Cruden Bay.....You Beauty!!!

I was more than happy to hit the road early this morning. I had a date today with a course I have long wanted to play, Cruden Bay Golf Club. Her reputation precedes her and I was anxious to see if she would live up to the billing. I made my way from St Andrews, up through Dundee and Aberdeen along the northeast east coast of Scotland. The drive was a pretty one with several miles of coastline driving to entertain the senses along the way. The North Sea was smooth as glass as the sun danced across it. I got to the course in plenty of time to get some lunch and get warmed up. The course was somewhat busy on yet another beautiful day here in Scotland. As I sat in the window filled dining room overlooking the course, I noticed the sign above, welcoming me and the other golfers to Cruden Bay Golf Club. Nice touch indeed. 

After lunch I went downstairs to check in with the pro shop. It was here that I met Ru Macdonald, Golf Tourism Scotland's 2013 Young Person of the Year. Above and beyond his efforts here at Cruden Bay, he is also the host / producer of scottishgolfpodcast.com. We quickly realized we had a mutual acquaintance in Kevin Kirk, photographer with recounter.co.uk. Recounter is Scotland's leading reportage golf agency. As luck would have it, Kevin and I met the day before on the bus ride over to the Ryder Cup for the Sunday Singles Matches . We quickly hit it off and it will be interesting to see what fate has in store there.......Back to the golf.....With views like this below, it looked as though my camera would be as busy as my sticks.

Slains Castle, in the distance above, is a centuries old castle that was reportedly the inspiration for Bram Stoker's "Dracula". I wish I had known the castle was here as I would love to go over and spend some time there. For today, pictures from a distance will have to do. After a bit of a warm up, I was ready to head out for my round. I wasn't paired with anyone today which was good as I wanted to be able to play golf as well as take plenty of pictures of this beautiful place. The first three holes were pretty straightforward and provided a nice start to the round with 3 straight pars. The par 3 4th as seen in the next few pictures was one of my favorite par 3's anywhere. It is set alongside a beautiful stone filled river off to the left. One thing I learned quickly, short is no good. My pitch mark was literally a yard short of the green's surface and when all was said and down, I had rolled back down the hill 15 or so yards short of the green. A tough up and down, especially when the pin was front right. Bogey!

To me, the front nine really begins here at the 4th and then continues with a succession of excellent holes on the 4th through 8th. The par 4 5th was a brute from the tips, especially back into the wind. I ended up with my 2nd bogey here. 

The par 5 6th was a good hole as well. I loved the way the dunes framed the tee shot. This was a true 3 shot hole today. With a hard right to left wind here, I ended up just off the left side. Thankfully, I didn't run off into the creek that runs short and left of the green. Up and down for par....

After another interesting short par 4 at the 7th I came onto the tee at this little gem. The short par 4 8th sets beautifully at the base of some massive dunes. Despite being back into the wind, I was able to drive it just off the green to the left. Up and down to a back right pin for my 1st birdie of the day. 

After making the trek up the hill to the par 4 9th tee, I was presented with a beautiful panoramic view of Cruden Bay. If the back nine was anything like the last few holes, I was really going to enjoy this next couple of hours. After a missed par putt on the 9th and a short walk to the par 4 10th tee, I knew that I was absolutely going to love the back nine. Here's what I saw from the tee. Enjoy...

Above and below are views of the Par 5 13th green and Par 4 14th tee......

On the right side below is the Par 4 10th and the Par 3 11th, surrounded there by the bunkers in the middle. It must be close to 100ft drop down to the fairway from the tee. What a view!

I really loved the next couple of holes as well. The Par 4 12th framed up nicely for me from the tee. Not a long hole but back into the wind, it took two good shots to find the putting surface. 

The Par 5 13th was one of my top holes from the back nine. Again, I loved the way it set up from the tee. A definite 3 shot hole. After a good tee shot down the left side, I was able to set myself up for a short shot into the green. Happy to walk away with a par here. I loved the views of the coastline from the back of the tee as well. 

The Par 4 14th was a risk / reward hole off the tee. I finally had the wind helping and off the left. I hit a big tee shot, carrying all the bunkers etc., leaving myself a little flip wedge into this very unique fish bowl of a green. 

The Par 3 15th was the first of two very cool par 3's. The 15th is actually a blind tee shot. If you want to hit this green, you had better hit your mark on the side of the dune.....The Par 3 16th also took some serious attention. From an elevated tee, hitting into a green that slopes away from back to front, you had better get your distance right....

The Par 4 17th and 18th were straightforward holes. With two good tee shots I was able to finish with a par on 17 and a tap in birdie on the 18th as the sun was beginning to set. I loved seeing Slains Castle in the backdrop on this final shot of the day! 

I couldn't have picked a better place to play my last round of this incredible trip. Cruden Bay Golf Club has far exceeded all of my lofty expectations. It has also ascended to my top 10 list of courses I have played in Scotland and Ireland. I can't wait to get back here next Summer. Until then, thanks for the memories Cruden Bay! You truly are a beauty..........

Ryder Cup Sunday........The Singles

Today was exciting to say the least. I didn't really think the US team had enough in the tank to make a comeback but I was hopeful for some good golf nonetheless. I wasn't to be denied. The Euros only needed four points to retain the Cup so the Americans were facing a tough task. There were some good matches that I was particularly interested in. Jordan Speith was the 1st match out of the gates, paired against GMAC. Despite an early charge by Jordan, GMAC was able to take control of the match, ending up with a point for Europe. The match of the day for me was Rory and Rickie.  I wanted to see if Rory would assert his dominance as World # 1. It was clear early into the front 9 that he was indeed doing just that. Rickie didn't stand a chance and was easily beaten. I'm not sure anyone could have beaten Rory today. With matches all over the course, it was much easier to get around out there. I was able to take in the action along the 1st and 2nd holes before heading back up to my perch along the side of the 8th hole. With every Euro birdie made and point gained, the crowds got louder and louder. It soon became a forgone conclusion that Europe would win. It was now a matter of who would clinch the winning point. One of Europe's rookies, Jamie Donaldson, capped off his 1st Ryder Cup by winning his 3rd point of the week. I was standing behind the 17th hole when he clinched it on the 16th green with an incredible eagle. Jim Furyk was on the tee of the 17th in his match with Sergio Garcia when the crowed erupted. Europe wins! In a wonderful display of sportsmanship, Jim turned to Sergio and shook his hand in congratulations before returning to play his shot into the 17th. With the Ryder Cup securing in European hands for another two years, I made my way back to the buses. Time to get back to St Andrews before the partying gets too out of hand. The Ryder Cup was an incredible experience to be a part of. I am thankful to have had the chance to come see it. I got back to SAGC in time to watch the closing ceremonies as well as the team press conferences. Some interesting team dynamics came to light during the American presser. I am sure the coming days will be filled with plenty of story lines as to why we didn't win. I know one thing.....Phil and Mr Watson were at odds for sure. Time will tell! My trip is fast approaching its end, with only two more days here in Scotland. I am headed up to Cruden Bay tomorrow. I've never played there and am very much looking forward to a great day!

Ryder Cup......Day 2

I wasn't as anxious about things this morning. I knew how long it would take to get over to the Park & Ride etc. I got to the course at about the same time as yesterday. It was another beautiful morning and the crowds were even bigger. The excitement was palpable. As I did yesterday, I made my way over to the 1st tee, or as close as I could get anyway. Sam Torrance and Miguel Angel Jimenez came out to rev up the crowds, not that they needed any help. "Living in a Poulter Wonderland" was a crowd favorite this morning. I also heard "You've got Big Mac, we've got GMAC." Clever! I made may way over to the 2nd hole to watch some of the approach shots coming into this reachable par 5. It's always amazing to see how far these guys hit the ball off the tee. Birdies were flying this morning and the Americans were able to close the gap in the morning matches to a 6-5 Euro lead before the afternoon matches were to begin. Much to my surprise, and the rest of the golfing world, Captain Watson decided not to play Phil and Keegan at all on Saturday. Curious decision that would prove costly today. The US team stunk it up during the afternoon matches and put themselves in quite a deficit for tomorrow's singles matches. To win, they would have to muster the same type of magical Sunday as the Euro's did during the "Miracle at Medinah" two years ago. We shall see!

I made my way back to the St Andrews Golf Club to watch the late coverage and hang out for a bit. The place was packed with members from all over the world. There was a lively bunch of Italians that were particularly entertaining. Such a diverse group with one common passion, GOLF! Tomorrow's singles matches don't start until 11:30 am which means a little extra sleep. After some some Fish and Chips here at the club, I headed back for some FaceTime with Kristen and Spence before heading to bed.

The Ryder Cup.......Hello Gleneagles

This morning felt a bit like Christmas morning for me when I was little. The day ahead was full of promise and I was anxious to get started. I purchased a Park & Ride pass for all three days of the event. I was admittedly skeptical of how efficient the parking and transportation process would be with so many people expected. It took me about 30 minutes to get to my parking spot as the traffic wasn't bad at all. Once there, we all went through airport security scanners and then loaded up on the double decker buses. Very efficient process! The ride to the course took us through some beautiful sheep filled countryside. Kristen would have loved that for sure. The buses dropped us off by the 16th hole, the par 5 that I remembered well from my round here last year. There were already thousands of folks roaming around the grounds and it wasn't even 8:00 am yet. I made my way up as close to the 1st tee as I could get. The grandstands were jam packed, primarily with the Euro fans singing parody songs they'd made up for each of their golfing heroes. They were very entertaining to say the least. I hung around for all the groups to tee off before venturing out onto the course to secure my spot for the morning. 

With so many fans and only four matches going on at one time, I needed to figure out where I could park myself for the morning. I decided on the right side of the par 4 8th hole. I could see the tee shots landing in the fairway as well as the shots into the green. There was also a huge monitor right across the fairway from me. Between that, the radio headphones and the enormous cheers from the galleries around me, I could always tell how things were going. After all the matches came through, the majority of the crowd made its way to the back nine. I, on the other hand, made my way to the facilities and then the bar that just opened. It was very windy and cold so I thought a little whisky would help warm me up. That it did as I made my way back up to the top of the hill by the 1st tee and 18th green. With free WiFi hotspots throughout the course, I was able to catch up with Kristen once she woke up. I was glad to be able to share with her in real time the excitement of it all. 

Phil and Keegan's match with Rory and Sergio was the last one of the morning session and it proved to be a barn burner. I made my way over to the par 3 17th. Keegan's eagle 3 on the par 5 16th insured that the match would go to the 18th. I found a good spot right behind the green and watched the mass of humanity come over the hill to the 17th. Incredible atmosphere! 

The match was all square going into the 18th. Phil ripped his tee shot down the middle and was able to put himself in the green side bunker, short and right of the pin. The rest of the group missed the fairway and consequently weren't able to go for the green in two. After some of his usual short game magic, Phil's short birdie putt gave him and Keegan a 1 up victory over Rory and Sergio. Because the match went the full 18, the afternoon matches were delayed to allow these guys to grab some food and head back out for the afternoon matches. 

Since things were delayed, I decided to head back to St Andrews and catch the afternoon matches at SAGC on Sky Sports. The club was actually having a tournament today so it wasn't too crowded when I first got there. I was able to eat, drink and be merry with a spot right in front of the television. After all of the walking I have done this week, over 100 miles according to my FitBit, my body was tired and hurting. After the matches concluded and I finished my dinner, I went back to the bungalow for a hot shower, a little FaceTime chat with Kristen then off to bed I went. Day 2 of the Ryder Cup was fast approaching. Time for some rest.....