Friday morning came way too early after all the “hole-in one” celebrating. Big heads and light wallets as the boys at Kingsbarns soaked up George’s generosity. Fortunately we had a late morning tee time at St. Andrew’s Castle Course.
If Kingsbarns was our number one course this year the Castle Course was 1A. It’s the newest of the St. Andrews Links Courses having just opened in 2008. It’s just up the road from the village and has a wonderful view of St. Andrews as you look back towards the town. I had to drive as George was reeling from so many Macallans but we both were still as high as a kite from his ace. 
We love St. Andrews but it’s as crowded as Edinburgh but with streets that are a fraction of those in the city. People flock to this place in the summer and not just golfers. Tourists from all over the world visit Scotland, especially St. Andrews. You can sit in a restaurant and hear half a dozen languages. And there are pubs and pubs and more pubs. It’s the good life.
The Castle Course was designed by David McLay Kidd of Bandon Dunes fame and when it opened there was a bit of controversy as many critics thought it was overdone. One of those was the always opinionated Tom Doak. In his book, The Confidential Guide to Golf Courses Vol. 1 he ripped it apart. On his ranking system of zero to ten he gave it a zero. His colleagues weren’t as brutal and gave it a pair of fives which denotes a “well above average” course.
The main complaint was the greens were too severe and since it opened the greens have been redone a few times but hey, it’s links golf. In my book a bad links course is better then any parkland course. And we’re not architects or designers, we just like links golf.
In fact I liked it just fine as George played in a fog all day and I was able to claim a 3&2 win over him. The highlight of the day was dropping a long bomb that snaked left and right and up and down at the fifth hole. I knew it was my day then. George took it in good spirits.
And good spirits was the tone for the rest of the day as we stopped in The Jigger Inn for a quick pop, we preferred that to the Dunvegan. And we finished off our day at The Keys Bar a very local place with a very friendly clientele.
And as big as St. Andrews is it’s really a small village. And wouldn’t you know it we bumped into our two caddies from Kingsbarns. They certainly remembered George and his ace but couldn’t help comment on the buffoons who took advantage of his gracious nature in the bar.
And they were all about the payback and insisted on buying us a few rounds. Just what we needed free alcohol! The Keys Bar makes you feel like a local even if you’re not. And our Kingsbarns mates were two great guys.
It was a perfect ending to another great day in Scotland and it reinforced my belief that most people are just damn good people, especially caddies.
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