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
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