A Quick Visit to Scotland

Mark's childhood friend, Ron, came across the pond from California to visit his daughter who lives in Edinburgh, Scotland.  After the visit, Ron invited Mark to come north for a few days of golf, along with ample servings of hearty food and Scotch whisky.  Mark's only previous visit to Scotland had been in 2008, again with Ron, to celebrate their 50th birthdays.

For this trip, our base was the lovely Scottish town of St. Andrews, the birthplace of golf and the home of one of the oldest and finest golf courses in the world, the Old Course of St. Andrews.  Mark, Ron, and our friend Roy were privileged to play the Old Course some 16 years ago.

On the first tee at the Old Course in St. Andrews in 2008

The Old Course is exceedingly difficult to get onto, but the good news is that the St. Andrews Golf Trusts operates six other courses in the area.  On our first day, we played at the Castle Course, a very recent addition which only opened in 2008.  As we played, the course seemed very familiar to us in terms of both terrain and course design.  It turns out that the Castle Course was designed by architect David McLay Kidd, who also designed Bandon Dunes Golf Course in southern Oregon, where Mark and Ron have played several times.  

Us at the Castle Course in 2024 (left) and at Bandon Dunes in 2017 (right)

Prior to our trip, the always unpredictable weather in Scotland had been quite fair, with little rain and good amounts of sun.  Unfortunately for us, the weather took a bad turn when we arrived, though it got better as the trip progressed.  Our first day of golf was nice for the first six holes, then the rain started in earnest.  

The view from the Castle Course dining room was dry at the start

Ron putting with a lovely view of St. Andrews in the background

Our second day of golf was at Kingsbarns Golf Links, just outside St. Andrews.  In 2008, Kingsbarns was our most-liked course after the Old Course, and it was Mark's particular favorite as he shot a 78 with a walk-off birdie on the 18th hole.  With the weather, the golf was not as stellar this year, but it was a wonderful, if consistently damp and windy, day of golf.  

Kingsbarns Golf Links

Our final day of golf was at Gleneagles, a large and popular golf resort, about an hour drive inland from St. Andrews.  We played the Kings Course there, which opened in 1919.  The weather was cloudy but without rain, which allowed us to enjoy this Scottish heathland course, quite a change from the seaside links courses which we had exclusively played before.  

We had a short but enjoyable golf trip, and it was wonderful to meet up with a long-time friend.  It was also nice to visit Scotland with a direct, 2.5-hour flight from the Algarve.  There are so many different places to visit in Europe, all with their own unique cultures.