Scotland – Day Eight
Posted on: May 29, 20083 comments so far (is that a lot?)
May 29, 2008 – With a beautiful view of the golf course, I accepted that with a nice pub, great staff, and a fantastic breakfast buffet, our hotel was a much better way to start the day than my standard cup of Starbucks!
After yesterday’s great experience we decided to once again hire caddies to accompany us on the course for their expertise. British Open winner Tiger Woods said that the Carnoustie golf course is hard, but it’s fair. I think it’s a fantastic test. And a fantastic test it was!
Each hole has many hills, hidden bunkers, yellow gorse, tall grass, creeks, and a lot of out-of-bounds areas. One green shares two holes, and our short game was challenged much more since the greens were very small in comparison to The Old Course.
On the 9th hole, a 420-yard Par 4, Jed’s second shot landed in the right bunker in front of the green. He took a wedge over the hill, which landed his ball dead in the hole like a 3-point shot in basketball! We all danced together and our caddies were more than happy to join the celebration, joyous over the shot. The many creeks known as “burns” were a big challenge for us as we took our shots.
We all wanted to stay out of the tall grass but had no such luck; when we landed in the grass, we could only hit our ball 20 yards out of the grass. We couldn’t imagine how the pros can knock them 170 yards out of the grass-they must have robotic arms!
The par-3 holes were a lot of fun, although well-protected by greenside bunkers. The greens were so smooth and without any flaws or bumps and the grass was amazingly well-maintained! The 17th hole has the famous Island green, which is surrounded completely by water. When my caddy told me to use my driver, I thought he was insane. With two loops of the burn to cross, I was unsure I could make it across both with the wind. When I landed my ball in the second loop and my caddy said I should have aimed better, I wondered if I should have fired him!
The 18th hole, affectionately known as “home” had me driving hard right, fortunately missing a bunker and burn only to have me in tall grass. I had to lay up since I couldn’t make the green from that far, and the short chip put me in position for a bogey putt. Carnoustie golf course is my favorite course, with its hotel located so close to the clubhouse, and so many amenities really made the stay an enjoyable one. If I had to choose one course to play over again, it would definitely be this one.
We had to get going as we had a 90-minute drive to Edinburg, and arrived at the airport hotel in preparation for our 7am flight in the morning. Instead of wasting time at the hotel, we decided to spend time in downtown Edinburg and swung by the Hard Rock Café. It wasn’t really James’ birthday, but we had a grand time teasing him and getting him a cake for dinner. He had to face the entire restaurant who was singing his birthday song, and he turned beet-red. It was a fun practical joke to play. With so little time left, we saw Edinburgh Castle, one of the most decorated castles in the world which sits perched atop a rock hill. We drove along narrow cobble stone roads, and really absorbed the Scottish scenery. It was a fantastic week filled with so much heritage and beautiful sights. Our Scotland Journey was truly one to remember, with 8 days, 64 holes of golf, 980 miles on our rental vehicle, and 9,000 miles in the air, we were ready to go home on BMI Airlines. We will miss Scotland, but not its burns and bunkers!
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