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Published: April 7th 2012
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About to tee off!!!
What an incredible feeling Greg was up at 5am, out of the room by 5.15am and he headed over to line up to get on the Old Course to play. I called at 8am, i could hear lots of wind in the background, but GREAT news, he was on and playing. A group of 4 had pulled out so he'd just hit off and thought the ball had hit the water!!! Will leave it to him to fill in the rest.
Kids and i trying to get organised and head to the movies. Went and saw Pirates, pretty good, great bus trip to the top of Dundee and back to the snow. Weather today back in Yorkshire was blizzards, again more great luck! or a St Andrews miracle.
St Andrews, let me set the scene. 6.15am, 1.5 degrees, the wind is screaming in off the North Sea, chill factor is incredible. I have thermal top and bottoms on, new golf pants (9 pounds, bargain!) Wet weather jacket and pants ( 18 pounds, bargain!) Still have my thick jacket on, god it is cold. Put my name down on the waiting list at the starters hut, 5th on the list, no gaurantee of tee
time. Walk to the clubhouse to organise clubs and shoes, could easily stay in here, but may miss a call up. Chat to the starter, pretend I'm not cold and am loving the experience. Small talk with others on the list, silent curses as everyone booked in turns up. 7.42am, the starter calls 4 of us over, the group booked in for 8.00am have rung and cancelled, we're in!!!!!! "You have 12 minutes to be ready and on the first tee" We'll be right, no warm up, no putting practice, quick stretch, introductions, good luck, we all cannot believe we are about to tee off on the Old Course. My turn, all of a sudden a bit nervous, hands still frozen, to excited to think of technique, just grip it and rip it! Low draw down the right of fairway, who cares, I just teed off at St Andrews!!!!
The wind blew all day, but no rain, the sun was out and made conditions comfortable. We all consulted the yardage book on every hole, as it was difficult to identify fairways and rough amongst all the gorse, mounds and bunkers. By the fouth hole we all acknowledged that hiring
Starters Hut
Next to 1st tee a caddy may have been a good idea. We got tips froms the officials along the way, "keep left on the front 9 and right on the back" , good advice. I hit some great tees shots on the back nine, my hands were no longer frozen. Iron shots were solid, putting very difficult, a number of 3 putts. The greens are very undulating, pin positions were tough, a lot of no go areas, which of course we went in. Highlights of the round were a birdie on the 154 yard, Par 3 8th, 8 iron to within 9 feet, slight left to right putt, never looked like missing. The 17th Road hole, 435 yards Par 4, tee shot over the corner of the buildings on the right, 274 yards left side of fairway, 161 to the green. Approach was a 6 iron to the front of the green still about 90 feet away, but safe from the huge pot bunker. Left the first putt about 3 feet short, solid putt for par, stoked. Just managed par on, as the yardage book describes, "one of the hardest holes in world golf".
Incredible day, shared with an Englishman, American and
Erik hits approach shot
Parents watching in the background. a German, all nice blokes, all played some good golf, no one worried much about scores, however 3 of us were stoked about our birdies on different holes. We thanked each other for an amazing day, and parted ways, I sat near the first tee and briefly watched others nervously tee off, took in the atmosphere for another 10 minutes, then returned my clubs.
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scotty
non-member comment
And so was the caddy good looking ....
Looks a heap of fun,hope the caddy was a good sort ...