The last two days here have been very enjoyable. Tuesday I headed south to play a much anticipated course called Fortrose and Rosemarkie. It was a nice drive about an hour south of my base location of Tain. No mishaps on the drive down and I’m definitely getting better behind the wheel driving on the left side. This is clearly evidenced by friendly waves instead of middle fingers.
The course staff was exceptionally friendly and welcoming and the general manager cheerfully greeted me on the range letting me know my caddie details and giving me a brief rundown of the course and history. It’s a James Braid design and one of the oldest in Scotland. It plays on a narrow long peninsula with a lighthouse on the point. Many holes outward and inward are separated only by rolling mounds of thorny gorse. On this day the wind was blowing steady at 15 and gusting at 27 straight across the course. At my caddie’s insistence I found myself aiming as much as 50 yards right or left of my intended target to account for the effect of the wind and the bounce and roll of the ball once on the ground. After a miraculous chip-in on 9 we turned at one under par… but the fairytale was over quickly after a well struck drive ended up against the riveted wall of fairway bunker in which I had to play out backwards.
Apparently my caddie didn’t quite get the message that “under no circumstances do I want to be in a fairway bunker” and I’d be quite happy to hit whatever club necessary to avoid the sandy score killing craters. Enough said. We finished the day at +3 and my caddie Gavin could not have been happier…probably because we still had the same ball that we started with.
Today I was invited back to Golspie with 3 seniors to have a nice 4 ball game… great fun and great gentleman. We ended in a draw as my birdie putt on 18 to win for our side just slid by.
I just cannot say enough regarding the warm hospitality of the people I’ve met and the stunning beauty of the little towns in which they live and of the courses they play.
Great stuff.
My new Scotish friends
Golspie Video
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