With The Open coming up before you know it, I wanted to turn my bloggy focus back to the British Isles and talk about my trip to the Home of Golf, St. Andrews.  Return trip that is.  Click here for the story of my first visit!

Reminiscing

I’d taken my “once in a lifetime” trip to the UK and the Home of Golf in 2013.  One of the first things you realize when you get out there is that you’ll definitely be visiting again.  This town, and Scotland itself, just seems to have a gravity to it.  It had to happen again, but of course it must be paired with the proper momentous occasion.

Strangely enough, I can’t recall where this story started.  At some point, my brother and I decided to enter the Links lottery, and I put our names in around August of 2018.  Didn’t think another thing of it until I got the email saying we had been selected for a guaranteed time on the New Course and THE OLD COURSE the following May.  Have to say I giggled a bit, then forwarded that email off to Lil Bro.  

He’s a well traveled lad, you see, but he had nae made it to Europe yet, let alone take a major golf trip on that side of the world.  The tricky thing is when you have to switch into logistics mode and figure out how to make this fancy trip happen.  We both have the typical adulting responsibilities that make ambitious trips like this challenging – him more so than me.  So after we shook off the adrenaline, he was able to secure the thumbs up from his side, and I was off to plead the case on mine.

The “System™”

Each year my wife and I will go on a couple of trips.  We’re lucky that we can, and it just so happens that we’re both masterplanners.  Sometimes it’s a local long weekend, sometimes we’re the Intercontinental Champions of Tourism.  We have a “System™” for planning these things, and it never ever fails.  BUT I had to introduce this one a little gently, knowing the rarity of the opportunity and also that we had a few other ideas queued up already.  I offered up options and rough itineraries.  My pitch rolled out flawlessly.  The response?  Positive. “You’re not going to f@#$ing Europe without me.”  Thus, our travel party was formed.

OK – will spare you the planning and most of the non-golfy details.  Me, my better half, and Lil Bro meet up in Edinburgh for a day to do the regular tourist spots.  Edinburgh Castle, Arthur’s Seat, Royal Mile, whisky flights, driving on the wrong side of the road in tiny cars.  They’re all rad.  Check em out.  One of the real highlights, and I’m sure most veteran St. Andrews travelers will tell you, is the drive into town.  Gorgeous countryside abounds, with flowing hills, bright foliage, and gigantic handsome cows.  You soon notice the sea getting closer, and the Scotland rookies don’t yet know what’s in store.  As you arrive into The Home of Golf, you see a few hotels, homes, old stone buildings, then we step out for a little walk (the setup).  And before too long, there it is… 

Our first glimpse of the highlight of the Home of Golf, The Old Course, is what I’d think is a pretty common one – right in between the Old Course Hotel and along the 17th hole.  St. Andrews itself seems incredibly familiar even if you’ve never been.  You know the holes and the history, and it’s exactly what you expect but at the same time so much more.  It’s hard to describe, and it’s awesome.

We had a couple huge advantages here.  Guaranteed tee times, and long summer days (compared to my last time in town in late October…).  This place is hustling and bustling from sunup to sun down.  It’s incredible.  Golfers zipping around side streets with their bags, students that have little clue there’s world-class sport here, and history buffs wandering towards the tremendous castles and cathedrals.  We got a chance to settle in and scope a number of groups finishing up on 18, and do a recon mission in the pro shop get our gear purchases planned.  

Really though, the best part of that day was the quick round on the Himalayas putting green.  We were the last group out before they shut the place down and were able to sneak in some holes as the sun went down.  There was this family of seven or so ahead of us with this little kid.  Maybe 4 years old.  He was having his best day ever, just swinging away, screaming “HOYYYYOOOOO!” (Maybe a British thing???) and sinking 40’ putts.  No big deal.  Wish I got video of it…

The New Course at St. Andrews

We were the second group off on the New Course on a Sunday.  Lucky enough, Lil Bro and I were not yet wrecked from the time change, so getting up really early didn’t pose an issue.  We got to hit a bucket and loosen up at maybe the best practice facility I’ve ever been to.  They have Trackman – on the range – for us.  Now that’s a cool feature.  They’ve got some good short game and putting areas, likely to test the inexperienced American traveler to their limits before shooting 118 on the big courses.

Quick History of the New

About 125 years ago, the town only had one golf course (If you can believe it.  They called it Pilmour Links then) and our good friend, Old Tom, laid out a new golf course in 1895.  They declare it the “oldest new course in the world.”  Minutes later, we had an Old and a New.  The New gets a ton of play by the locals and visitors considering the accessibility of the Old can present a challenge.  Not to say the New is the next best thing, but…it might be, and that’s just fine!  It’s also neat how the Old and New differ despite being adjacent – the Old is a bit more “crumply” and severe, and the New features a touch more hills and sweeping land.

Many in town speak highly of the New, and I’ll echo those sentiments.  It follows the eastern edge of the Old, has a few double greens, and offers a solid test.  It plays a touch over 6600 yards and sits sandwiched on the other side by the Jubilee course.  In the couple snaps below you’ll see the approach shot into the short par-5 8th and the all-world long par-3 9th.

I got off to a solid start – a front nine 40 with two doubles, and while Lil Bro found a couple bunkers (by found, I mean got buried up to his Noodles), he was hitting it well.

New Course Thoughts

During the back nine, the wind picked up a bit and we found some more trouble.  For the most part, the New does not hide much from you.  There’s few blind shots and only a couple areas where the gorse can kill you.  Simply put – if the New were not surrounded by a half dozen other world-class links courses, you’d hear more about it.  It’s a great golf course.  Unfortunately for me, I had a few sloppy holes and could not match my opening 40, but Lil Bro came in and matched his previous personal best.  How’s that for an intro to links golf?!

I’ve Said Before, There’s More Than Golf…

In my previous post on St. Andrews, the Home of Golf, I talked a little bit about the wide range of non-golf stuff you can do in the area.  We got to see much more of it this time around.  While I regret not getting to loop around the highly regarded Kingsbarns or Crail courses, I can’t ever imagine not stopping through the various towns along the coast next time.  They’re small, idyllic stops along the sea.  You’ll find a bustling fishing industry (GO HERE), charming shops, and even more charming townies. 

Being a “Foodie In Fife” sometimes takes a back seat to golf, but every meal was amazing.  Shout outs to Forgan’s, Seafood Ristorante, and the jam packed Little Italy.  Disclaimer – we did do the Dunvegan.  It’s cool and fun but I’m not 100% sold on the hype.  But you’re there for the company and maybe a little bit to say you went…

Join the Queue

With our impending Monday afternoon time on The Old, Lil Bro and I had a lot of time (too much anxious time) to prepare ourselves mentally for it, so we enjoyed the scenery.  Just hanging out by the first tee feels electric.  You’re seeing tons of folks experiencing their golf dream.  The Links folks do a great job of making a proper spectacle of it too, by announcing the group on the first tee. 

I felt fine this time around, but the prospect of teeing up on the same first tee as every notable golfer who’s ever lived can make you a wee bit nervous.  Of course, should you hold in your lunch, you can hit it anywhere on the first.  I pumped one straight up the center and Lil Bro survived the hole without much damage.  We’d been paired with two pleasant Englishmen, and off we went.

The day’s weather was clear as can be, but aside from a few holes in the middle of the round, we could not shake a pesky breeze right in our face.  One thing you learn very quickly about links golf is that those little gusts greatly affect the shots you need to hit.  On this day I had pretty decent control of my ball striking, but made many unforced errors with wedges and putter.  I did play the middle six holes -1 but in the end my scorecard was bookended with too many three-putt disasters.

The Things You Remember

I will mention how phenomenal the “Best Club Ever – No Debate” Tour Edge CBX 119 hybrid worked all day.  Fairway finder, long as hell.  Birdied the (in)famous Road Hole from about 210 out with it.  Stuck it to 6’.  #highlights

What I witnessed during those four hours was a Master Class on stepping up to the occasion.  While he’s played sports his whole life, Lil Bro’s only played golf for about three years.  He’s broken 100 a couple times and showed some solid improvement.  You think an inexperienced player like him would crumble in a moment like this, right?  Nope.  Dude was CRUSHING it.  Talking 260 yard+ pumped drives right down the middle.  He got on the long par-5 5th hole in two and escaped with minimal bunker damage.  He didn’t make any birdies, but avoided big numbers and with a mid iron into 18 walks off with a personal best round of 89.  That really happened.

You Going Back to The Home of Golf?

It’s a lock.  Of course we’ll be back to the Home of Golf.  Getting go visit is one thing, getting to share the experience with Bros and buddies makes it even better.  The great thing about this town is that while it’s kinda small, the quality of experience it offers is off the charts.  I already set my reminder for next year’s lottery…