Hello from the Highlands of Scotland! After a painless flight and an unexpected rental car upgrade from a boxy midsize to a slick silver Mercedes SUV, I was cruising on the left side of the road white knuckle squeezing the steering wheel on my way out of Inverness and pointed north to the small burg of Tain. I arrived late wed afternoon jet lagged but eager to see the course that I joined “Tain Golf Club”. It was founded in 1890 and is an Old Tom Morris design. Old Tom was a busy guy in his day with over 100 courses bearing his credentials.
I joined this club as it’s a true links layout with history. It is situated right on the Dornoch Firth, and the town is centrally located in the highlands of Scotland and surrounded by a multitude of tremendous links courses within an hours drive that I’d like to play.
Joining a club I’ve never seen or played was certainly a gamble but I was just really pleased with what I found. Very friendly staff and pro and a golf course that is playing hard and fast but challenging and fair. Links golf is so different from the game we play at FCCC. The ball rolls and bounces. You can hold the green with a well struck wedge, but greater clubs need to be played short of the green to allow for the forward bounce.
I managed to play 9 jet lagged holes Wednesday late afternoon but today I played 36 with some flashes of really good golf and the usual run of bad breaks that are the reality check. There has been moderate wind and some light rain but overall the weather has been exactly what you’d expect in Scotland.
Tomorrow I’ll play another 18 at Tain and perhaps branch out in the afternoon to explore another nearby links to sharpen up. I’ll be gearing up for Royal Dornoch in the near future and would like to get better acclimated to links golf before taking that one on.
Right now my server just brought my steak and ale pie and it’s got my full attention.
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