St Andrews Trip Report April 2019

[Argonne69]

I'm in St Andrews for 5 days and 5+ rounds of golf. On Wednesday I'll be celebrating my 500th course played when I tee it up at the Old Course. I played my 400th course in July 2017 at Pebble Beach, and figured the only way to outdo that was to visit the birthplace of golf. (No, I couldn't get on at Augusta National or Cypress)

 

I have rounds booked tomorrow morning at Kingsbarns, and Tuesday morning at the Castle Course. Thursday and Friday are open, and I'm planning to walk on the New and Jubilee courses. I don't have a rental car, so I'm planning to stick around St Andrews on this trip. I hope to return to Scotland in a few year and play the other well known gems.

 

I'll post reviews as I play, and a few pics. I'll post full picture sets when I get back home. The weather forecast looks very promising, but a little rain wouldn't dampen my spirits. I'm here to celebrate over 40 years of golf by taking in the sights and sounds. 'Not sure if I'm going to make it to 1000 courses, but I'll certainly try.

[Argonne69]

The gorse is sure looking pretty.

 

In addition to being a total golf junkie, I'm also a railfan. Seeing the 120+ year old Forth Bridge was pretty cool.

 


[scott_Donald]

wow love these threads. glad you made it there and all set.

 

I have been in Houston 3 months now and returning home on Wednesday and can't wait to play a month of links golf, this thread is definitely getting me in the mood to play!

[Argonne69]

Starting the trip the right way with a pint of stout, and a plate of fish and chips at Belhaven Pub. I'm going to make my way down to St Andrews Brewing Company if they're open.

 

[Hawkeye77]

Hope there was time and daylight for a stroll on The Old.

[dcmidnight]

Anxious to read the rest of this! We spent seven nights in St Andrews last August and IMO it still was not enough time there. So many cool things to see and do around town. Have fun!!!

[tiderider]

belhaven beer was my preferred option the first time i went over ... this makes me want to go out and get some ... hope you got to walk around TOC a bit today, but just being in that town is good enough ...

[duffer987]

Stout? Did you go to Ireland? ;)

OP as someone who likes beer, you must tuck into multiple pints of cask ale while you are there. Good pubs know how to keep it in good nick.

whatpub.com and beerintheevening.com plus KY16 for the postcode search and you are sorted, as 5 nights will give you more than enough time to get to all of them.

[Argonne69]

Yes, I got a chance to walk around the 1st/18th at TOC. Being a Sunday, it was open to the public. Odd to watch folks kicking a rugby ball around, and watching dogs play on the 18th green.

[Argonne69]


 

[davep043]

> @duffer987 said:

> Stout? Did you go to Ireland? ;)

> OP as someone who likes beer, you must tuck into multiple pints of cask ale while you are there. Good pubs know how to keep it in good nick.

> whatpub.com and beerintheevening.com plus KY16 for the postcode search and you are sorted, as 5 nights will give you more than enough time to get to all of them.

 

Its been a couple of years since I was there, but my favorite pub in St Andrews was the Whey Pat. Its far enough from the golf courses so that you won't be completely surrounded by tourists (like yourself), and they had 5 or 6 cask ales on tap every time I was there. Its just outside the old city gate on Market Street.

[Argonne69]

I teed it up this morning at Kingsbarns Links. I couldn't have asked for a better start to the trip. It was almost too nice with clear skies and warm temps. The course is a gem. Yeah, it's not a true links layout, but it's a solid test on a beautiful seaside piece of rolling terrain. The course reminded me of Pacific Dunes at Bandon, but played more like the courses at Sand Valley. The fairways are very generous with little trouble. The greens are very large, so a GIR is no guarantee of an easy two putt. The greens were fairly undulating, but not crazy. The slower green speeds kept them manageable. There are very few flat lies on the course. There was a good mix of long and short par 4's. Two of the short ones were driveable with a good poke, but there were a few strategically located fairway bunkers that give you pause. The par 3s were slightly disappointing. Visually appealing, but not overly challenging. Two of the par 5s were reachable in two.

 

Course conditions were excellent. Fairways were firm and tight. Greens were on the slow side, which was to be expected on a seaside course that experiences windy conditions. The sand in the bunkers was very fluffy.

 

I had a very good day ballstriking with 9 fairways and 11 greens. The missed fairways were in no real danger. So-so around the greens. It takes a bit of practice to get used to chipping off the tight lies. A few decent looks at birdie, but burned the edge on each of them. The ball just didn't seem to want to break on the slower greens, and I kept missing on the high side.

 

Overall it was a wonderful morning. My caddie Doug was great. He has worked on the PGA, Web.com, and LPGA tours, and had some great stories. The course is visually stunning, with most of the course visible from the high spots. It's not difficult, and I'd say it's a great place to start your trip as a warm up. Highly recommended.

 

[Argonne69]


[Argonne69]


 

[scott_Donald]

Seems it was a perfect day for golf today, friends had some great pics from Royal Aberdeen. Glad you had fun and seems the weather is now downhill for you. I arrive on Thursday and its saying 12*C for Aberdeen!

 

 

[Argonne69]

Yeah, the weather is going to get a bit cooler and wetter. I decided today would be the best day to stroll through the town, so I walked down to the castle, and then the cathedral. Interesting. I'm currently having a nice cask conditioned ale at The Rule on South Street, and my next stop will be Whey Pat. One of the locals told me to enjoy the last day of summer. Lol.

[Argonne69]


 

[spud3]

Always enjoy your trip reports!

[Hawkeye77]

Argonne - just a question about photos. I always had issues figuring out how to get good quality pics to show up once resized for this site. Are you using a remote hosting site, or is the new site here better about photos, if you know? Thanks.

[Argonne69]

My pics, both original and resized, are hosted in my Dropbox account. This site resizes them for the page, but the full pic is available by clicking on the photo.

[Edward_Majorwin]

Aye, this a beauty thread Argonne. I'm looking forward to this week's updates...especially Wednesday!

[Argonne69]

Thanks. Looking forward to the rest of the trip.

[Argonne69]

I'm starting to think about a personal souvenir. I certainly don't need another ball marker, as it would simply get lost in my bag pocket along with all the other ball markers. I would get some use out of yet another polo shirt, but it would be one of dozens.

 

For a few years I've considered getting some Galvin Green waterproofs, but they're not available in retail stores in the U. S., at least not in the Chicago area. My Footjoy rain gear is decent, but it simply doesn't breath like GoreTex. I don't want to drop top dollar without trying them on. I'm glad, because I stopped in a golf store to try on a few models, and found that the fit was iffy depending on the style/model. I need a 3XL, and a few styles were tight across the back with just a polo underneath. I hate to think how they would fit with 3 layers of winter wear. Nothing worse than Ill fitting outerwear. I'll check out a few more stores in town, and hopefully I'll have some luck.

 

Waterproofs with a St Andrews logo may not be exciting, but at least I'd get 20+ uses per season out of them.

 

[Argonne69]

A cask conditioned Belhaven Black Scottish Stout at Central Bar in St Andrews. OK, it's not a full pint, but it's still tasty.

 


[duffer987]

Central Bar is my favorite spot in St. Andrews always loads of options, but c'mon drinking Bellhaven is like coming here and drinking Sam Adams or Sierra Nevada ;)

I can see at least one Eden Mill brewery and one Stewart Brewing offer on hand pump in that pic, hopefully they have a Harviestoun as well, gotta go local man!

[davep043]

> @Argonne69 said:

> I'm starting to think about a personal souvenir. I certainly don't need another ball marker, as it would simply get lost in my bag pocket along with all the other ball markers. I would get some use out of yet another polo shirt, but it would be one of dozens.

>

> For a few years I've considered getting some Galvin Green waterproofs, but they're not available in retail stores in the U. S., at least not in the Chicago area. My Footjoy rain gear is decent, but it simply doesn't breath like GoreTex. I don't want to drop top dollar without trying them on. I'm glad, because I stopped in a golf store to try on a few models, and found that the fit was iffy depending on the style/model. I need a 3XL, and a few styles were tight across the back with just a polo underneath. I hate to think how they would fit with 3 layers of winter wear. Nothing worse than Ill fitting outerwear. I'll check out a few more stores in town, and hopefully I'll have some luck.

>

> Waterproofs with a St Andrews logo may not be exciting, but at least I'd get 20+ uses per season out of them.

>

 

One of the longest lasting souvenirs that my wife and I brought back are a pair of coffee mugs, purchased in the Scotland Tourism office in Market Street, almost straight across from the Central. They're decorated with nice watercolor style depictions, one of the cathedral, one of the R&A clubhouse.

[duffer987]

> @Hawkeye77 said:

> Argonne - just a question about photos. I always had issues figuring out how to get good quality pics to show up once resized for this site. Are you using a remote hosting site, or is the new site here better about photos, if you know? Thanks.

 

You get only 1000 photos free (I pay for unlimited now), but I've used Flickr for ages now and it does the trick just fine.

For instance - Kingsbarns pic and click link for the full one:

 

[Walter]

Looking forward to read about the rest of your trip.

Great memories off St Andrews and Kingsbarns as well.

[jonnymc44]

Great pictures. Making me somewhat jealous!

Enjoy the rest of your trip, @Argonne69

[Argonne69]

Getting ready to tee off at the Castle Course. The winds are steady coming off the sea. It feels a good 20 degrees cooler than yesterday, although the sun is helping a bit. Nice views of the cathedral in St Andrews a mile away.