What a Hoolie at Crail...

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Today we made our way down the coastline to Crail and the Balcomie Links. I thought we were playing at 12:40 pm but our time was 10:40 am. Thankfully, we were able to grab a later time at 1:30 pm. My little scheduling snafu gave us some more time to grab some lunch. All's well that ends well! The food was great as always in Crail's clubhouse. Spence has become quite the fan of vinegar on his chips. Who knew?  Now on to the golf...

The winds were forecast for 20-30mph sustained, with gusts even higher. Standing high atop the hill on the 1st tee, I'd say they were spot on. This was the windiest day on the course for me in quite some time if not ever. Spence would say the same. Today was a test of patience and humility. Spence started off strong with his 1st birdie of the day, a wedge to four feet. Well done!

The Par 4 5th hole sits hard along the water. It is nearly a 90 degree dogleg right, playing well over 400 yards on the card. With the wind today it was easily playing close to 500 yards. Brutal hole. We both escaped with "good" bogeys. 

Spence giving it a go on the 5th. 

Here's the green on the 5th. Have always loved how this hole backs up to the farm. There's usually a nice gallery of coos watching the golf. 

Par 3 6th below was a fun one. The wind that we were dead into off the 5th tee was now hard off the right. I was able to flight a five iron down and find the green, short left of the hole. One putt later, I had my first birdie of the day. Couldn't let Spence have all the fun. 

Taking a break on the Par 3 13th. It was so windy and had gotten quite a bit cooler. Nowhere to hide from the wind on this course. It was at this point we debated heading back to the house. We were going to miss our dinner reservations at Little Italy at the pace the round was going. We were able to push our reservations back so we could finish the round. Glad we did as today will serve as good practice for Saturday's very similar forecast. 

There actually was one place to hide from the wind and Spence found it on the way to the 15th tee. This cave has some historical significance as you can see below. Today, it was a place for Spence to take refuge. So many of these courses have so much history tied to them, golf or otherwise. 

Loved the view from high above on the 17th tee. You can see all four finishing holes as well as the clubhouse sitting high on the hill to the left. As the day begins to fade, the lighting was beautiful. Beautiful ending to another day of memories made. Today's match was a draw...We've halved two and he's won two. Wouldn't have it any other way!

Perfect....

We got back home in time for a much needed hot shower. Dinner wasn't until 8:15 pm so we didn't need to rush. Everything worked out perfectly and we enjoyed yet another wonderful meal at Little Italy. Spence and I both ate the same thing as the other night, Lasagne Al Forno for me and Tagliata Cosa Nostra for Spence. It's that good. Tomorrow is wide open as we don't have any golfing plans. The back is feeling better and I don't want to rock that boat prior to the Town Match on Saturday. There are still some things to show Spence here in town and we still need to get in a match over on the Himalayas putting course.