Scotland: golf + more

Jason here.

One of my goals of our time living in Europe was to go play golf in Scotland. As things have been drawing to a close... I began to get nervous this wouldn't happen. How can I live only 3 hours from the birthplace of golf and not go experience it?!?!?

So...

In October, Kevin Fortsch (pictured above) and I played 36 holes of golf there!!! He flew from DFW to London and then took the train up to Edinburgh. I flew in the afternoon from Madrid straight to Edinburgh... (for 22Euros!)... arriving at about 6:30pm.

The first adventure was driving a car on the opposite side of the road. At night. In the rain. With my GPS barking orders at me. Quite honestly (and Kevin will agree to this fact), I was often driving on the right (wrong?) side of the road and putting our lives at risk. I love cars and driving, so this experience was a real hoot. Remember how you felt when you first started driving and had to think about EVERYTHING? That was me!! The biggest challenge was the shifting with your left hand. I was often going from 1st to 4th and such. Crazy!! My rule of driving was, "just do what other cars are doing". When we were alone on the roads... it was not pretty. Roundabouts in the opposite direction. Foreign! Love it.

Kevin and I left Edinburgh and stayed at a little hotel in the country. Fish and chips #1. Uneventful.

On Friday morning (well, for Kevin it was really midnight 'body time') we left our hotel and began driving towards our chosen course.

Crail Golfing Society

http://www.crailgolfingsociety.co.uk/

We had a 45 minute drive to the golf course in the morning... and we met some of the local wildlife in the process. On a two lane country road, a young and misinformed deer proved that cars are heavier and stronger than animals. No... I did not hit her... she hit us!! I saw her near the left side of the road and slowed considerably while moving from the left side to right on the roadway (strange, yes) to be further from her. As we came along side her... she decided to show her pals how fast she can cross a country road. She slammed right into the side of our little rented Kia. I'm sad to report we didn't ship any deer meat home as she was ok and shook it off like the little rugby-player she must be... she then left us to go tell her friends about some rude Americans she met who cared nothing about her... just that little white ball up ahead. Thankfully, the car was unharmed (hey, it's a rental!) and we had an extra-clean spot on Kevin's side of the car with a little bit of her hair... otherwise, no harm done.

(sorry, no pic... little deer are fast boogers and we were itching to get on the tee-box, so chose not to pursue her further)

yes... this is a golf story... I promise...


So we make it to the golf course. WOW!! The course is right on the sea (with a castle next door, see the pic to the left) and is GREEN and beautiful. It's a grey, cold, windy day... so there aren't too many people around. Those who are there are super friendly and are speaking English, yet I'm forced to REALLY concentrate to understand them. Foreign! Love it!

We bought a few things in the Pro Shop. Rented our gear and headed for the tee box. Our plan was to play the New Course (actually new... like 11 years old) in the morning with pull carts and to play the old course (about 175 years old!!) in the afternoon, with Caddies.

We are off! Here are some pics of the early going...


















I hadn't played a round in over 2 years... so things were more than a little rusty for me. Kevin is a good athlete and golfer and (he might disagree?!?) played quite well! A good shot for me is one where my ball is findable. :-). I think I scored a 105 on the first 18. Something in that range. Not good!

The most interesting thing we experienced on the first 18 was a WALL! No kidding. In the middle of the fairway was this ancient mossy, stone wall. Crazy. Kevin drove right up to it (good and bad) and I was a about 3o yards from it. Here are some pics.













We completed the first 18... and it was GREAT. In a word, peaceful. There are no electric carts. No noise. Just the course and the wind and the fun of hanging out and talking with Kevin while losing golf balls in the rough. We passed a few golfers on the course. Some of them had their dogs walking with them. Nice!

We took a break in the Crail Restaurant and enjoyed a great meal and view of the North Sea and the Old Course. Fish and chips #2. Below is a pic of our view during lunch!

The old course was VERY cool. In a word: Caddies. We decided to indulge a little and have a caddie for the 2nd 18. I'd never had a caddie before.

I... ummm... highly recommend it.

Jim and Ian were both members of the Crail Golfing Society and wonderful retired Scottish gentlemen.

While Kevin might have played another 18 holes of golf after this one... I was quickly wearing out! So for me... while the 2nd 18 was very much about golf... I honestly enjoyed walking and talking with Ian equally as much. He had retired from a Steel Mill mgmt/exec position in Glasgow and had a very interesting life. I enjoyed spending the time with him and appreciated his skills at finding my ball in the most ridiculous of places!! There were more than a few times he would say something to me and I heard him well... but still didn't understand what he said! It was GREAT. The funniest thing he said was to tell me, "You see that cow up there next to that barn? Aim in that direction." (they were beyond the course boundary)

I regret that I didn't get a good picture with of him.


Here is an "action shot" of Kevin and Jim. I think Kevin was saying, "Yes lad... please get the recommended club ready for me... I'll be along as soon as Risley finds his ball... yet again." lol...

In the end... I can't say I know my score on the 2nd 18. Likely north of 120. OUCH. Kevin and his driver became good friends... and he was smoking the fairways. I'd guess he was in the mid-90's. ?? Not sure.

Hard to sum up the whole Scotland golf experience. Much like other things in Europe... there's just nothing like it. Several times we literally had the sense of people 100+ years ago walking this ground and doing what we were doing. I found myself wondering what they discussed... what their lives were like...

In the end, I am SO THANKFUL that Kevin took the time away to come over. It was AMAZING. I would highly recommend it to others!! I can't believe we did it. What a great experience!

St. Andrews

After we finished golfing, we drove up to St. Andrews and walked the 18th hole. Amazing. Here's a pic of the 3rd hole and the hotel next to the 18th. It was getting dark... so my pics of the course didn't take. Bummer!

Thanks for reading about our adventures in Scotland!

Jason