"Ian, I can see three balls out there" said Ross as we rounded the corner of the hotel that juts into the 17th fairway.My mood lifted quickly as I confirmed that the Nike ball I thought I had lost to an errant sliced drive over the old railway sheds had somehow (miraculously?) made its way back from the roof of the hotel to the edge of the fairway, and was sitting about 6 feet away from the provisional ball that I had assumed I would be playing.
The fact that I was back on the fairway with only about 210 yards into the pin reminded me again of why golf is such a wonderful game. It also inspired me to make sure I took Ross's comment from the previous hole to heart, "these are probably the finest three holes in golf - lets make sure we finish them in style". Those few words turned out to be the turning point of the round.
The day had certainly started out in style - a hearty birthday breakfast (3 courses and still managed to avoid the porridge!) at historic (isn't everything in this country?) Rusack's overlooking the 18th hole - before proceeding to the hallowed teeing ground.I was accompanied by Karla (who was both caddie and official photographer!) and playing with Ross who was born in St Andrews and plays off a very respectable handicap (must be something in the local water...).
We were incredibly lucky with the weather - most of the UK was blanketed in cloud and yet the sun was trying to peek through in the vicinity of St Andrews! Come the think of it, we had been lucky the preceding 10 days also - our Scottish adventure had taken us through the highlands and coastal links of the North aroond Inverness - even up in the usually misty bogs of Glenn Affric and the notoriously atmospheric Loch Ness, we had escaped the early onset of the Scottish winter... in fact relative to Alaska, it felt almost balmy!
As we wended our way doon from the northern moors to the coastal links of St Andrews, we played some legendary courses -- Royal Dornoch (poorly), Nairn (wonderfully), Royal Aberdeen (with great style) and finally the New Course at St Andrews (reasonably well). Along the way we enjoyed the very best of Scottish history and scenery... and, of course, sampled the local wares... it felt like we were part of a moving play - part Braveheart, part Robbie Burns, but we just couldn't find the MacDutton tartan......but not to be distracted... there we were on the tee box under the shadow of the R&A, about to have a crack at what is perhaps the ultimate golf course. Somewhat amazingly, despite its esteemed reputation, the course has an amazingly 'down to earth' feel - in deference to local egalitarianism and frugality, it is open to anyone who meets the handicap requirement (24 for men, 36 for women). Its pretty quaint also that despite being in such high demand, the course is closed on Sundays and the locals are free to use it as a picnic and play ground (but are asked to stay off the greens). But again, I digress....
The round began in style. An opening par, an early birdie and just the sheer joy of being out walking in the footsteps of such legends as Tom Morris (senior and junior), Nicklaus, Arnie as well as the lesser known champions such as Kel Nagle (the unheralded Ozzie who won the 100th championship in 1960 in the midst of local floods!)
Walking the course, you quickly get a sense of the history and drama that seeps from every feature of the landscape.
Naturally, given my trepidation at being on such revered turf and my unfamiliarity playing golf while dressed as Michelin man (most of my golf has been played in warmer climes...), there were a few anxious moments... including some amazing escapes from the small, but dense and ever present, patches of gorse that line the fairways.And so we managed to zig zag our way to a respectable 40 on the way out... right on track to shoot the target score of 80 or better!
Maybe we can have a wee dram on the way back in?
Maybe I should put the other "i" back into my first name after all?
Maybe that dark cloud is not going to drop any rain near us...
But then reality struck.
The rain did come doon and the wind did hool... I wished I had more clothes in my bag as we vainly tried to cope with the squall that blew through us from the 10th to the 14th holes...
It never rains, but it pours must be a Scottish saying... for the aptly named bunkers of St Andrews suddenly lept into play. As I entered a succession of "coffins" and lamely tried to shape recovery shots that went from bad to worse on each attempt, I could see my target score blowing out... a triple bogey followed by a double par....aaarggghhh!!! At this rate I could see those work colleagues who had predicted a target score for my round as closer to 100 being well justified! I also had an even greater appreciation for David Duvall who had taken 5 to get out of the Road Bunker on the 17th in the Open in 2000... that hole has left a prmanent scar on his golfing psyche....
and I still had the 17th to play!!!
The rain did come doon and the wind did hool... I wished I had more clothes in my bag as we vainly tried to cope with the squall that blew through us from the 10th to the 14th holes...
It never rains, but it pours must be a Scottish saying... for the aptly named bunkers of St Andrews suddenly lept into play. As I entered a succession of "coffins" and lamely tried to shape recovery shots that went from bad to worse on each attempt, I could see my target score blowing out... a triple bogey followed by a double par....aaarggghhh!!! At this rate I could see those work colleagues who had predicted a target score for my round as closer to 100 being well justified! I also had an even greater appreciation for David Duvall who had taken 5 to get out of the Road Bunker on the 17th in the Open in 2000... that hole has left a prmanent scar on his golfing psyche....
and I still had the 17th to play!!!
But lets not get ahead of the plot... somehow, we managed to hang in there through the double greens, the swales and bumps, the coarse and fine grass, the wind and the rain until we came to the 16th and Ross made his prophetic comment.
After nervously hooking my tee shot out to the left to avoid the road that spelt out of bounds on the right, I somehow managed a half decent mid iron shot to the back of the 16th green.
The chiefs, Dook, Jeremo, Kev, Pete, Paul, Tim and Tony will appreciate my next decision - I left the gap wedge in the bag and pulled out the 7 iron... watching the British open for so many years had implanted the notion that chip and run was the way to go here... and so it did - 60 feet up a hill and across the long green - it was never going to miss!
Birdie!!! - it had been too long between drinks...
But then as we turned to face the 17th, I suddenly realized why the camera angles that make the shot across the railways garages look easy are actually so deceptive - they ignore the fact that just 40 feet further right is the beginning of a bloody big hotel building!
No room for slicing here laddie.
"Just hit it over E in the middle of the sign"
And so swearing (reverently) under my breath that I'd play this one conservatively, I took a gentle backswing, but somehow managed to launch a bomb... it went over the E, but veered quickly higher and to the right... the subsequent loud crack prompted me to check with Ross on the rules for damages to buildings! He nonchantly infomred us that it happens all the time (he had once hit a drive into the entry court which is to the right of the picture!), but did suggest that I tee up a provisional after he hit his inevitably perfect drive that didn't stray offline after it went past the E...
My provisional was a superb drive... actually stayed straight--- but then again, penalty shots always do...
Words cannot express the joy at finding that the first ball had not only rebounded off the roof (a most improbable shot even for a billiards player!), but was actually in a good lie on the fairway. It only seemed right to then play a respectable 2nd shot onto the fringe of the large road green. But noone had prepared me for what a large green it was - my first put trundled up the hill, but lost momentum and came to a premature halt still 20 feet from the pin. But, of course, somehow, the second putt was never going to miss - it couldn't after the luck I'd had on the drive!
Still a chance to bag a reasonable score on the back 9 if only we could finish the 18th "in style"
And so we proceeded to the famed 18th hole - trying to mentally erase stories of sliced drives taking out windows in cars parked alongside the course...
The last hole is a majestic sight, framed by century old buildings that look the same as photos from Tom Morris's day.
The drive was good, very good, coming to rest just 2 feet short of the road across the fairway. .. a tad lucky that we didn't land on the road as this is another of those quirky old course rules - no free drop - you must play it off the road! The second shot was a ripper, 125 yards straight at the pin - dropped, rolled back a little and came to rest 10 feet left of the pin...
Of course the putt was always going in... dead centre!
Unbelievable birdie, par and now birdie finish!
Took the sting right out of the earlier bad holes... what bad holes?
(with thanks to Ross for his great course guidance and, of course, to my darling Karla for a truly memorable and unique holiday)
After nervously hooking my tee shot out to the left to avoid the road that spelt out of bounds on the right, I somehow managed a half decent mid iron shot to the back of the 16th green.The chiefs, Dook, Jeremo, Kev, Pete, Paul, Tim and Tony will appreciate my next decision - I left the gap wedge in the bag and pulled out the 7 iron... watching the British open for so many years had implanted the notion that chip and run was the way to go here... and so it did - 60 feet up a hill and across the long green - it was never going to miss!
Birdie!!! - it had been too long between drinks...
But then as we turned to face the 17th, I suddenly realized why the camera angles that make the shot across the railways garages look easy are actually so deceptive - they ignore the fact that just 40 feet further right is the beginning of a bloody big hotel building!No room for slicing here laddie.
"Just hit it over E in the middle of the sign"
And so swearing (reverently) under my breath that I'd play this one conservatively, I took a gentle backswing, but somehow managed to launch a bomb... it went over the E, but veered quickly higher and to the right... the subsequent loud crack prompted me to check with Ross on the rules for damages to buildings! He nonchantly infomred us that it happens all the time (he had once hit a drive into the entry court which is to the right of the picture!), but did suggest that I tee up a provisional after he hit his inevitably perfect drive that didn't stray offline after it went past the E...
My provisional was a superb drive... actually stayed straight--- but then again, penalty shots always do...Words cannot express the joy at finding that the first ball had not only rebounded off the roof (a most improbable shot even for a billiards player!), but was actually in a good lie on the fairway. It only seemed right to then play a respectable 2nd shot onto the fringe of the large road green. But noone had prepared me for what a large green it was - my first put trundled up the hill, but lost momentum and came to a premature halt still 20 feet from the pin. But, of course, somehow, the second putt was never going to miss - it couldn't after the luck I'd had on the drive!
Still a chance to bag a reasonable score on the back 9 if only we could finish the 18th "in style"And so we proceeded to the famed 18th hole - trying to mentally erase stories of sliced drives taking out windows in cars parked alongside the course...
The last hole is a majestic sight, framed by century old buildings that look the same as photos from Tom Morris's day.
The drive was good, very good, coming to rest just 2 feet short of the road across the fairway. .. a tad lucky that we didn't land on the road as this is another of those quirky old course rules - no free drop - you must play it off the road! The second shot was a ripper, 125 yards straight at the pin - dropped, rolled back a little and came to rest 10 feet left of the pin...
Of course the putt was always going in... dead centre! Unbelievable birdie, par and now birdie finish!
Took the sting right out of the earlier bad holes... what bad holes?
(with thanks to Ross for his great course guidance and, of course, to my darling Karla for a truly memorable and unique holiday)
