COMMUNITY

Kings Barn 1 st!

My vote is the Castle Course at St Andrews. It was designed by Tom Kidd who designed Bandon Dunes.

I have friends in Scotland that say that King's Barn is the absolute best course they have ever played.

Have a great time and enjoy your trip. Hope you have a safe trip and return back home.

Thanks Duck, for someone who does not like to fly this trip will be a challenge coming and going!! I figure I'll just have enough drinks at the airport so I won't care and then try to sleep. Leaving NYC at 8:00pm so that should help.

Decided on Kingsbarns, just looking at that place on line was enough to convince me to play there. Spoke to a couple friends that played it and they said it was the best course they played in Scotland. Old Course obviously has to be played but they said this one was better.

Exactly what I've heard as well. My first round of 2013 will be at Kingsbarns, followed by the New Course, Carnoustie and finally the Old Course. I'm still looking to fill in a couple of rounds 'cause we're there for 8 days.

When are you going?

Racer, I've flown transatlantic three times...it's not too bad. Long, but not bad. Of course, I enjoy flying, but even so...for those who don't enjoy flying, the larger planes used for overseas flights are far more comfortable.

Also (and this may depend on the airline you fly), in-flight beverages are usually comped on overseas flights. So there may be no need to tank up at the terminal. :-)

Kings Bairn for sure. Do Crail the next day. 2 courses there too.

Yes, we are looking at Balcomie or Craighead also, but not sure if we will have the time to squeeze in another round.

Thanks, thats good to know, can't imagine doing a 7 hour flight in one of those typical jets that you are jammed into. I spent a little extra for the tickets and purchased extra room seats too.

Dandy--You will have to let me know how things go. I am playing the same courses except Carnoustie so I would be interested in hearing about your rounds.

My thoughts...now I understand that I am the history guy but if you have time and you are in the Eastern Portion of Scotland and you are some where near Edinburgh I have two recommendations.

The first one is North Berwick. North Berwick could go down as one of the most beautiful golf courses in Scotland. It is located (if memory serves) 15-20 miles East of Edinburgh. It is often referred to as the Pebble Beach of Scotland. It has amazing water views...rock formations and a stone wall that runs through the course that pre-dates Columbus sailing to the Americas.

The next recommendation is a suburb of Edinburgh and the course is called Musselburgh Links. It is the oldest golf course in the world as has been unchanged for hundreds of years. It is quirky but way cool. How is it quirky? Well there is a horse racing track that runs through the course. Yes thats right...a horse racing track. Musselburgh Links has hosted 6 British Opens and each one of them was hosted with the same racing track! Musselburgh is also the only course in the world to boast of 5 men who were raised on that course winning the British Open including the first Open Champion...Willie Park Senior.

St. Andrews is called the Home of Golf but Musselburgh is called the Cradle of Golf. These two golf courses had some amazing battles over the years. Both fought for the dominant player in golf and some of the greatest matches that have ever been held were at Musselburgh...including the most famous match play event perhaps of all-time. A 144 hole match play event pitting Willie Park Senior against Old Tom Morris. How tight was it...after 138 holes Park was only one up! The painting below is in my collection and is the only visual image of that famous match of 1870.

Musselburgh is quirky and that there is no doubt. It is a 9 hole course...always has been...when it hosted its first major in 1874 and its last in 1889 it was 9 holes. Back then the Open was a 36 hole event and players would play two rounds the first day and two rounds the second.

Musselburgh is also the cheapest Open Venue you can play. When I was there last I think it was $40!

Talk about quirky...but also cool. The most famous hole at Musselburgh is called Mrs. Formans, its also the hole the famous match play event ended on (see same painting below). The hole is named Mrs Formans because of the building just beyond the green. There just a step or two behind the green sits Mrs. Formans Ale House which has been there for over 500 years. The lower left hand window actually would open up to serve beers to players on the course...that same window in the painting you can see Old Tom Morris smoking his pipe.

One more bit of quirky history. The very next hole is called the Sea Hole and at one time the Sea Hole was actually on the Firth of Forth (think river of Forth). Over a period of about 100 years the mining industry filled in part of the Firth of Forth so what was once called the Sea Hole is now about 1000 yards from the water!

Here is another story...the most feared bunker of all-time was not the Road Bunker or Hell Bunker of St Andrews. That designation belonged to the bunker known as Pandemonium or shortened...Pandy Bunker. This bunker followed the Sea Hole off the tee and needed to be carried by a strong drive. I have attached another painting in my collection called, In Pandy Play Two More, because if your ball fell into Pandy Bunker it would take two more shots to get out!!! Unfortunately Pandy is no longer, but you can still play the hole and walk through the massive hole where it once sat.

I have attached quite a few photos. The photos of me in black were taken at North Berwick as well as the one with my father. The rest are either images of me playing Musselburgh or historical images and paintings from Musselburgh. There is an aerial of the course where you can see the land was filled in as well.

I am going over the pond in a few years to play golf and drink lots of warm beer. I have been taking notes for the last year from all the different posts on this website and from a few friends that have already played in the holy land.

I plan on going for two weeks, golfing and sightseeing every other day. Is it a real pain in the ass to go from Scotland to Ireland?

I also have a friend (non-golfer) from Ireland, and he told me not to make any car or hotel reservations until I get over there, to basically wing it. He said I would not have a problem driving to a town and find lodging where ever we go. I really have a hard time flying 1/2 way around the world without any lodging accommodations in place. Any thoughts?

Thanks
DM