We Return to the Auld Grey Toon..........St Andrews

It's Saturday and we're headed to St Andrews. Since we weren't in too much of a time crunch we took it easy this morning heading out. I love how traveling to St. Andrews is very much becoming 2nd nature for me. Like anything else, it gets better with practice and I am all up for plenty of practice. Since the house wasn't going to be ready until 2:30 pm or so, we went straight to one of our favorites, The Jigger Inn for some lunch etc. 

Hard to beat these views from The Jigger of the famed "Road Hole" and the R & A Clubhouse framed by the town. Special, special place.....

After lunch, we made our way over to The St. Andrews Golf Club where we could watch some of The Open coverage on Sky Sports before getting settled at the house. Walking over to the club, I am always reminded of what an integral part of the fabric of this country that golf plays and has for hundreds of years. The Old Course and all of its history are the centerpiece of this majestic town. I love how the R & A Clubhouse stands guard over her prized possession.

I have to pinch myself everytime I walk through these doors as a member of The St. Andrews Golf Club. As she sits tight alongside the 18th green of the Old Course, you couldn't ask for better views of the course. What's even better is what's inside, the history and the people. So grateful to be a part of this grand tradition.

After a couple hours of The Open, we headed to the house to get settled. We went to M & S (Marks & Spencer) to get stocked up on food and everything we'd need at the house. It is always interesting to see the different brands of things as well as always discovering something new to try. Our home for the week is about a five minute walk from the town center. We made our way back to Ham's Hame Pub & Grill for dinner and to catch the last few holes of Saturday's round. Kristen got us the

perfect table for the evening. Even got to take a sip from The Claret Jug before heading back to the house. One good thing about being here is that the sun doesn't set until after 10:00 pm this time of year. As such, we took a stroll through The University of St Andrews and St Andrews Castle to end our day. 

145th Open Championship at Royal Troon Golf Club....Day 2

If you will remember, I said Day 1 was one for the record books when it came to the weather. Well, proper Open Championship weather returned on Day 2. The weather man was spot on today. The winds and rain were at times unrelenting. We made it into Troon as Phil Mickelson was finishing up his front nine. We walked several of the holes out on the course before the bottom fell out with the weather. We ended up heading back to the tented village alongside the 16th hole for some food and to get out of the rain for a bit. Once the rain subsided, we headed straight for the grand stand alongside the Postage Stamp Par 3 8th. We couldn't get anywhere near it yesterday. The rain cleared the stands and we were able to get a prime spot up at the top where we could see both the 7th and 8th holes. We sat up there for several hours, watching all of the high profile groups come through. The likes of Jason Day, Jordan Speith, Rory McIlroy and more all gave it their best for us. We felt like we had the best seat in the house. My hope is that at the end of this weekend, the name at the top of this leaderboard will still be the same.

At about five o'clock one of the radio golf commentators said "the end was fast approaching from the west." Albeit a bit dramatic, he was right about some heavy rains bearing down on the course. We decided to head back to the Dalmahoy for dinner and some much needed rest. Tomorrow we're slated to head to St. Andrews for the week. Kristen has enjoyed these past two days as much as I have at The Open. With the chance of a 2nd Claret Jug looming for Phil Mickelson, we're tempted to stay another night. Nah, it's time to get to St Andrews. Besides, I don't think St. Andrews, the Home of Golf, will be such a bad place to watch the Open over the weekend. We're anxious to see how things play out for Phil and the rest of the guys at Royal Troon. It's been wonderful theatre thus far. As for me,  no golf slated this weekend on my end. Just looking forward to getting settled at the house and spending some time with Kristen in my favorite place in the world.

The above pic is of us up in the grandstand behind the Par 3 17th. We got to see Phil birdie here....The next two are of our two favorite holes, the Par 4 7th and Par 3 8th better known as the "Postage Stamp".

Neither wind nor rain could keep us from smiling down on that leaderboard. Keep it going Phil!

The 145th Open Championship at Royal Troon Golf Club...Round 1

Today was one for the record books. For one, the weather was incredible, very warm and quite sunny as you can see from the pics below. Secondly, the golf was impeccable, especially from fan favorite Phil Mickelson. He was one near miss away from setting the all time low round record for Major Championship golf. Kristen and I made our way around the course, taking in the scene along the way. There is always much to see at The Open and this one was no different, especially on such a beautiful day. Royal Troon is a beautiful course, with the Par 4 7th and famed short Par 3 8th, famously known as the Postage Stamp. We found a perch along the grandstands of the 7th that gave us some excellent views of both holes. We saw some brilliant shots as well as some train wrecks. Notably, we saw Bubba Watson go from the front page of the leaderboard to the middle of the pack with his ill timed triple bogey on the Postage Stamp. You can't go in the coffin Bubba!

As the day progressed, it was clear the something special was taking place. My all time favorite, Phil Mickelson was having a special round. You can see him striding into the green at the Postage Stamp 8th. Little did we know that when it was all said and done, he would end the day with a brilliant record tying 8 under par 63 and the lead after day one of The 145th Open Championship. Happy, happy day!We'll be back tomorrow for more. Bring on the waterproofs and proper Open weather......

The Longest Day.......(Fletcher's Cottage Spa and Gullane Golf Club)

When coming over to Scotland, or anywhere for that matter with a 6 hour time difference, the key is  to get acclimated quickly to the time change. We have found the best way to do that is to jump right in to our day. We had a wonderful flight last night, courtesy of United Airlines. Once we got all of our luggage, another big thank you to United, we were on our way to our home away from home for this week, the Marriott Dalmahoy. We have stayed here for years and absolutely love it. After getting settled in our room and a little Scottish breakfast with some old friends here at the hotel, our day was really ready to start.

One thing I learned years ago was to make sure Kristen gets to the spa the first day we are here. After a long overnight flight, a good spa day always seems to help set the tone for her. Today was no different as we made our way over to the Fletcher's Cottage Spa at Archerfield. She was set up for the "Voya Total Massage Journey", an afternoon of pampering she very much deserved for putting up with me. :) Archerfield and Fletcher's Spa was about an hour drive for us from the hotel. Such a beautiful drive through so many of the quaint little villages that dot the coastline here in Scotland's Golf Coast of East Lothian. One such favorite is Gullane, just down the road from Fletcher's. Gullane is home to Gullane #1, #2 and #3. There is also a course called Luffness New all within a stone's throw of one another. I will get back to the golf in a second, but first.....Fletcher's!

Kristen started grinning from ear to ear as we pulled up. She seemed to be very confident that she was going to be just fine here for the day. When we walked inside, there was no doubt she had just found her happy place. If the service was on par with the atmosphere, she was in for a treat.

Back to the golf.....After making sure Kristen was squared away, I made my way back to Gullane in hopes of getting 18 holes in. Luckily, I was able to get right out on Gullane #3. I hadn't played that one before so I was happy to get after it. While it isn't as long a course as the #1, (2015 Scottish Open Host) there were still plenty of challenges to be had. The winds were a steady 20+mph. Combine the winds with the elevation changes on several other holes, Gullane #3 was indeed a proper test today. Below are a few of my favorite shots from the day.

The two pics above are of the Par 4 4th hole. The elevation change must be close to 75 ft or more. Felt like I was walking up the Himalayas. After a good tee shot and approach, I walked away with my first birdie of the day.

Really cool uphill Par 3 11th, set back into the hillside above. The Par 5 14th was reachable, especially downwind. Beware of the bunkers though.

This last one is from the Par 3 15th. Straight down hill on this one. This one is back down the Himalayas I mentioned from the 4th hole. These are the kinds of links golf shots that are so much fun. I had to choose between flying it all the way to the green or land short and let it run up. I chose the latter and was able to walk away from the hole unscathed. Really cool hole!

After finishing my round, I went back and found Kristen reading out in this garden. The pictures don't do this garden justice but I wanted to share them just the same. To say Kristen was pleased with Fletcher's Cottage Spa would be an understatement. She now ranks it above every other spa she's been privy to spend time with. For those of you who know of our previous travels (see blogs from former trips) you will see the #1 title is a strong claim to make.

Our goal was to make it through the day without a nap. We succeeded and after a quick dinner at one of our favorite stops, The Bridge Inn in Ratho, we turned in for some much needed rest prior to the next two days at The Open, held this year at Royal Troon Golf Club.

And We're Back..........Welcome to Our 2016 Scottish Adventure

Welcome back to Fairways and Dreams Golf. Kristen and I are at it again as we head across the pond again tomorrow for our 6th trip to the British Isles. We shall spend the next fortnight in Scotland and we cannot wait to get there. We have had an incredibly busy year with work etc. so it will be so nice to truly unplug and really enjoy each other and the land we have come to love so much. Next stop, the Dalmahoy Estate and Country Club in Edinburgh, Scotland. We will be spending a couple of days at the Open Championship held at Royal Troon Golf Club, a course I played on our first trip across the pond. From there we will head to the home of golf, St Andrews, for the remainder of our trip. We'd love for you to come along with  us during our journey. Stay tuned for daily updates as to where we are and what we're up to. There will be plenty of golf along with a lot of the sights and sounds from all that Scotland has to offer. Hope you enjoy it and let us know what you think along the way.

Above are a few shots of the our home from Wednesday through Saturday when we head up to St. Andrews. We have stayed here at the Dalmahoy every year we have come to Scotland. It's nice to have a place we feel some comfortable coming back to.