Last week I had the opportunity to spend a day on the the Old Course in St. Andrews, Scotland in conjunction with the 150th Open Championship.
The experience, in a word, was surreal.
It’s one of those iconic venues you’ve seen on television from the comfort of your own sofa or recliner for years – up to 150 of them:-) – but does one really every expect to see it in person? Had you asked me a year ago I’d have told you no. I live in southeast Michigan and St. Andrews is about a 10-hour plane ride away and why in the world would I be traveling to St. Andrews. Then, a concert I had tickets for in London was delayed year and, on a whim, I entered the ticket ballot for Open Practice Session #3 and had my name drawn.
Before I could say, “Bob’s your uncle,” I was planning a trip to the Old Course.
And what a trip it turned out to be.
From the hour-long train ride from Edinburgh to the Leuchars’s station where I was able to visit with Scottish natives and a Japanese ex-patriot living and working Newcastle, England, to the short bus ride from Leuchars to the Old Course itself where I was fortunate to sit next to a fella named Colin Campbell whose father was the Old Course greenskeeper in the late 1960s and early 1970s, even the journey to the Old Course was memorable.
Here is a look at my day on the Old Course.
It was a short walk from where the Open Link busses dropped patrons off to the entrance. Everything – and I do mean everything – was polished and pristine. It’s been a while since I’ve attended a professional golf tournament, but my recollection is that the Buick Open and the Senior Players Championship did not look like this set up. Clearly this is one of golf’s major championships and the organizers have thought of all possibilities. There are water bottle refill stations offering both chilled and unchilled water; a spectator village with a bean bag seating, giant monitors, and radio broadcasts; food trucks throughout the course; toilet facilities that likely rival those of some homes; and the ability for patrons to put a 25 pound sterling deposit down on a portable power pack for their phones.
Once through the gates, it’s sensory overload in the Spectator Village and the Open Shop that’s roughly the size of a small Kohl’s or similar here in the States (except it’s under a tent, of course). Several pounds sterling were left there. (What is the exhange rate, anyway? On second thought, never mind. It will totally be worth it!)
After leaving the better part of my per diem in the Open Shop, it’s time to go and get a first glimpse of the course. Oh, wait, what’s that, a way cool Rolex clock to get a photo by? Absolutely!
Where were we, yes, getting to the course. I attempted, how successful you’ll judge, to capture my first glimpse of the Old Course.
After getting to the course, I heeded the advice of my shuttle bus buddy, Colin, and headed to the 17th tee where spectators have views of the both the 16th green and 17th tee. The 17th, of course, is perhaps one of the most iconic holes in all of golf. Known as the Road Hole, it requires the player to hit their tee shot over The Old Course Hotel into a blind landing area. As I heard a pundit say on the radio broadcast later that day, a swing coach urged his players to “try and hit it out of bounds to the right.” As the coach then noted, “it’s pretty tough to hit it out of bounds to the right. Once my players realize this, they’re more comfortable hitting into that blind area. There’s plenty of room out there and less trouble right than there is left.”
I bid my adieu to my wife and daughter and ventured off to see as much of the course as my 55-year-old legs would allow. Turns out it was quite a lot, but it’s no joke trekking out to the part of the course known as The Loop at the outer reaches. There is a reason why someone like Tiger Woods, who’s still recovering from catastrophic leg injuries, chose to only play nine practice holes on Tuesday and not play any on Wednesday. It is a taxing to go out and back. Some of the highlights along the way.
By the time I made it back to The Loop, it was like a different weather pattern altogether. I climbed to the top of the grandstand and marveled at the wind which, I was told by the volunteer marshals I spoke with, was more a breeze rather than a wind. In an effort to capture how breezey it was, I shot a short video.
What goes out must come back in and, as I began the hike back, I knew the one area I definitely wanted to linger at was the 18th hole. The grandstand behind the green rises steeply and starkly with its iconic yellow scoreboard serving as a beacon. To the left is the Old Course clubhouse and behind the grandstand the Hamilton Grand hotel. Along the right side of the fairway is the road that, litterally, has a fence down the middle of it during the tournament. And there, in the middle of the fairway is the Swilcan Burm and the famous Swilcan Bridge the players use to cross it.
As noted above, the whole day was surreal and one that I’ll not easily forget. As I indicate on this special episode of Conversations with Sports Fans, if you put photos of the 156 players in front of me, I might have correctly identified 30 … maybe. I was here to experience the course, the atmosphere, and the overall environment. I couldn’t have asked for a better day. It began cool, turned breezey, and wound up sunny and warm as I made my way to the 17th tee grandstand one more time.
As our train wound its way through the Scottish countryside returning us to Edinburgh, I was able to gaze out the window occasionally and think deeply about the nine or so hours I was able to linger at the much-presumed “Home of Golf.” At that moment I felt fortunate and blessed and hopeful.
Fortunate to have had my name drawn in the ticket ballot in the first place. Blessed to have had the means and physical capabilities to get to St. Andrews. Hopeful that I might be able to return someday experience even more equipped with the knowledge I now have.