Back online from Scotland

 

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.