Golf in Scotland

As I mentioned in a previous post, we recently returned from a holiday in Scotland. A big part of that trip was golf, 7 rounds scheduled in 8 days.  We were fortunate to play some excellent courses, including some of the world’s most renowned. We played on three of the perennial British Open courses, the Old Course at St. Andrews, Carnoustie and Muirfield (home of the Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers). These places reek of tradition and they’re known to all fans of golf, worldwide. We feel privileged to have played on them.

I didn’t photograph all the courses we played on but I did get plenty on the two courses I liked best, the Old Course and Carnoustie. I’ve chosen one favourite photo from each of these two; the rest are included as a slideshow.

Here’s my favourite from the Old Course at St. Andrews, a view down the fairway of the 17th,  the “Road Hole”. The picture was taken in the early morning, soon after play commenced on the same day we played. You can see the clubhouse of the Royal and Ancient Golf Club to the left of the red building and some early morning golfers playing the first hole, just in front of it.  The weather was a little sketchy at this hour but we were able to complete our round later in the day without getting wet. It was a little cold and of course windy, with the usual breeze off the North Sea.

My second featured photo is from Carnoustie, where I played my best round of the week. (Perhaps that is why I liked it!) This photo shows the very challenging “Barry Burn” (Par 3, 250 yards) Usually played into the wind, the 16th could be the most difficult par 3 in the world. Consider that Watson bogeyed it five times and still won here. That’s the very recognizable Carnoustie clubhouse in the background. You’ll notice again that the weather looks threatening but we were fortunate to enjoy nothing worse than a moderate wind (by Scotland golf standards).

Following is a slideshow composed of the remainder of the photos I’ve chosen for today’s blog. All photos were taken at Carnoustie and St. Andrews. Click on the right side of the photos to advance; on the left to reverse.

Our golf week was very special, one that we’ll remember for a long time. Rolande’s caddy, Dave insists she shot four under par on the Old Course. He’s a great caddy but his math skills are questionable.