beck, I'm guessing it wasn't in the Master when he laid up. I may call BS on that one.
#2 - Gordan - Turnberry - 23 - wants to caddie on the tour. Gordan was a good guy. Don't have too much to say about him. Real pleasant lad. Good caddy. Good conversation. The type of guy you to date your daughter expect for the first comment
of he wants to be a tour caddy.
#3 - Peter - Royal Troon - 45 - caddy and cab driver. Peter wasn't to excited to have me as his partner today. I wouldn't have been either. It started out raining for the first 8 holes. In that 8 holes Peter mentioned about 15 times that he would never play in this rain. He wad lightning quick with the umbrella. Overall made some great reads for me but wad completely disinterested. Most likely because I couldn't hit a fairway and he was searching for my ball all day.
#4 - Bryan - 51 - huh let start with he had more fingers than teeth, took a shower when it rained and had a killer gold hoop earing. He and his buddy showed up straight from the bar and ready to go. He was a nice guy and could find any ball you hit. His caddy partners kept giving him trouble on how he was clubbing me but I think a lot of that was due to execution. My favorite part of my time with Bryan was how he was cheering when the other guys missed putts.... Yep that's because they were all betting on us...too bad for them. On 17, Juvie missed a five footer and Bryan and Parrish's caddy did a jumping high five... Hilarious
Day 3 (Western Gailes, Prestwick)
Dragging today after a suspect night of sleep. Dave, per form, came out fresh as can be after powering through less than six hours of sleep. Sitting down last night over drinks at the hotel bar, Dave, Jeff, and I got into a heated debate after Harrington went to bed (shocking, I know). After I called it at 1:30am (we could have gone on for another couple hours easily), we hit the sack for a 7am wakeup. However, when the fire alarm went off at 6:40am – which many people thought was the loudest wake-up call in human history (yours truly grabbed the handset on the phone and said “are you kidding me with this?”) we all threw on our clothes and went downstairs to be herded into the lounge to wait for the fire department. It was pretty ridiculous as we all had a pretty good idea it was either a drill or a mistaken alarm. Nevertheless, it was pretty funny to see some people bring their valuables down with them, some people come down in just robes, and some guys actually bring their clubs (I loved that they chose their sticks over their luggage by the way). A few jokes flew about Harrington setting off the alarm by smoking weed in his room for his glaucoma, Dave setting off the alarm because he fell asleep in the shower and flooded his room, etc.
After that mess, we drove to Western Gailes to start our day sans breakfast. Not a promising start to the day, but we were hopeful since we had heard from everyone that Gailes was one of the best conditioned courses that we would play on this coast. We had time to down our beverage of choice, me – coffee, Dave – decaf coffee, Ryan – Coke, Jeff – nothing (he’s an ironman folks).
Gailes was tough. Same wind as yesterday, but today there was also rain for the first six holes. The course lays out similarly to Turnberry, but the fairways are tighter and the rough is thicker, which we didn’t think was possible. Immediately everyone but Dave was in trouble.
We ended the first hole, a pretty straight-forward par 4, with a 4-6-7-7 score for the group. Deer in headlights. To make it worse, our caddies were betting on us. And giving us shit for our bad shots. These guys were professional caddies that had over 125 years of caddy experience among the group and basically lived on the golf course from a very young age. They knew every undulation on the course and were not afraid to let you know that your shot was a Clark Gable (gone with the wind…) or went into the Love Grass (if you hit into it, you were fucked). Great group of guys though. They have all grown up together (my caddy, the youngest of them all, had married the step-daughter of Dave’s caddy) and knew each other very well.
We were all challenged on this course, but the round ended with some real bright spots. Dave rolled in a sick thirty footer for birdie on 18, which was an amazing score on a very difficult finishing hole. To give you an idea of how tough the course is, Ryan, Jeff and, I were all missing right today, and the final five holes come back North to the clubhouse into a southeasterly wind. Not only were we hitting into the wind but the wind was also pushing all of our shots to the right (helping our misses) a few times OB right into the train tracks. Harrington and I both had shots hit the tracks and bounce back into the course, which was amazing even to our caddies.
After the round, we had lunch and got on the road to Prestwick. The history at Prestwick was some of the best in golf since it’s the birthplace of the Open. They have the original Open belt and a replica of the Claret Jug (the original is in a museum at St. Andrews). We toured the clubhouse and, tired from our first grueling round, headed out onto the first tee box to meet our caddies. These guys are a pretty tight knit bunch as well. My caddy (who had large scabs on his nose and temple from a fall he had taken the night before – “Had a quite a few pints after an alternate shot golf tournament and fell down with my bag still on my back. Thought I might as well just go down and take it, which wasn’t such a good idea looking back on it.”) was the brother-in-law of Jeff’s caddy. He has been a caddy since he was 13 years old.
The first tee starts you right next to the clubhouse, which is a legacy of the course’s history. There are pictures inside of young caddies with bare feet packing the bags of the members pre-1900. #1 is a tight par four that has a stone wall running down the right side that separates the town from the course (remember that we’ve all just come off a round missing to the right…) and with terrible rough down the left. I think I was the only one to hit over the wall, and that was on my approach shot into the green – Dave hit his approach shot into the green and it bounced off the wall back into the rough. He got up and down for a par, I took a 7. Bastard.
The course goes on to give you some of the most challenging and interesting holes we’ve faced so far. They have gigantic bunkers that span the entire length of some fairways. It also gives you
some blind shots that you have to aim at markers over hills and hope that your caddy knows where you’re going (they always do). The bunkers are brutal. Both Dave and I had to hit out of the bunkers backwards. I asked Ryan’s caddy why they make the bunkers so tough and he said, “Shit, in your country you can hit a rescue club out of your bunkers. If you go into ours, we punish you.” Very true. Harrington had the round of the day shooting an 81 on a really tough course. His caddy was in his head. At one point, when Ryan had hit a shot short into a bunker, I overheard his caddy say, “I told you 105. You hit it 80. If you would hit it 105 like I told you, you’d be on the fucking green.” The caddy went away muttering about how his bag was having a great round and was about to fuck it up by being a fucking idiot and not listening to him. (**for the record, Harrington went on to make the sand-save of the century by hitting a great shot out of the bunker and draining a long putt). These guys are great!
We finished off the round in the club bar, a sitting room for the men’s club that we had to ourselves which contained some of the best of the clubs memorabilia. Glenkornach for me, saffire and tonic for Jeff, double tonic for Dave and two Cokes for Harrington. Great way to end a great round of golf.
rtn
After that mess, we drove to Western Gailes to start our day sans breakfast. Not a promising start to the day, but we were hopeful since we had heard from everyone that Gailes was one of the best conditioned courses that we would play on this coast. We had time to down our beverage of choice, me – coffee, Dave – decaf coffee, Ryan – Coke, Jeff – nothing (he’s an ironman folks).
Gailes was tough. Same wind as yesterday, but today there was also rain for the first six holes. The course lays out similarly to Turnberry, but the fairways are tighter and the rough is thicker, which we didn’t think was possible. Immediately everyone but Dave was in trouble.
We ended the first hole, a pretty straight-forward par 4, with a 4-6-7-7 score for the group. Deer in headlights. To make it worse, our caddies were betting on us. And giving us shit for our bad shots. These guys were professional caddies that had over 125 years of caddy experience among the group and basically lived on the golf course from a very young age. They knew every undulation on the course and were not afraid to let you know that your shot was a Clark Gable (gone with the wind…) or went into the Love Grass (if you hit into it, you were fucked). Great group of guys though. They have all grown up together (my caddy, the youngest of them all, had married the step-daughter of Dave’s caddy) and knew each other very well.
We were all challenged on this course, but the round ended with some real bright spots. Dave rolled in a sick thirty footer for birdie on 18, which was an amazing score on a very difficult finishing hole. To give you an idea of how tough the course is, Ryan, Jeff and, I were all missing right today, and the final five holes come back North to the clubhouse into a southeasterly wind. Not only were we hitting into the wind but the wind was also pushing all of our shots to the right (helping our misses) a few times OB right into the train tracks. Harrington and I both had shots hit the tracks and bounce back into the course, which was amazing even to our caddies.
After the round, we had lunch and got on the road to Prestwick. The history at Prestwick was some of the best in golf since it’s the birthplace of the Open. They have the original Open belt and a replica of the Claret Jug (the original is in a museum at St. Andrews). We toured the clubhouse and, tired from our first grueling round, headed out onto the first tee box to meet our caddies. These guys are a pretty tight knit bunch as well. My caddy (who had large scabs on his nose and temple from a fall he had taken the night before – “Had a quite a few pints after an alternate shot golf tournament and fell down with my bag still on my back. Thought I might as well just go down and take it, which wasn’t such a good idea looking back on it.”) was the brother-in-law of Jeff’s caddy. He has been a caddy since he was 13 years old.
The first tee starts you right next to the clubhouse, which is a legacy of the course’s history. There are pictures inside of young caddies with bare feet packing the bags of the members pre-1900. #1 is a tight par four that has a stone wall running down the right side that separates the town from the course (remember that we’ve all just come off a round missing to the right…) and with terrible rough down the left. I think I was the only one to hit over the wall, and that was on my approach shot into the green – Dave hit his approach shot into the green and it bounced off the wall back into the rough. He got up and down for a par, I took a 7. Bastard.
The course goes on to give you some of the most challenging and interesting holes we’ve faced so far. They have gigantic bunkers that span the entire length of some fairways. It also gives you
some blind shots that you have to aim at markers over hills and hope that your caddy knows where you’re going (they always do). The bunkers are brutal. Both Dave and I had to hit out of the bunkers backwards. I asked Ryan’s caddy why they make the bunkers so tough and he said, “Shit, in your country you can hit a rescue club out of your bunkers. If you go into ours, we punish you.” Very true. Harrington had the round of the day shooting an 81 on a really tough course. His caddy was in his head. At one point, when Ryan had hit a shot short into a bunker, I overheard his caddy say, “I told you 105. You hit it 80. If you would hit it 105 like I told you, you’d be on the fucking green.” The caddy went away muttering about how his bag was having a great round and was about to fuck it up by being a fucking idiot and not listening to him. (**for the record, Harrington went on to make the sand-save of the century by hitting a great shot out of the bunker and draining a long putt). These guys are great!
We finished off the round in the club bar, a sitting room for the men’s club that we had to ourselves which contained some of the best of the clubs memorabilia. Glenkornach for me, saffire and tonic for Jeff, double tonic for Dave and two Cokes for Harrington. Great way to end a great round of golf.
rtn
Day 2 (Turnberry)
We may have started the trip off with the best course on the trip. Turnberry is a spectacular course, and we got the weather we were waiting for. Cloudy with winds coming out of the Northwest at 25mph and gust upwards of 45mph. Baptism by fire, welcome to Scotland... The wind definitely affected our play and made it mentally, physically, and emotionally difficult to play well. Our caddies tried their best to save us from ourselves. My putting was initially suspect, so my caddie, Tommy (who we came to find out later from the other caddies was called Tommy “Ledbetter” for his tendency to turn golf rounds into teaching clinics), immediately went to work trying to fix me.
Turnberry is set on an amazing piece of land. The course runs along the west coast of Scotland with many of the holes bordering the beach. The clubhouse is a veritable museum of golf with old golf clubs, news clippings, tournament scorecards, and pictures of past championships and champions of the Open. We spent about an hour in the pro shop trying to determine what to buy. Dave picked up a sweater that has so many features that it almost swings for him. We spent about an hour on the range and then got ready to head out into the weather and start our first of 162 straight holes of some of the toughest golf in the world.
Playing the course was tough for everyone. I’m sure you can score well on this course if you can keep it in the fairway and on the green. But that is definitely easier said than done. The wind will send your ball thirty or forty yards in either direction if you have ANY spin on the ball. And the rough is brutal. And the bunkers are brutal. The saving grace is that your caddies can pretty much find any ball you put into the shit; you just have to be able to get it back out. The caddies were great by the way. We had three kids and one old veteran. Tommy, my caddie, was a retired caddie master for Western Gailes and knew an amazing amount about the course, its history, and how to get out of trouble, which helped me greatly. Dave, Ryan, and Jeff had the three kids who were great as well.
The greatest part of the course for me was history and the geography of the course (not my mediocre play, of course). You make the turn at a point facing Ailsa Craig and pass by a lighthouse built around the time the course was built and the ruins of an old castle owned by Robert the Bruce. It’s a piece of history in the middle of a spectacular set of golf holes. We were playing at low tide, but with the wind you could still see the water crashing up against the shores and imagine what it was like back when the course didn’t exist and the castle sat on the point.
We finished our round (I’ll let one the fellas give you the scores) and dragged ourselves back to the clubhouse for drinks and dinner. Fish and chips were on the menu as well as steak pie. Glenmoranghie and Turent’s beer were poured for us as well. As the last ones out of the clubhouse that night, we took one last picture and headed to the hotel. What a great start to the trip.
rtn
Turnberry is set on an amazing piece of land. The course runs along the west coast of Scotland with many of the holes bordering the beach. The clubhouse is a veritable museum of golf with old golf clubs, news clippings, tournament scorecards, and pictures of past championships and champions of the Open. We spent about an hour in the pro shop trying to determine what to buy. Dave picked up a sweater that has so many features that it almost swings for him. We spent about an hour on the range and then got ready to head out into the weather and start our first of 162 straight holes of some of the toughest golf in the world.
Playing the course was tough for everyone. I’m sure you can score well on this course if you can keep it in the fairway and on the green. But that is definitely easier said than done. The wind will send your ball thirty or forty yards in either direction if you have ANY spin on the ball. And the rough is brutal. And the bunkers are brutal. The saving grace is that your caddies can pretty much find any ball you put into the shit; you just have to be able to get it back out. The caddies were great by the way. We had three kids and one old veteran. Tommy, my caddie, was a retired caddie master for Western Gailes and knew an amazing amount about the course, its history, and how to get out of trouble, which helped me greatly. Dave, Ryan, and Jeff had the three kids who were great as well.
The greatest part of the course for me was history and the geography of the course (not my mediocre play, of course). You make the turn at a point facing Ailsa Craig and pass by a lighthouse built around the time the course was built and the ruins of an old castle owned by Robert the Bruce. It’s a piece of history in the middle of a spectacular set of golf holes. We were playing at low tide, but with the wind you could still see the water crashing up against the shores and imagine what it was like back when the course didn’t exist and the castle sat on the point.
We finished our round (I’ll let one the fellas give you the scores) and dragged ourselves back to the clubhouse for drinks and dinner. Fish and chips were on the menu as well as steak pie. Glenmoranghie and Turent’s beer were poured for us as well. As the last ones out of the clubhouse that night, we took one last picture and headed to the hotel. What a great start to the trip.
rtn
DJP - Day 1,2, and 3 Recap
My turn to chime in. What a start to the trip. Needless to say the experience has been tremendous so far. Here' my recap of the last 3 days:
Day 1:
Being the first of the group to arrive in Edinburgh was quite the experince for a first timer to Europe. I was able to get through customs with out a strip search.......goal number 1 completed. As some of you know I had to buck Neal's golf clubs over with me which worked out great until I had to make the walk to the rental car place which seemed like a mike away. I had to stop not just once but many times to rest my hand that was developing carpel tunnel from wheeling two fully loaded golf travel bags stacked on top of one another. The stops were necessary if my right hand and arm were going to hold up through 9 rounds of golf. Upgraded at the rental car place to a Volvo SUV which was needed (luggage barely fit). Spacious vehicle for Europe but if you read Neal's post from day 1 a little tough to manage on the roads especially when it's your first time driving on the left hand side of the road. Guys gave me a new nickname "Left Side" just to keep me in check and I've curbed it on the left side twice since arriving (Neal seems very concerned). So Neal gets the bright idea to stay in Edinburgh the first night but didn't realize the fringe festival and military tatoo were going on. It was a little rough getting around town to say the least but worth it seeing this historical city.
Oops.....got to run. Teeing off at Royal Troon in 40 mins. Get the rest done this evening. Hope you are all doing well back in the states.
DP
Day 1:
Being the first of the group to arrive in Edinburgh was quite the experince for a first timer to Europe. I was able to get through customs with out a strip search.......goal number 1 completed. As some of you know I had to buck Neal's golf clubs over with me which worked out great until I had to make the walk to the rental car place which seemed like a mike away. I had to stop not just once but many times to rest my hand that was developing carpel tunnel from wheeling two fully loaded golf travel bags stacked on top of one another. The stops were necessary if my right hand and arm were going to hold up through 9 rounds of golf. Upgraded at the rental car place to a Volvo SUV which was needed (luggage barely fit). Spacious vehicle for Europe but if you read Neal's post from day 1 a little tough to manage on the roads especially when it's your first time driving on the left hand side of the road. Guys gave me a new nickname "Left Side" just to keep me in check and I've curbed it on the left side twice since arriving (Neal seems very concerned). So Neal gets the bright idea to stay in Edinburgh the first night but didn't realize the fringe festival and military tatoo were going on. It was a little rough getting around town to say the least but worth it seeing this historical city.
Oops.....got to run. Teeing off at Royal Troon in 40 mins. Get the rest done this evening. Hope you are all doing well back in the states.
DP
Monday, August 29, 2011
JVJ-Silver Lining
I've waited for this trip since I first started playing golf. I promised myself that one day I would come to Scotland to experience links golf from where it all began. Yesterday we played Turnberry and I could not have been more excited. I was giddy as we stepped up to the starter shack and started introducing ourselves to our caddies. We hoped that one of the rounds would be played in crazy conditions just like we've seen on TV so many times before. Well, we got it right out of the gates, 25 MPH winds gusting to 46 MPH.
Nervous, as if I was actually on the first tee playing in The Open, I was loving life when I hit a decent drive down the right side of the fairway and into some manageable rough. I hit a decent iron into the green that drifted left and I would soon experience my first pot bunker. Again, I was loving life when I knocked it onto the green and gave myself a chance to save par. I missed the putt, but was quite happy with a bogey.
Four hours later I carded a 103. Yes, a 103. Don't get me wrong, my game was never going to threaten the course record, but 103 is disgusting, disturbing and down right embarrassing. I didn't make a single par. As I sat in my room sleep deprived yet still having trouble going to sleep I tried to look for a silver lining. At least it wasn't raining on us...at least my clubs weren't damaged on the plane...at least I have 8 more chances to make up for this ugly performance. Those silver linings didn't do much to help my bruised ego and I ended up staring at the plaster on the ceiling for another 45 minutes before drifting off to sleep. There's always tomorrow...
Nervous, as if I was actually on the first tee playing in The Open, I was loving life when I hit a decent drive down the right side of the fairway and into some manageable rough. I hit a decent iron into the green that drifted left and I would soon experience my first pot bunker. Again, I was loving life when I knocked it onto the green and gave myself a chance to save par. I missed the putt, but was quite happy with a bogey.
Four hours later I carded a 103. Yes, a 103. Don't get me wrong, my game was never going to threaten the course record, but 103 is disgusting, disturbing and down right embarrassing. I didn't make a single par. As I sat in my room sleep deprived yet still having trouble going to sleep I tried to look for a silver lining. At least it wasn't raining on us...at least my clubs weren't damaged on the plane...at least I have 8 more chances to make up for this ugly performance. Those silver linings didn't do much to help my bruised ego and I ended up staring at the plaster on the ceiling for another 45 minutes before drifting off to sleep. There's always tomorrow...
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