I can’t even begin to explain how windy it is here. Every day we ask ourselves if it can get any worse…every day it gets worse.
We packed up and left North Berwick to head for St. Andrews. It is about a 2 or 2.5 hour drive. There seemed to be a whole new energy to our trip as we arrived into town. This town is amazing. I don’t really know how to describe the vibe of St Andrews, but I’ll give it a shot. If you combined the golf atmosphere of Pinehurst with the college town feeling of Iowa City with the nightlife of Austin Texas you would have St Andrews. I think St Andrews University is the 3rd oldest university in the UK behind only Oxford and Cambridge…that is pretty good company.
As we approached our hotel, The Old Course Hotel, we could see the Royal & Ancient golf club building, the first and 18th holes, and then eventually the 17th (aka the road hole) and then our hotel, which is right on the 17th. It is a beautiful hotel. We went over to the St Andrews New Course clubhouse for some lunch. The New Course was built in 1895 so don’t think there is anything new about it. I really didn’t play well at this course and I don’t think it was my favorite course over there, but a lot of guys in our group loved it. I think I was distracted by the 35 mph winds gusting to 45. I spent most of the day trying to balance myself. It is hard to swing a club when you can’t get any balance. You learn a lot about the golf swing in conditions like these and you hit shots you’ve never hit before due to the 4,5,6 club winds. On a positive note, we had sunshine for the first time, which was nice. Also, I had a great caddie who used to work on the european tour for 5 years in the late 70′s and early 80′s so I got a bunch of great stories about that. I was glad to finish that round…I shot 97 I think.
After golf, we went to a little pub that is right off the 17th fairway of the Old Course…it is right next to the Old Course hotel and has been there for a long time. It is called the Jigger Inn. It was a great place to have a few pints and tally up all our bets…that was much more fun that golf that day!
We went to dinner in the casual restaurant in our hotel called the Sands. As we were eating we realized that Arnold Palmer was eating 2 tables away from us. None of us had the guts to go say hello to him, but it was amazing to see how gracious he was. He said hello or nodded and smiled to just about everyone who walked by. By the time we finished dinner, it was 10:30 or 11 and since the pubs close at about 11:30 we just went upstairs to the road hole bar on the off chance that Arnold Palmer was having a drink. The Road Hole Bar is on the top floor of our hotel and overlooks the entire golf complex of St Andrews. He wasn’t in there, but we had a good time. It is a beautiful old bar with floor to ceiling windows…the sense of history is really remarkable. I can just imagine an evening during the British Open with all the golfers in there having drinks. Tomorrow night we’re going to hit the town of St Andrews.
I went to bed early because Donncha (trip organizer) and I decided we were going to squeeze in an early round tomorrow at the newest St Andrews course, called the Castle Course, in the morning. So….very big day tomorrow, Castle Course at 7:30am and The Old Course at 2:30pm!!! This is going to be great!!!
Cheers,
Rob
