Royal Aberdeen. Tuesday 26 August 2014.

This morning we left St. Andrews and moved north up the coast to play Royal Aberdeen.

Yesterday's champion Patrick Carlisle is pictured here ready to drive on the stunning par four first hole.  The ships you can see in the adjacent North Sea are supply ships for the nearby oil rigs.

Looking back to the Aberdeen skyline across the first green.  The course runs nine holes out and nine holes back, and has some of the most testing and difficult opening holes I have played.  There is no

relief over the first seven holes, with several long par fours where you cannot see fairway, and on many occasions when you do see it it is very narrow and massively undulating.

The undulations are quite evident in this photo, and it requires both precision and a large amount of luck to navigate your way to the green successfully.

This is the par three 3rd hole.  It measures 240 yards from the back, heads into the prevailing wind, and requires 200 yards of carry over thick, thick rough and gorse to reach the putting surface.

John Hay in full flight on the first tee.

James Angus prepares to launch one down the first hole.

There are only 10 green side pot bunkers on this par 3 the 8th hole.

It is a very picturesque course.

The superb views continue.

It proved to be a tough scoring day today.  Reg Hanson birdied both back nine par 3's on his way to 42 points.  Unfortunately for Reg all he will receive is a handicap reduction due to his prior victory.  A brilliant score, well done.

Helen Angus will receive the top score prize after her very solid 34 points.

Tomorrow we move 20 miles up the road to Cruden Bay..

The Old Course St. Andrews. Monday 25 August 2014.

The sun was shining on the old grey toon this morning, and the course looked stunning.

By the time we were ready to play, the breeze had picked up, blowing behind us on the first, meaning most of the front nine would be downwind, and therefore the back nine in to the wind.

All members of the group gathered in front of the 1st tee just prior to play, wearing the official tour pullover for a photo in front of the R&A clubhouse.

Yesterday's winner Robyn Hanson took to the links with super caddy Nachi on the bag.

I had my own super caddy, Ollie Horovitz.  Ollie caddied for me in the monsoon 2 years ago, and accepted the invitation for the loop today. We had a great day and lots of laughs.

Here we look back up the first hole from the second tee.

The view down the par five 14th from the championship tee.  All 618 yards of it.

Reg Hanson navigating his way sideways from Hell bunker.

Looking up the par four 16th hole.

Jim Mitchell firing across the Old Course Hotel from tee on the Road Hole 17th.

From the 18th tee, we look toward to the green and the township.

All members of the group gathered in front of the R&A clubhouse prior to our tour of the clubhouse hosted by Rhodri Price of the R&A.  Even John Hay was let in, surprising, as he nearly killed an R&A member when coming up the 18th.

The clubhouse is full of magnificent golf memorabilia, paintings, and trophies.

The most significant being these three.

On the left is the British Amateur trophy, in the middle the original Open trophy the winners belt, and on the right the original Claret Jug.

We were also quite fortunate to meet R&A Secretary Peter Dawson, and had the opportunity to see the view from the best office in the world, and this is it. Spectacular.

Today it was Patrick Carlisle who handled the conditions most effectively, taking the win with 38 points.  Great job Patrick!  Tomorrow we leave St Andrews and head to Cruden Bay, playing at Royal Aberdeen on the way.

Carnoustie. Sunday 24 August 2014.

We woke to a beautiful day and made the hour long drive north to Carnoustie.  It was nicknamed "CarNASTY" after the 1999 Open Championship when the rough was super long and thick, and grown in so far that a couple of fairways were only about 10 paces wide.

Needless to say we were all very thankful that that there was only a gentle breeze, as the wind can make a huge difference around here.

Carnoustie is in the shire of Angus, so there was an air of expectation that 2 participants may perform well in the home shire.

Our champ from yesterday, Reg Hanson is pictured here commencing his round.

There are "burns" that run throughout the course.  This one is to the left and across the front of the short Par four 3rd, appropriately named 'Jockie's Burn'.

No that is not a troll under the stone bridge on the 10th hole, it is Alan Pritchard's ball.

Michael Merrett preparing to fire his shot into the par three 13th.

Michael earlier had achieved something very rare, he managed to hit the posts of the out of bounds fence on the left side of the sixth hole, twice in a row. A very impressive feat of accuracy.  

Unfortunately that was not what he was aiming for.

 Here we look down the fairway of the par 4 14th hole, with it's famed spectacles cross bunkers in the distance. This hole begins a brutal home stretch, and is quite capable of ruining a scorecard that is decent up until this point.

Karen Pritchard is pictured here ready on the tee of the 16th hole.  A short par 4 for women, but a 240 yard par 3 for men.

No this is not Migel Angel Jimenez during his pre game warm up, it is Alan Pritchard negotiating his way out of one of the "bloody right handers bunkers".

The view from the 18th tee looking toward the hotel behind the green.

The burn in front of the 18th green where Mr Van de Velde dramatically came unstuck in that memorable Open.

Even though the weather was in our favour, Carnoustie definitely won on the day.  Our winner, and
creating a Hanson double to kick things off, was Robyn Hanson with a fine score of 34 points.
Well done Robyn!

Next up is the holy grail, the Old Course St Andrews.  Let's hope the rain of 2 years ago does not return and we can enjoy the day.

Kingsbarns, Saturday 23 August 2014.

It is a 15 minute drive from the St Andrews township that leads us to the brilliant Kyle Phillips creation that is Kingsbarns.  Here we commence the golf aspect of our tour.

The members are keen for some early form, and hit the range as soon as we arrive.

Michael Merrett was the man to get the golf underway, and did so in great style.

Kingsbarns in it's current guise is really quite new for a Scottish links being only 14 years old, but golf had been played on this site for centuries.

The stunning views will continue to distract you all day, as you can see the water from every hole.

Jeff Faure preparing to strike his tee shot on the par three 8th.

The magnificent par three 15th.

Patrick Carlisle hitting his approach into the par five 12th, the Kingsbarns signature hole.

A look across the course from the 18th tee.  The clouds threatened but our day was perfect.  Not so on Thursday however when two caddies here were struck by lightning. Being gritty scots though, they were back on the links the following day!

Nola Faure playing a brilliant bunker shot from the back of the 13th green.

The work on the range must have helped, as there was some great scoring today. It was Reg Hanson though who rose to the top of a strong pack, taking the win with a great 42 points.

We face a little sterner test tomorrow. Off we go to "Carnasty".

Wish us luck!

Welcome to Scotland

Prior to the tour officially commencing, I was fortunate enough to spend a day at Gleneagles, the venue for the upcoming Ryder Cup.
The event is being held on the PGA Centenary Course, and the infrastructure build is well and truly in full swing.

The event is a sell out, with 50,000 spectators per day expected to follow the action.
This is the view you get as you approach the first tee.  Huge hospitality structure on the right of the first fairway, and the massive grandstand on the left which is behind the eighteenth green.

Here is a shot from behind the first tee with the grandstands where the crowd will be in full voice.

These structures are more hospitality buildings, and are located on the practice fairway.  The King's

course will be utilised as a practice facility for the event.

This is another view from near the first tee.
The infrastructure is like nothing I have seen for an event, even with over four weeks remaining in
the build.  It certainly will be a sea of marquees and temporary structures.  There is even one (the johnnie walker bar) being constructed in and around a listed ruin behind the second green.

Speaking of listed ruins, this is the St Andrews Castle. St Andrews is where the tour officially 

commenced on Friday evening with a few drinks and a catch up in the "R" bar at Rusacks hotel.

We were joined by Oliver Horovitz. Ollie is a St Andrews caddy, and is the author of the book An American Caddy in St Andrews. He chatted to the members about all things St Andrews, and got the mood of the town firmly set in our minds.

Before we move into the golf side of things, I thought I would show you some St Andrews history.

This is another view of the castle, from the  beach below.  Built in around 1200 it was home to Kings and was even a prison. It fell into disrepair in the 1600's and it's materials were used to repair the pier.

To see more about the history of the castle click here

We now move to the St Andrews Cathedral. 

Built in the 1100's it also fell into disrepair in the 1500's. The burial site has some of the most famous and significant names in golf history.

Click here to read more about the cathedral

Here lies Allan Robertson.  Allan was the world's first golf professional. And is said to have never been defeated in foursomes with his partner Tom Morris. He was the first man to break 80 on the Old Course, and was an expert manufacturer of the feathery golf ball, with his apprentice Tom Morris.

This is the grave site of the Morris'. Old Tom, Young Tommy and the baby Tom Morris Jnr.

RIP Golfing royalty.

A few more pics of the extraordinary ruins of the cathedral.

This is our main reason for being here, and we play this historic place on Monday.

A shot here of the Swilcan Burn, looking back to the Old Course Hotel on the 17th.

After a short rain shower, the sun returned and along with it a rainbow.

The closing Tom Morris home hole