The drive over the Old Course Hotel at #17 is a knee-knocker, but the sense of achievement once you clear the shed is worth the sweat.

    One visitor to this space from Denmark wrote me the following the other day about his own experience playing the St. Andrews Old Course for the first time:
    On the back nine I had developed a so severe case of the shanks that I did not dare aim for the 18th green in fright of hitting one of the expensive cars parked alongside the fairway. It took almost a year to get rid of the shanks and lots of hours on the range.  I will never forget the embarrassment.  I cannot say that I enjoyed the round...
    My own first-round intimidation at the Old Course last Saturday was at the very beginning of the round. From watching the televised Open Championship (what we Yanks refer to as The British Open) and from reports of those who had played it, I knew the fairway on the first hole was wide.  But nothing can prepare you for just how much room you have -- two enormous fairways with no rough to speak of between them, and a fence so far right as to make it superfluous.  If you aim down the left side of the first fairway, it is impossible to hit the ball out of play on the first at the Old Course.
    Well, almost impossible.  I ripped my initial drive hard left off the tee yesterday and watched it roll and roll on the hard turf toward the famous Swilken Bridge in front of the 18th tee.  Friction finally took hold and the ball

stopped about 10 yards short of the right edge of the 18th fairway.  Actually, it left me a pretty decent approach to #1 green, but the embarrassment of such a dreadful opening shot made me try too hard on the approach, which I hit off the back of the green.  It took me three to get down.  I wanted so badly to impress those golfing gods who look over the Old Course that I went out of sync - bollocks they might say locally -- for the first five holes, going seven over par.
    I was just about to right the ship when summer changed to winter in a matter of minutes, another thing you take for granted and even wish for at St. Andrews so that you can experience the wind and rain that is as much local custom as kilts and haggis.  But just two holes of pouring rain were enough "real" experience for me.  By the time sunshine had returned, I was done in, a 10 handicap carding a sloppy and unforgivable 44 on the first nine (and that with a 20-foot putt that fell for birdie on #9).
    But the Old Course giveth as well as taketh away, and one 60-yard six-iron roller from off the 12th green to two feet (for birdie) set me right.  I began channeling Kel Nagle, the Aussie who surprised everyone, including himself, in 1960 by defeating Arnold Palmer.  On the famous Road Hole, #17, I hit my best drive of the day straight over the middle of the Old Course Hotel shed, then nailed a five-iron to three feet, prompting my young caddie to announce it as one of the best approach shots he had seen there; discreetly, he did not add "...by a guy who shot 44 on the front."  (I gave him a generous tip later for his discretion.)  In shock, I made the putt for birdie on the Road Hole, followed it with a good two-putt par in the shadow of the members' clubhouse at the 18th, and carded the most memorable 83 of my life.  I racked up three birdies overall for the day (and just five pars) and bore proud witness to my son Tim's even par round of 72, with three birdies himself.
    It is hard to judge the Old Course the way you might any other great golf course, such is the aura and history of the place.  I don't have much to compare it with in terms of truly "great" golf courses I have played.  The Old is not as tough as Pine Valley, which is an exhausting experience that presents trouble on virtually every shot, no let-up whatsoever.  St. Andrews gives you a breather now and then but a few misplaced drives might very well cause you to play sideways, or even backwards, out of one of its many sod-faced bunkers.  The medicine you have to take on the Old Course can be more bitter than anywhere else because, at just 6,300 firm yards, every green is easily approachable if your aim is true off the tee box.  But sometimes even the well-struck drive hits a mound and bounds into a deep jail.  I was lucky and found sand only twice, both times at greenside, and was able to play forward although with no opportunity to get close to the hole.  The backsides of those greenside bunkers slope down to the putting surfaces, leaving no good way to get close to most holes.
    The Old Course cannot be compared to any great course that has some length to it.  You play a different game at the Old than, say, at Shinnecock Hills, a relentlessly long and windblown track.  Although the wind plays a vital role in strategy at both courses, a winning stroke at Shinnecock is likely to be a blast - think Corey Pavin's sparkling 4-wood on the 18th to win the U.S. Open in 1995 - whereas the winning stroke at The (British) Open Championship is likely to be a 40-yard putt at the Old Course finishing hole.
    Pinehurst #2 and the Old Course share an emphasis on the short game, the severely rolling greens providing a number of options - putter, six-iron, lob wedge - from 20 yards off the putting surfaces.  I chose putter for anything within 60 yards unless there was a hazard in my way.  It was exhilarating to be able to use the flat stick in ways most U.S. courses never permit.  My putting from 20 feet seemed to improve as I bore down on those 60-yarders, and the most memorable shots at the Old Course - and indeed of my week of links golf - were the putts and mid-iron chips from well off the greens.  
    In degree of difficulty, I would put St. Andrews at the Augusta National level, meaning for us normal golfers - i.e. not the pros for whom 450 yard par 4s are short - a good score is possible if you think strategically and stay out of trouble.  St. Andrews and Augusta are all about patience and positioning.  Greed kills at either place.  The Old Course's greens are certainly firmer than Augusta's, but the Georgia course's putting speeds are way faster.
    Although you pay mightily for the privilege of playing the Old Course - about $300 per round at the current dollar exchange rate - The Links Trust, which runs the courses of St. Andrews, does its best to pile on the extra bits.  A nicely annotated yardage book comes along with the scorecard after payment of your green fees, as does a little "commemorative tin" which holds tees, ball marker and divot tool.  A cheery gentleman wearing what appears to be a misshapen stovepipe hat greets you on the first tee, welcomes you to the course, and offers to take your group's photo (I took him up on it).
    There were just two things that seemed a little odd and out of place at the Old Course, neither of which diminished the experience, for me at least.  First, although back tees (white) are in place and add up to just a 6,700-yard layout, no non-professionals are permitted to play from there.  Tim, the college golfer, was bummed out by this.  The other oddity was the rest room out behind the Old Course's #9 green.  The urinal was stamped with the manufacturer's name, Armitage Shanks.  No course should ever plant such a seed with a name like that.  Perhaps, subconsciously, that is what did in our friend from Denmark on the back nine at the Old Course.

 You don't want your round to end as you stand on the 18th tee at the Old Course.

 

Road hole:  It isn't the famous one, but a road runs diagonally across the par 4 8th at Elile Links.

 

    The small coastal towns of Scotland are a grand buffet of great golf holes, but don't expect to find many internet connections.  I write this from the Bean Scene, a coffee house in St. Andrews that asks only that you purchase a drink (or food) every hour to have access.  So with lemonade in hand, here come some observations on the last few days in the Kingdom of Fife, whose epicenter is St. Andrews, along with a few photos (many more golf photos to follow soon).  More extensive reviews will come along in later days as well, internet access permitting, including some thoughts about finally achieving a lifelong dream, playing the Old Course.

    First comment:  Just south of St. Andrews, you could have yourself a grand week of great links golf without

setting foot on the Old Course or its companions in and around town.  In the last five days, we have played three 19th Century links courses along the coast south of the county of Fife, each better than the next with subtle differences that make them all special. Balcomie Links at the Crail Golfing Society sits high above the Firth of Forth with dramatic views of the water and rocky crags below.  Lundin Golf Club had a slightly less demanding topography but equally dramatic views of the Firth.  And today we knocked it around the slighlty more refined Elie Links, an up and downer with many blind tee shots that had me gasping for breath (from the walk mostly, but also from the long views to the water the impressive volcanic mountains adjacent). 

    Add to those the other course at Crail, the Craighead, a Gil Hanse design closed for aeration this week; Charleton Golf Club, a well-regarded layout just inland from Elie with a parkland feel to it; and the nine hole classic at Anstruther, a bustling fishing village with the best seafood restaurants in the area, and you almost wouldn't miss the St. Andrews courses.

    Well, almost.  To be in the St. Andrews area and miss the Old Course, especially if you have never played it before, would be a tragedy.  It is the quintessential combination of history and great design all rolled into one,  a place to worship as well as play.  It is expensive, yes -- about $500 for my son and me --  but the experience is undeniably rich and memorable and worth the cost (once every decade, say).  I'll have more to say about the  Old and New Courses soon.

    Since this site aims largely at those contemplating life in a golf community -- I use the broad sense of the term community, meaning living in a community, planned or otherwise, with excellent access to golf -- let me make a few comments here about what may be the best place on the planet for golf, at least part of the year.   We are staying in the tiny town of Crail, a fishing village of about 1,700 residents, a friendly place but not exactly a hotbed of activity for those who crave the nightlife. That said, my son Tim and I enjoyed the company of fellow golf fans at Crail's Golf Hotel last night.  The hotel was the only place in town that had the Skyport Channel on cable television, and Skyport was carrying the U.S. Open.  I found myself rooting along with the locals for the lone Brit in the chase, Lee Westwood, but the interest in the crowd for Tiger Woods made me feel at home, literally.  That same air of inevitably that Tiger would win, despite the reconditioned and obviously painful knee, pervaded the small but boisterous crowd.  As I write this, Tiger is down to Rocco Mediate in the 18 hole playoff.  Maybe not so inevitable.

    I made some informal checks of real estate in St. Andrews, and it appears possible to purchase a two-bedroom, one bath flat for under 200,000 pounds sterling, or about $400,000 at the current usurious exchange rate.  Local residents have an entire range of options for membership in the area's collection of courses, from those at St. Andrews -- the Old Course excepted, but discounted for members -- to a membership card for all the courses in the Kingdom of Fife.  As a vacation home, say May through September, it is hard to think of a better place for a golfer to plop himself or herself down (and there are many "her" golfers on the course we have played, excellent ball strikers and they play faster than I do).

    Speaking of May to September, the weather so far this week has been spectacular, nothing like the warnings.  At the Old Course, we did go from summer to winter and back to summer in the space of four holes, just what you expect along either coast of Scotland.  We could see the huge dark cloud and streaks of rain cresting over the hills to the west, and we knew we were in for it.  The temperature dropped at least 15 degrees and umbrellas were useless (and dangerous).  We had the experience of the brutal Scottish weather and the great good fortune of having it for the briefest of times.

    Well, that does it for now.  Much more later.  Wish you were here.

Local folks and tourists alike queue up for an hour or more -- we did -- at the famous Anstruther Fish Bar on the waterfront.  The restaurant does a non-stop takeaway business for its famed fish and chips, which most people eat on benches along the waterfront.  The bustling, charming fishing village of Anstruther is home to a good 9 hole links, but is also just a few minutes drive from the outstanding Crail, Elie and Lundin links courses.