Day 7 – 10 Aug. Today we move to Carnoustie, home of the
2018 Men's Open. We checked out of the Fairmont and enjoyed the one-hour
drive from St. Andrews to Carnoustie with most of the drive along the
water. Carnoustie is basically just across the bay from The Old Course
and Kingsbarns. The day is clear but the hawk is flying so this will be a much
different experience than the previous couple of days. Carnoustie, like The Old Course, does not have a driving range so once again the anxiousness is
eating me up.
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| Really Like The Logo |
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| Can't Say It's Not True! |
Before we teed off there
was one very nice surprise – we all got to spend a little time with the Claret
Jug, well actually one of three sanctioned by the R & A. For those of
you (like me two weeks ago) that don’t know, the winner of the Open is given
the original Claret Jug, but it must be returned before the next year's Open,
and the winner receives a replica to keep permanently. Three others exist — one
in the British Museum of Golf at St Andrews, and two used for travelling
exhibitions. We got to see and hold one of those two.
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| Looks Better On The Bean |
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| Need I Say More?? |
Off to the first tee @
1040 and the wind is whipping. Steady at 15-20 and gusting a
bunch. We once again went with a fore caddie (last time ever) and we
once again got a lemon, so for most of us we’re kind of on our
own. The first hole is a short par 4, right into the
teeth. I hit a driver pretty hard and it slides right well over 180
yards. I don’t even know where the green is, but I see some fairway
up ahead and punch a 7 iron to the spot I see and luckily, it’s just off the
apron. Chip up, two putt, and I’m on my way. We play what
seems like the next 33 holes directly into the wind. If you don’t
catch it pure, it’s knuckle balling or heading left and
right. Needless to say, I wasn’t catching it pure. Rough
front nine with a 51. Back nine is better, starting off bogie,
and then stringing 4 pars with a miracle up and down from a very mean bunker
on a par 3. I’m sitting at 37 coming into 18 and I push my drive
into the Johnny Miller trap.
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| Coming Down 18. New Clubhouse On The Right |
I have to punch out at a
45-degree angle and manage to advance the ball about 60 yards so I’m sitting
100 yards out with a two-club tail wind. I select my trusty
60-degree lob wedge, launch the ball majestically into the air, it hits pin
high, off the back of the green and into the rough behind the
swale. I’m pretty well screwed, no green to work with, in the rough,
and a swale to get through. Once again, I take my trusty 7 iron, hit
a little bump and run out of the rough, through the swale to 3
feet. Tell me if you’ve heard this before, yep, I missed the freakin putt
(AGAIN!!) for a six to finish at 43. Still, so much better than the
front and still a terrific day of golf.
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| No 18 - Well At Least I Did Better Than Jean van de Velde in the 1999 Open! |
We followed up with a couple beverages on the
back patio overlooking the course, did a little shopping in the Pro Shop and headed out to
Monifieth about 25 minutes down the road.
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| Old Clubhouse Is About 10% of This New Clubhouse - Be Ready For the 2018 Open |
Monifieth is a very
small town and the hotel we’re staying at, the Panmure Hotel is, according to
most reviews, a quaint little 3-star hotel. I suspect those reports are
perhaps a bit dated, say 1995. It's, as the Scots would say, "a wee
bit" of a transition after the Fairmont St. Andrews. That being
said, it does have a certain charm and there is a certain "Cheers"
kind of atmosphere when everyone knows your name.
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| The Panmure Hotel - Monifieth, Scotland |
The front lobby area was pretty much packed with our check in. No lift, just stairs, so we got a little bit of exercise before we hit the bar.
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| Lobby and Stair Stepper Work Out |
It has a really cozy little bar that became the center of our social life for the next few days. Keep in mind the hotel only has 12 rooms and we had 8 of them so we pretty much ruled the day. It's good to be king.
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| The "Cheers" of Monifieth |
As the place was pretty much ours, we did pretty much as we pleased. It was a little, shall we say "uncomfortable" when the ladies decided they wanted to see the lads' "trough".
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| Another mystery of the Men's Room solved. |
Our room is quite small,
as a matter of fact everything is quite small. That being said, they did
manage to "build" us a king size bed by pushing a couple of twin beds
together, kind of like they do on a cruise ship. There was only one
really serviceable outlet in the room and that supplied power to the TV.
When Beanie showered and had to blow dry her hair, we unplugged the TV
and she sat on the bed and used the mirror in the bathroom (some 5 feet away)
and used the blow drier that way. With few exceptions, everywhere we went
in Scotland there were no outlets in the bathroom except a small 110V for an
electric razor. Which, BTW, works well for phones, camera and other small
appliance battery charging.
The first thing on my
list is a shower, which the room does have. So I disrobe my temple of a
body and climb into the shower . . . and climb in is a good
description.
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The Man Size Shower - You Didn't Really Think I Would Be Naked Did You??
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I wasn't too concerned as I knew we had a healthy complement of soaps and shampoos from which to choose. For example, the man-sized bath soap!!
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| Me & My Soap "Lozenger" |
The accommodations
include breakfast and dinner. Keep in mind there are only twelve
rooms and our group is taking 8 of them. Dinner is surprisingly
good. Service is a little shaky but delivered with sincere effort
and smiling faces. Very young and dedicated staff, mostly
students on summer break, but they work hard what appears to be very long
hours. We follow up with some really good desserts. Tomorrow
we’re doing a golf down day and visiting a scotch distillery and after that lunch
at Gleneagles Golf Course, another great track we’re not playing. So
little time. . . . . .
Kathy: We dropped off the guys at Carnoustie and the
gals headed to Glamis Castle. It's currently the home of the Earls of
Strathmore and Kinghorne, the setting for Shakespeare’s Macbeth and beloved childhood
home of the Queen Mother. Did you know the "Queen Mum" was one of ten
children? Glamis Castle is over 600
years old and some people believe it's the most beautiful castle in
Scotland. It is stunning and we enjoyed
touring the parts of it that were open to the public. Castles can be dark though with their small windows. Unfortunately no
pictures were allowed inside the castle.
The grounds were extensive and included several gardens.
We then headed to Dennis’
boyhood town of Monifieth and the hotel Panmure. Panmure was originally the home of two sisters who ran
the town pharmacy before it became a hotel.
I knew from reading reviews that it was getting long in the tooth at this
point (the owner talked about doing an extensive renovation in the near future)
so I wasn’t shocked when we walked into the lobby. Actually the lobby is quite charming with
dark wood and a pretty staircase.
However, when we walked into our room and I finished checking it out (in
30 seconds or less) I felt that the TripAdvisor rating of 3 stars was overly
generous. The shower was approximately 3
feet square; the room may have been 12 x 12, though that’s probably a generous
estimate. There was a total of 2 towels,
one TINY sliver of soap, half a roll of toilet paper, the most worn bed linen
I’ve ever seen, the wallpaper was coming off the walls in more than few places
and a tiny TV.
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| Flat Screen TV - or as we call it in America "A small computer monitor" |
On the plus side, we HAD
a TV (though didn’t turn it on), some other rooms didn’t, the bed looked sad
but we slept well, they happily provided us with more soap and TP when we ask,
we loved the location, and the staff were cheerful and hard working. It couldn’t have been easy attending to such
a boisterous group (I can’t imagine they get too many large groups to stay) and
I’m sure there were a few complaints to deal with. Not sure about the consensus of the group,
but we had actually grown quite fond of the quirky hotel by the end of the
stay. If you’re reading this Dennis,
thank you for booking this homey hotel for us.
Breakfast and dinner were included and the food was quite good. The desserts were very good. We all had fun in the combination
bar/restaurant at the end of the day sharing drinks, dinner and stories of our
different adventures of the day.
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| “Beanie got her kitty fix just up the way from the hotel – more points for the hotel” |
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| He loved getting pets |
Day
8 – 11 Aug.
Woke up to rain, so a good day to do something besides golf (can't believe I said that!). We did a road trip north to Gleneagles, http://www.gleneagles.com/. Gleneagles is a bit different than many places. It's a bit "upper crust", it has one of the few 5-star hotels in Scotland on the property, two really good courses, the King and the Queen, and is virtually carved into the low highland hills. Green fees are 210 pounds (~$300) for non hotel guest. In many ways, Scotland is a steal WRT to golf. The Old Course was 180 quid (~$250), and Kingsbarns was around 200 quid (~$270). So for the price it cost to play 18 at Pebble Beach, you can play 3 of the premier courses in the world, within 50 miles of each other, and walk in the footstep of golf history. BTW, no slam on Pebble Beach. Haven't played it yet . . . . but I will. Gleneagles is a ways from anything, but it is a
really nice layout.
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| Nice Pro Shop & Really Nice Pub |
We had a really enjoyable lunch., Beanie, Dennis, & I passed on the formal
dining and headed to the bar overlooking the 18th hotel of the
Queen’s Course. What a monster, elevated
tee about two zip codes away, hitting into a 25-yard fairway. . . . . and it’s
almost always either raining or wet. We
nibbled on sliders, chips, and a strawberry caprese’ salad, drank a really good
sessions IPA, and watched golfers coming into 18. We had a terrific waitress from Greece which
made for interesting conversation and nothing but time to burn. A good way to spend a few hours. I’d like to do it again. After lunch Beanie & I did a little walk
about and ended up walking up the #1 fairway (no one was playing) to the #2 tee
box. With the light rain and mist it was a beautiful, but treacherous looking course.
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| No 1 Gleneagles Queen Course |
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| No 1 Green Gleneagles Queen Course |
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| Overlook Gleneagles King Course |
We left there and headed
to the Tullibardine Distillery to see what goes on behind the curtain when it
comes to making scotch. My conclusion is
it’s a little bit like making sausage – it’s not all that pretty on the front
end, but the results are worth consideration.
They offered a variety of single and blended scotch whiskies, all with
their own qualities and considerations.
In the end, we chipped in and bought a nice 25-year old single malt for
our driver, Sean.
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| Distillery Tour |
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| Making of Scotch - A Lot Like Sausage (Don't Think About It) |
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| 6000 Barrels of Aging Scotch - And a Gate Between Me & God!! |
Now is probably a good
time to talk about Sean, our driver. Sean is a bit
“heavy set”, but pure Scotsman. He is
big hearted, loves to laugh, and will do anything to accommodate the group and
make them happy. He’s reasonably
knowledgeable regarding anything Scottish, loves the Robin Williams’ golf video
(and said he understands every word – a testimony to how good Robin Williams
got the dialects!!), and loves to do things that make him happy. While the guys have been golfing, Sean has
been chauffeuring the nongolfers to various castles, shopping trips, and about anything
else they’d like to do. A real nice
guy. Sadly, the only pic we seem to have is the back of Sean and the bus. The smaller of the two is Sean.
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| Sean & The Magic Bus |
Following the distillery tour, we
headed back to the hotel for beverages and food.
Discovered I still don’t
like Scotch, no surprise there, but interesting to see the distillery. Gleneagles is beautiful (to me the prettiest
golf course we saw in Scotland) and lunch with Dennis was lovely.
It’s a bit fuzzy at this point, but I believe
this was also the day we visited Stirling Castle. This is the castle featured in the movie Braveheart. Much of it has been returned to its
Renaissance splendor. Very
beautiful. I particularly liked that this castle seemed a lot brighter inside than Glamis Castle.
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| Gardens, Stirling Castle |
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| Stirling Castle Docent |
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| Bridge Over Moat |
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| More Stirling Castle |
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| One of Several Gorgeous Ceilings, Stirling Castle |
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| One of Several Royal Bedrooms |
Day 9 – 12 Aug: Today we’re golfing Dennis’s home course
at Monifieth Golf links, http://monifiethgolf.co.uk. There are two 18-hole courses, the
Medalist measuring 6655, par 71, rating of 72.4, and slope of 132. The
other is Ausludie, measuring 5123 yards from the tip, rating of 65.2, and slope
of 107. We played the Medalist both days. Dennis has played this
course probably around 1000 times. It’s a classic links type
course. Weather was just about perfect once again. The course plays
well, and is a fair course, but it can bite very hard should you go astray,
especially off the tee box. It has a punishing rough and Old Course like
bunkers. I shot 85 with a 9 on #10 on day one and an 87 on day 2 with an
11 on #11. Part of it was just the severity of going into certain areas
of the rough that provide no way out and part of it was just not thinking
before weighing all my options. Had I thought, hmmmm, Jordon Speith, #13,
at the Open, I probably could have saved 5 strokes and a boatload of
frustration. All that being said, good course with good folks, and a good
time. Back to the hotel bar for more socializing and extraordinarily
large portions of food.
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| One of the newer clubs . . . .by Scottish standards |
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| Dennis With Ron - A couple of really good guys! |
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| The Club - A Few Trophies inside with Dennis Allan inscribed!! |
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| On Course Action Coming Up 18 |
Kathy: Randy was so excited about the golf that he
forgot about my favorite part of the day – the Discovery! When we drove through Dundee on the way to
Monifieth, I noticed an old tall ship docked at the port. Dennis said it was the Discovery. I had no idea we would have an opportunity to
see it – or that it had actually been turned into a museum for that
matter. I’ve read so many books about the Discovery and its Antarctic expedition and was thrilled we would be able to see the ship. Six of us (Me, Randy, Bill, Kim, Paul and
Sally) decided to catch the bus in the morning into Dundee before the guys
golfed in the afternoon to visit the ship and the museum. I absolutely loved it. The research ship
Discovery was built in Dundee for the 1901 British National Antarctic Expedition
under the command of Robert Falcon Scott, with a crew that included Ernest
Shackleton. Those of you that love and
are interested in all things Antarctica will recognize both of those
names. The ship became stuck in the
Antarctic ice for two years before the crew was rescued and the ship
freed. During that time they were
relatively comfortable and had plenty of time to do all their scientific research. The museum and exploring the
ship was wonderful. An added bonus was
the exceptional lentil soap I had for lunch in the museum restaurant.
Day 10 – 13 Aug: Today we kick a few of our
group to the curb with the curb being Ireland. Artie, Sue, Jim, and Danni
are going to spend the next few days in Ireland. I'm a little bit
jealous, but the Bean and I decided earlier that Ireland should stand on its
own and we'll make that a separate trip. The bus leaves to take the
foursome to the airport and some others to explore another castle on the way
back. Bill, Dennis, Kelly, and I remain
behind to golf at Monifieth again.
Beanie also stays behind to further explore Monifieth and the next town
over. We had another good day for golf, though a wee bit of wind and rain hit us a few times throughout the round. The more I play this course, the better I like it. It's kind of like the hotel and toe fungus - it kind of grows on you!!
Kathy: After farewells, the bus leaves and Randy, Bill
and I walk up the coastline a bit and then Bill and Randy head back to get
ready to golf and I walk the path along the coastline from Monifeith into
Broughty Ferry, a bit larger town than Monifeith. It’s a beautiful day. It’s Sunday so families are in the parks
along the path and lots of people have their dogs out. We’ve noticed that the dogs in Scotland are
very well behaved and though often not on leashes they come when called or stay
by their families’ side. The walk was
beautiful with lots of wildflowers.
Closer to Broughty Ferry there is a sandy beach for swimming and then at
one end is Broughty Castle. It didn’t
open until noon so I wandered into town to look at the shops and have
lunch. I had an excellent lunch at an
Italian restaurant. Then I visited
Broughty Castle. It was built in 1496
and faced many battles. Today it houses
very nice displays on the life and times of Broughty Ferry, its people, the
environment and wildlife that lives close by.
It also contains a really special art collection and is regarded as one
of the most important Victorian collections of Scottish art in the country. Even though it’s a little known or visited
castle (comparatively) it was a highlight for me.
It was time to head back
to Monifieth and I decided to walk back along the main road that connects
Broughty Ferry and Monifieth. Enjoyed
seeing all the lovely old homes with their beautiful gardens. Summer is short here and it appears the
Scottish people love their gardens. It was a
nice, relaxing day for me to recharge my batteries.
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| Heading to Broughty Ferry Along the Path From Monifieth |
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| If you're drowning you have to hope the book isn't too good! |
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| Not Rescue 21 now is it!! |
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| Beach Exercise Group |
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| View up the coast to Dundee - the towers are oil platforms from the North Sea in for dry dock maintenance |
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| Broughty Castle |
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| Broughty Castle |
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| Bridge over moat to Broughty Castle |
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| So many beautiful gardens - I was beginning to think they were fake |
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| Excellent lunch - love Scottish mozzarella cheese! Note the beer - I enjoyed several beers on this trip - though in this case it wasn't a Scottish beer |
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| Yet another beautiful garden |
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