Our little trip to Scotland

[iSank]

Aloha good people of The Sand Trap,

We took a few weeks in beautiful Scotland and here's some of the details.

First of all it's a long flight from Honolulu, took a little time with the TA to make sure there was only 1 over night flight and minimal layover time. After 2 days in Edinburgh we headed to Gleneagles, and what a resort this is, great food, service, and 3 courses, we played 2.

Here's us on the PGA course and thought we'd wear the red, white and blue even though the US did lose that one. This course was downright fun and good challenge.

Then too long of a drive to Skye but in the end was well worth it. There is now 3 nice bottles of Talisker at home. Then we headed north. One night in Tain after playing Tain, then we stayed in Dornach for 4 nights. Stayed at the Links House and loved it. We had a mini-fridge outside of the room, stocked with bottled water, with a coffee machine on top.  They also had an "honesty bar" where you poured and recorded your own drinks. Met 4 US guys who go here every year, they love Dornach and called St Andrews a circus. 

What a course it is, but first Brora

 

and then Royal Dornach, here's the start of Foxy, boogied it. Tough course but would love to play it a dozen more times.

Then we went down to St Andrews, stayed at the Fairmont, it's ok. Played the Eden, New and the Old courses  plus the Kittocks at the hotel.

About getting on the Old Course...We entered the raffle last year, then entered the ballot 4 days in a row, when no luck I decided to go standby, my wife stayed in bed, and at 7:50am I heard my name being called, the 3 ball was already on the tee, my heart was pounding, paid my $$, introduced myself and then all of a sudden it was my turn. I tee up, heart still pounding, I try to relax, take a deep breath and ripped it, best shot of the group. Then I could not stop smiling for the next 4 hours, shot a 92, played with the same ball until the 17th where I put that dear ball on someone's  balcony so I got to tee-off twice on the 17th.

What a game, you meet the best people, have a fun set of times, face a challenge, and enjoy the fairways & fresh air. 

After 20'years of marriage it's still very fun to experience such a trip together. We rented a car so it was easy to get around, except for a few very skinny roadways. And at the end of the trip, we got onboard a plane a flew to Hawaii

If your thinking about going...do it!

Aloha 

will

[dennyjones]

Thanks for sharing your adventure.   So nice.

[bkuehn1952]

Nice trip.  That is one place to which I want to return before I get too old and stiff.  Great that you got the obligatory Swilcan Bridge photo.  I have mine, too!

[DaveP043]

Nice to hear about a great trip.  You missed a great chance for another distillery, Glenmorangie at Tain.  That golf course is a little treasure, I thought, and Royal Dornoch is still my favorite, of all the courses I've ever played.  Congratulations on your 92 at the Old Course!  Only one question, did you ever get to that pub I recommended?

[iSank]

3 hours ago, DaveP043 said:

You missed a great chance for another distillery, Glenmorangie at Tain.  

That golf course is a little treasure, I thought, and Royal Dornoch is still my favorite, of all the courses I've ever played.

Only one question, did you ever get to that pub I recommended?

Mahalo @dennyjones @bkuehn1952& @DaveP043

We went into town for lunch at the pub and as it was graduation week, there was no parking any where near, we found a spot on the street but it wanted lbs, we searched the car, no lbs, so we had lunch at the Castle Course clubhouse. Graduation was the day we left, and it was a good day to leave.

have enjoyed Glenmorangie in the past, just haven't found one that I'm a fan of but I did have a dram that night and raised my glass to the 16 men of Tain.

Fully agree on Tain and RD. Being that I've spent a few moments on the ocean, the Links fairways look like a moment in time, a snapshot of what the ocean surface is, and while St Andrews is a nice easy breeze small waves, Tain is a small craft advisory. Big 10-15 ft surf, We had the course to ourselves, but at Royal Dornach players were stacked. As far as my ocean analogy on Royal Dornach I would say mostly 10-15 knots with an occasional Tsunami. 

Its a good day for golf!

[BerndCheeseburger]

@iSank Great round up of your trip! I am playing Brora in a competition in September and by the looks of your photos it looks interesting to say the least! Any tips or advice for the course?

[iSank]

3 hours ago, BerndCheeseburger said:

I am playing Brora in a competition in September and by the looks of your photos it looks interesting to say the least! Any tips or advice for the course?

Thanks! We had a beautiful day and didn't feel the wind too much until the 18th and then we were straight into a stiff breeze. The one thing I remember, and I'm hardly qualified for any golf advice, is that there were several 'run outs' on the fairways. 2,3,5,7,11 and I don't recall each but on the 3rd I had my best drive only to end up on the steep rough leading out of the gully, making it tough to reach the green 148 yds away. 

Have a great tournament! 

Aloha,

will

[iSank]

Here's the 3rd hole, thought I could make it with the prevailing breeze but stuck it in the far side wall of gully. 

[BerndCheeseburger]

Thanks for your tips @iSank I am looking forward to playing it. I hope the weather is kind to me!

[Birdie84]

Glad you enjoyed your trip.

 

Living in Scotland, it's always good to hear of folk coming from far and wide to enjoy two of the things we're best at - whisky and links courses

[Golferkeen101]

Nice write up along with doctored photos!

With the weak British Pound at the moment, there will not be a better time to visit Scotland or indeed the rest of the UK to play our finest courses. Can't control the weather unfortunately, but that's all part of the fun. Looking forward to playing the old course at St Andrews next year.