I like this picture better
Can't believe that was almost a year ago Lynn also at least we finished our round after the squall that we played through at the turn
Alex
I remember, Alex: We had 'all four seasons' in that round, excluding only snow!
Here's my photo that day of Alex on Swilken Burn:
My three weeks there last year began with the Scottish Open at Loch Lomond and proceeded to The Open Championship at Turnberry. During those two weeks and the next that followed, I taught at various venues. Then, the real fun:
Well, today was quite a day. We woke up this morning to rain, and the early players practiced and played in it.
Then, when the rain stopped, the wind kicked up in earnest: Twenty-five miles an hour with gusts to forty. W - O - W ! !
On #13 -- the hole that prompted the later wind suspension of play -- BG backed off his ball and re-marked four times as the ball wobbled about -- no, moved about -- on the green. Each player in the group three-putted, all missing second putts from less than four feet (and one from less than 12 inches). When the group behind us reached the green, Paul Goydos refused to play.
Fifteen minutes later, the horn -- the "hooter" as they call it here -- sounded, and play was suspended for an hour. Here's a shot of the players and caddies in Brian's group laying about in the grass awaiting the play of their third shots into the 14th, your basic 618-yard par 5. Don't look for Kip (BG's caddie): He was "starving" and off to get in a quick sandwich.
I noticed no appreciable difference in the wind velocity once play resumed. BG bogeyed #15 and #16 -- a three-putt including the one-stroke penalty he called on himself when the ball moved after he had soled the club -- then tripled #17 from the tough rough left off the tee. A birdie on the home hole brought him in at +11 for the day and for the tournament.
Not what we wanted or expected, of course, but it's what we got.
Got your PM Lynn but sadly too late to do anything about it, flights to all the nearby airports are SKY high!
We'll get together one of these days, of that I have no doubt.
__________________ The student senses his teacher’s steadfast belief and quiet resolve: “This is doable. It is doable by you. The pathway is there. All you need is determination and time.” And together, they make it happen.
I should say, I've played The Old Course in that sort of wind!
I remember hitting a 3 wood over 350 yards through the 16th and yet couldn't get a 5 iron 120 yards to the 6th green!!!
Scottish weather eh! If you don't like it, wait 15 minutes and there'll be some new weather for you to enjoy/hate!!!
__________________ The student senses his teacher’s steadfast belief and quiet resolve: “This is doable. It is doable by you. The pathway is there. All you need is determination and time.” And together, they make it happen.
The Conservatory at the Old Course Hotel is located right off the famous Road Hole at St. Andrews. As such, it offers residents and guests one of the great views of The Open Championship, the second shots into the 17th green. Also, the panorama of the 1st and 18th fairways, Swilken Bridge and the R&A clubhouse.
After our windswept, 18-hole tour of the course following Brian, we repaired to the comfy confines of The Conservatory for a quick bite. Amazingly, the place was almost empty. At the same time, my guess is that the Road Hole Bar three floors above was packed! Here's a photo of our 'private party' thoroughly enjoying that time together.
From the bay windows behind us, you are standing within just a few feet of the players preparing their approaches into the green. It's kind of eerie, because there is no gallery! All spectators are routed from behind the teebox down toward the first green, and there is no crosswalk to get back to the right side -- or left side! -- of the fairway.
So, there before the very few of us that afternoon walked the greatest players in the game. Those included Tiger Woods and Tom Watson, just minutes before his poignant final waves from Swilken Bridge. I've got couple of shots of Old Tom on #17, but they're loaded in another camera and will have to wait.
Usually, the activity on the walk just in front of us was minimal. Here, for example, is a lone cameraman and an unobstructed view of Rory McIlroy playing his second.
However, things grew far more hectic as the camera crews converged on our idyllic setting in preparation for Tiger's arrival!
Just doesn't seem as compelling without Tiger of even Phil contending, as far as compelling, nothing beats Tom Watson trying to repeat as champion a century after he first won it.
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