Cruden Bay and The Meldrum House.......Something Old and Something New

I was excited to get us up to Cruden Bay this afternoon for our round. As is their custom, the day's groups are always called out on the chalkboard in the dining room. I've never seen this done anywhere else. Nice touch! I was glad Kristen was up for walking along with me this afternoon. Cruden Bay, especially the back nine, has some really pretty holes. One of my favorites from the front nine is the Par 3 4th hole below. It plays to over 200 yards and you cannot be a yard short. If you are, the false front will run you back down the hill, leaving a very difficult up and down. Knowing and doing are sometimes two different things. That being said, I came up a yard short and down she went. I was able to get up and down for par though so I have that going for me.

The next two shots are of the very difficult Par 4 5th hole. It was dead into the wind and gave me all I wanted.

Below is the Par 4 7th hole. It was also dead into the wind off the tee. The second shot has you going through the dunes at the crest of the hill to a small green. Neat hole....

The following pic is of the drivable Par 4 8th hole. Today wasn't drivable as we were again into the wind. The green sets back into the hillside, making the winds very deceiving. Despite being a short hole, par is still a good score here when the wind is up.

The highest point of the course is the Par 4 9th tee. From here you can see the almost the entire course. The 9th was the one hole that just didn't seem to fit for me when I was here last time. They have since redesigned the 9th as well as the tee boxes for the Par 4 10th. Well done on the redesign!

The next two are of the Par 4 10th. I love how this green sits back into these hills. The winds were up and the sound of the breeze through the long grass would put you to sleep if you let it.

The next two shots are taken from the back of the Par 5 13th and Par 4 14th. Love this coastline......

Last shot from Cruden Bay is of the Par 3 16th below. From a somewhat elevated tee, the winds can play games with you here. Err short of the green and the ball will filter to the green and hopefully the hole. I flew it a yard or two too far and carried through over the back of the green. I was able to keep the round going with a good up and down here. We really enjoyed our day out here at Cruden Bay. Kristen agreed that it is one of the most scenic of all the courses she's seen with me over here.

I was hopeful that The Meldrum House would live up to expectations as we would be here for several days. As soon as we pulled into the property, it was clear that we would be just fine. Below are several pictures of The Meldrum.

The two pics are of the very cool Cave Bar. I was pleased to see that they housed over 100 single malts here in the cave. After a wonderful dinner there in the hotel, I made my way to the Cave to sample some of their wares.

Shamish stood guard outside The Meldrum while we were there. Love these Highland Coos.......

A Lot of Golf in a Short Amount of Time....

Well the weather has cleared and the last couple of days have been beautiful here in St Andrews. The goal is to get as much golf in as my back can stand before we head north to The Meldrum House for the weekend. As fun as it is to sit and watch other folks start and finish their rounds here at The Old Course, I was ready to get out there myself. I was rained out on The Jubilee yesterday but there is nothing but sunshine today.

Just beyond the Old Course Hotel is where the practice facilities are for the Links Trust courses. This morning was actually my first time over here. It is an excellent facility with an even better view from the hitting bays. Looking back into the town and what lay ahead was all the motivation I needed to get warmed up.

Below are some pics from both my Thursday afternoon and Friday morning out on The Jubilee. Thursday afternoon I played with a fellow SAGC member and his wife. Andreas was originally from Chile and his wife from Scotland. They were here on sabbatical and enjoying every minute of their time in St Andrews. It's always nice to meet new folks out on the links. That being said, I also love having the course all to myself as I did Friday morning. I was the first person off the tee Friday morning.

The shot below was my view from the Par 4 8th hole of The Jubilee. This is my favorite hole out here  as it winds its way along the estuary you see in the two shots above.

Just beyond this tee marker are some of the prettiest beaches in St. Andrews. The West Sands beaches are where they filmed the classic "Chariots of Fire."

 Here is a shot of the Par 5 11th. These two bunkers sit about 120 yards or so off the green and are not to be messed with when laying up on your second shot.

Above is the Par 3 13th of The Jubilee. A great hole, especially back into the wind from an elevated tee. Makes it a little more difficult to "flight" a shot when you're already elevated to begin with. The next two shots are taken from the 13th tee box. You can see the shoreline directly behind you and when you look off to your right, you can see the Par 4 10th green, Par 5 11th tee and Par 5 12th green.

Above is the double green housing the Par 4 14th green (red flag) as well as the Par 4 4th (white flag).     Below is a side view from the right side of the Par 4 2nd hole.

After grabbing some lunch following my Friday morning round, I was back out for my round on The Old Course. I'm so glad the timing worked out for me to get back out there. Just hoping my back would hold up for another 18 holes. Whilst I have been wearing myself out on the course these past two days, Kristen has been well kept in the Old Course Hotel's Kohler Water Spa. It's one of her favorite places in the world and they took such good care of her. She was able to make it to the 1st tee right as I was teeing off. I heard a lone "woohoo" and knew she was back there. Made me smile for sure. It's such a cool environment to have so many random folks watching you tee off. Something I could sure get used to. One day! I was paired with a gent from Northern Ireland as well as a father / son duo from Sweden. We all enjoyed one another's company and had a great time.

"Hell Bunker" is to be avoided at all cost. It sits precariously along the path of the Par 5 14th. It is 12 feet deep at its max with an average of 8 feet in depth overall. I happily flew well past this bad boy.

Love the views you get when you start heading down the back nine on The Old Course. Certainly a skyline I could get used to see routinely.

Above is the famed "Road Hole" tee shot. One of our playing partners actually bounced one off the hotel and back into the right side of the fairway. Lucky! I went down the left side to avoid any trouble. The problem with that is that the 2nd shot becomes much longer and more difficult. Pick a struggle!

My favorite finishing hole in golf.... Coming up the Par 4 18th hole of The Old Course is something every golfer should experience at least once. Such a cool feeling to know you are walking in the footsteps of the giants of the game. Thankful for all that St Andrews brought us this week. Cannot wait to return. For now, we head north to Cruden Bay and The Meldrum House for the next several days. Should be fun........

Quality Time with My Girl.......

Today was to be spent out on The Jubilee Course. However, a sore back coupled with a most impressive display of thunder and lighting changed our plans. We decided to just mill around town today and take it easy. Kristen made her way to Hot Yoga at her friend's studio, Hot House Yoga St Andrews. I took my clubs to one of the local shops to get some work done on them. We made our way to Kingsbarns for some lunch. We tried the course but it was packed so we found a table at the quaint Inn at Kingsbarns. The food was wonderful as was the service. The Inn is family owned and they were most gracious hosts, especially their old Golden, Sophia.

After lunch we took a much needed nap before I headed to SAGC while Kristen explored the shops of Market Street. We were dining at the club tonight so it worked out perfectly. When I got there, I had the chance to show one of our newer members around the clubhouse. Being new to the club, he'd never seen it. What a treat to be able to share all of our history with him and his wife. They were actually able to circle back to the club later this evening for dinner as well. Kristen came back in time to tell me all about her favorite shops and about the legendary town cat, Hamish McHamish. While no longer with us, Hamish is forever remembered with a statue right in the heart of town. A sight I had to see for myself.

Dinner was delightful as we say overlooking the 18th green of The Old Course. Probably the best overall meal we have had this week. Over dinner we met a few other members, all of which were from Northern VA. One was a longstanding member entertaining his friends and sharing his vast knowledge of the history of St Andrews with us all. While I wasn't his primary audience I learned a few things myself. Always good to keep your eyes and ears open for new things.

After dinner we set out to find Hamish as well as some of the famous gelato from Jannettas Galateria. After delightful scoop of Cookie Dough and Peanut Butter Chocolate (Don't Judge) we had to agree Jannettas was aptly named. While today didn't go as originally planned, it was one of my favorite days thus far. Something special about spending a whole day with your best friend!