St Andrews – the Old Course experience

It took 3 tries entering the daily ballot at St. Andrews for us to get a tee time on the Old Course; on Friday at 4pm we found out that we had a tee time on Saturday at 1:30pm. Our round on the Old Course at St. Andrews would be our last round of the trip to Scotland; how perfect!

Three days have passed since playing the Old Course and I’ve been struggling to find the right words to describe the round. All I could come up with is the word “experience”. Playing the Old Course at St. Andrews wasn’t just a round of golf on a famous course; it was an experience; an experience that I will not soon forget. We arrived at the course around 11am (yes, 2½ hours before our tee time). We didn’t want to feel rushed tee’ing off and as it turned out, by the time we had finished shopping for argyle sweaters (what else are you going to wear playing the Old Course?!?), finding the clubhouse and the practice facility, and hitting some warm-up shots, 2½ hours worked out to be just about perfect!

The first tee was unlike any first tee I’ve ever played from. It’s a wide open fairway; there are no hazards to speak of (at least not off the tee anyway), and its not even that long of a hole. Of course, its also the Old Course at St. Andrews, and there’s also the pile of spectators behind the front tee just waiting to watch you tee off. Noooooo pressure… After my terrible first tee drive at Carnoustie, I tee’d off with my trusty hybrid to build confidence; it was probably the best decision I made the entire round. Despite my shaking hands and racing heart, I hit the ball straight down the middle of that famous fairway and thus began one of the most enjoyable rounds of golf of my life.

Time absolutely flew by the entire 4 hours we were on the course. I put a ball in the gorse on the 7th; I put a ball in the burn on the 1st. I ended up in the hell bunker on the 14th and took two shots to get out. I don’t think I ever stopped smiling though. I walked along the undulating fairways feeling like they looked more like ski hills than golf holes, and gained an even greater appreciation for some of the shots the pros play. Between the two of us, Scott and I putt on shared greens; we saw tee boxes with bunkers; we made putts with elevation changes of 4 ft or more. And then there were of course some highlights; we avoided the Johnny Miller bunker, the coffin bunkers and also the Valley of Sin on 18. Unfortunately Scott was stuck in the road hole bunker, but his visit was brief and he played an excellent shot to get out. We both also drove our balls on number 17 over the Old Course hotel which, for me, was one of the most entertaining drives I’ve ever hit. And finally, after stopping for a photo opp on the Swilcan Bridge on number 18, I made my par and walked away still smiling.

Playing the Old Course may be a once in a lifetime thing; and if it is, I’m OK with it, because it was one of the best golf experiences of my life.

Trying to escape the hell bunker

The infamous road hole bunker

Perhaps the most photographed bridge in golf

Carnoustie: Car"nasty" is right!

Wow – I got my butt kicked today. Carnoustie is the site of Jean Van de Velde’s famous implosion on the 18th hole of the British Open when he had a 3 shot lead and made a triple bogey on 18 which then forced a playoff that he then lost. The fashion he did it in though is what makes him famous… have a look at the video footage to see for yourself: Video Here’s a short break-down… He drove his ball off the tee and fortunately narrowly missed the burn. (The burn is basically a creek that runs through the golf course; see the photo above) On the 18th at Carnoustie, the burn runs across the front of the green making your second shot pretty difficult as well. With a 3 stroke lead he could have laid up his second shot and then chipped onto the green, and still won but instead, he decided to go for the green with a shot that ended up hitting the grandstands. Normally a shot that hits the grandstands results in a free drop for the player, but Van de Velde’s shot bounced off the grandstand and into the thick rough next to it. He tried to hit his next shot to the green, but instead ended up in the burn in front of the green! Next he took off his shoes and socks and hopped into the burn planning to play his shot out of the water. Thankfully he came to his senses though and instead took a drop outside the burn. He then hit his ball into the greenside bunker, and it took a sand save (hitting the ball out of the bunker and sinking the putt in one stroke) to get into the play-off. In short – Van de Velde did what any amateur could easily do on the same hole…. Except he’s famous for it because it cost him the British Open!

My own Carnoustie experience started with a duff on the first tee into… the burn! Sigh… if only there had been a practice range I feel like it would have helped a lot to give me confidence over that first drive. Unfortunately I spent most of the day trying to find my swing. My whole day basically felt like what I imagine Van de Velde’s 18th at Carnoustie felt like. On the downside, it was most of my round that felt that way, but on the bright side, I didn’t have a tournament on the line, and I hit some pretty great bunker shots out of some pretty nasty bunkers (See the photo below for an example). My caddie told me on the 18th that they used to sell, “I beat Van de Velde” souvenirs in the pro shop. Unfortunately for me – my 18th was so bad that I couldn’t even have bought one of those souvenirs today!!!

The highlight of the round today was after 10 finding out that we had finally secured a tee time at St. Andrews on the old course for tomorrow via text message from the golf travel company. I did enjoy the round, but right now I am not in a hurry to get back to Carnoustie!!!

Below: One of the "spectacle" bunkers at Carnoustie

Kingsbarns: A biiiirdy-full day on the links

(From Tuesday, left - this is the only place in the world I don't mind calling them the ladies tees). Kingsbarns course, which is located about 5 miles south of St. Andrews is ranked #54 in the world for best golf courses. We couldn’t resist giving it a go, and have zero regrets about doing so. Today the sun was shining again and the winds were fairly calm (very calm for Scotland at least), but this time the golf story doesn’t get messy… well, just it did in a few parts I will admit.

To get a good picture o fthe beauty of Kingbarns, just take a look at the homepage of its website: www.kingsbarns.com. I was a bit worried about the course because from the front tees it’s only 5200 yards so I thought that might take away from it feeling like a true Scottish links course, but I was dead wrong. On the second hole, my caddie advised me to hit my approach shot at the par 5 about 40 yards left of the pin. On my own there’s no way I would have ever aimed that far left, but I trusted him and made the shot after which we both watched the ball roll up and around a swail on the green, stopping only about 10 feet short of the hole for my birdie putt. I knew from that point on two things – first, I had a great caddie. Second, it was was going to be a fun day.

Links golf is special to me because of all of the fun and interesting shots you can make. Over the course of the round today, I had several putts from way off the green (one unfortunately I putt clear across the green and into a bunker), punched shots along the ground and used the contours of greens to land approach shots in places I never would have though of on my own. I was also enterained by stories from my caddie about the course, about some of the famous people he had caddied before, and even a story about a golf club ending up in the ocean. (For his protecton I’ll keep that one private!) Maybe the best part of the day though was seeing Scott smiling as he walked up the fairways toward birdie putt after birdie putt. Hence - a biiiiirdie-ful day! Would have been nice if I was hitting my own birdie putts, but hey, I'll take my 91 and run.

(Below - the signature 12th hole at Kingsbarns called, "Ordeal")

Royal Troon: Hurts so good

In the immortal words of John Cougar Mellancamp, Royal Troon made me “hurt so good” today. This is the course that Colin Montgomerie (“Monty” to the golf world – one of the greatest Scottish golfers of our lifetime) has said, “is more difficult than good.” The 114 on my scorecard by round’s end has me completely agreeing with this quote and feeling like I was lucky I didn’t shoot 120!

It was a beautiful day; the sun was shining and it was about 70 degrees. Warning! When a golf story starts with a positive comment about the weather – the golf part of the story is probably going to get messy! And that it did! I was really excited right off the bat because we were paired with another couple so I was not alone on the front tees. The first few holes went pretty well – my driver was working; I stayed out of the rough and the bunkers, but I still wasn’t scoring well. “That’s okay,” I thought to myself, “it’s a beautiful day, the sun is shining, and I’m playing one of the nicest golf courses in the world!” It’s a good thing I was able to hold onto that attitude because before too long I found myself pulling shots (which basically means hitting them waaaaay left of target), and suddenly I was contending with very thick fescue, and veeeery deep bunkers. Made it through the front nine though, feeling pretty good about my 53. Yes, 53 on the front – so that means 61 on the back. Yikes!

As we walked along the path toward the 10th hole, Phil, one of our group’s caddies told a story about Gary Player (yet another incredible golfer – this time South African) being asked by someone at the 10th hole on Royal Troon what the toughest back 9 is that he’s ever played; his response, “I’m standing on it.” Before our round we had also read about Arnold Palmer describing the 11th hole as, “one of the most dangerous holes in golf.” That same hole dashed Jack Nicklaus hopes of winning the British Open in 1967 when he scored a 10. All that was missing was the dramatic dooming music as we made our way up to the 10th tee box. Well, once again, I now understand the quotes. My highlight from the back nine was actually beating Jack Nicklaus score on the 11th hole; my score – a 9! That 9 though includes one shot that I actually hit myself with accidentally (that’s a new one) so who knows if the USGA would actually penalize me another stroke for that so maybe I didn’t beat him afterall! The back nine was just so tough. Briefly I felt down about how I was playing, but then I stopped and reminded myself that I was playing a long difficult course and I was clearly tired and my swing was suffering as a result of the fatigue. And oh yeah - I was still playing one of the nicest (and toughest) courses in the world... so in short, my hurt... started to feel good.

(Above right - the "Postage Stamp" hole at Royal Troon; named for the very small green which is only 11 paces wide. Below - discussing club selection at the Postage Stamp hole with my caddy, John)

Turnberry: 105 never felt so good!

Maybe it was the fact that the sun was shining for almost the entire round. Or perhaps it was the refreshing smell from the sea across the 8 holes that fall next to the water. Or maybe it was the birdie on the 6th hole (after leaving an eagle putt embarrassingly short). Maybe it was the beautiful views and challenging, yet fair course design from the front tees (even at approx 5800 yards) Then again, maybe it was the friendly (and incredibly helpful) caddies who reminded us both of just how far that ball can roll on a links course. Come to think of it, the roll alone on a lot of holes could have been the reason alone! Or it could have had something to do with Scott and I getting to play alone today, and Scott shooting a great score. There was also the friendliness and smiles on the faces of the men playing in the groups in front of and behind us. And let’s not forget the lager shandy at the bar after the round where we could sit and watch groups come up the 18th hole. Maybe its just the memories of Tom Watson’s incredible attitude and sportsmanship when he lost the British Open here in 2009; what a great attitude. Whatever the reason, shooting 105 has never felt as good as it felt today at Turnberry. Bar none - one of my favorite rounds of golf. I highly recommend it.

If its not Scottish...

If you google "origin of golf" you'll see that there is in fact some debate as to where the game of golf originated. Some argue that a game similar to it was played in the Netherlands or even in China as early as the 1200s! However, a spokesman for the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews, said "Stick and ball games have been around for many centuries, but golf as we know it today, played over 18 holes, clearly originated in Scotland." (Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_golf) Based on the fact that there are references to golf in Scottish parliament from as early as the 1400s, I believe him! I'm sure that my Scottish heritage has not created a bias at all.

And so when one has two weeks off in the middle of the summer golf season in the North East of the USA with 90 - 100 degree heat, what else would you want to do than turn the temperature down a notch (to around 60) with a trip to Scotland for golf! So here I am in Scotland - our hotel last night was only about a mile down the road from the local municipal course which looks like a challenge all on its own, but we're here to P-L-A-Y and that's what we're doing. We have 3 rounds booked - all on courses where the British Open has been played. We are hoping for a 4th round at St. Andrews but will have to wait for lottery results tomorrow to find out whether this is going to happen! I'm ready to be humbled by the game... stay tuned for details...

What is the golf "uniform"?

Whether you know who Payne Stewart is or not, I’m willing to bet that when you first think of golf attire, an image somewhat like him pops into your head. His outfits on the golf course are some of my earliest memories of watching the game with my grandpa on TV when I was a kid. Payne Stewart was a very accomplished golfer who died tragically in a plane crash at the age of 42. His style can only be described as throwback. He wore knickerbockers and caps and looked like he had just stepped out of a time machine from the 1920s.

Fortunately for we ladies, Payne Stewart was an original, and though his outfits fit the bill for a very old-school traditional golf “uniform”, the sport’s fashion sense has come a long way. So what should you wear? Generally you have to abide by just a couple of rules:

- Wear a collared shirt
- Do not wear jeans or any denim
- Make sure your shorts or skirt are long enough that your Mom wouldn’t be embarrassed if she saw you in them

Easy enough right? So now the tougher question is where do you get great golf clothes as a woman? This is where I get frustrated sometimes because generally in a lot of sports stores, and even golf stores the selection of women’s clothing is limited. If you do find something you like – finding your size is an even tougher challenge. Fortunately though there are lots of great options online which is where I spend most of my $$$s on golf clothes. Here are a couple of good options:

The Golf Warehouse: www.tgw.com
Pinks and Greens: www.pinksandgreens.com
Nike women’s golf: http://store.nike.com/us/en_us/?l=shop,women_golf

If you don’t find anything you like, fear not! Just spend an hour or two watching an LPGA tour event and you’ll see that women’s golf fashion is improving everyday so while you get better on the course, you can be confident that your clothing will get even better too!

Empathy for Tiger?!?

Is it possible? It can’t be… after all of the drama with Tiger Woods off the golf course over the past while, I couldn’t possibly be feeling this feeling… it just can’t be… but watching Tiger this weekend competing in the World Golf Championship event at Firestone I recognized the familiar tug at my heart strings – I have to admit it. I actually felt empathy for Tiger Woods. But lets be clear – these feelings are only about his golf swing!

You see, early this golf season I went out and was playing great. I was excited for the season and I was even more excited about blogging about it! But then suddenly it happened… my drive just left me. Its bags were packed and it was out the door before I even had a chance to say goodbye. The warning signs were there for a long time – at least two golf seasons – but I’d been trying to ignore them, hoping maybe they would just go away. But now it was too late. My drive had left me and I was going to have to commit to seeing a professional to get it back. Off I went to see my local pro for a lesson. “My drive is gone,” I pleaded to Barb, “please help me get it back! I”ll do whatever it takes!” She was compassionate and ready to help, but asked me first to take out my pitching wedge, and then my 7 iron. “Uh oh,” I thought, “its just my drive – I’m hitting my irons well!” That’s what I thought anyway. Unfortunately though, after taking a brief look at my swing with these short clubs Barb broke the news to me… the issue with my driver, was in fact affecting my swing for all of my clubs. The driver, being so much less forgiving than my other clubs was the only one though that had left me completely. The truth I had to accept, however, was that I had been taking my swing for granted across my entire set of clubs and was at serious risk of losing them too if I didn’t do something about it! Since then I’ve changed my swing. I’ve taken multiple lessons, practiced and played at least 2 – 3 times per week. My scores have been terrible and my relationship with the game tested. I have found my swing again, but it’s just not that easy. My swing confidence is shaken, my distances with my clubs are all off, and I have in fact questioned whether my love in the game of golf is strong enough to get through these terribly frustrating and difficult rounds!

And so today I watched Tiger struggling, again. He too has a new swing. His distances are also off. His confidence is also shaken and he talks about having to “trust “ his new swing. He too is trying to put back together his relationship with the game of golf. And he is doing it in front of the entire world. And there you have it – I feel empathy for Tiger. Suddenly though, I feel like my handicap rising a couple of strokes during this big correction in my golf swing isn’t the end of the world after all. My audience is just the foursome I happen to be playing with on that day. (And in some cases the foursome on the fairway next to the one I’m playing where my ball has ended up). I’m confident now though; my driver and I – we’ll get through this – and the entire world won’t be watching. Now it just remains to be seen whether Tiger will too!