Golf and sport over the weekend

Well...with a group of South Africans here for their golf tour they were able to celebrate twice in the last two days and what a couple of days for the South Africans. The victory by Ernie Els at Lytham St Anne's was a remarkable turn around in fortunes for both the golfers. It only goes to show that the match or competition is never over until the last putt is in the hole.  Poor Adam Scott but it was also a great finish from Ernie who knew that it was easy to have consecutive bogeys on the way home and avoided that and even advanced while Adam lost his way and eventually the Open.

The McWilliam party were at Castle Stuart and watched the event live and were gifted a bottle of single malt to celebrate Ernie's victory. Very nice touch by Castle Stuart! Just to make the week better for the South Africans, England lost by an innings and lost their no. 1 status....oops!

Here at the Links Club we are preparing for the arrival of the Fraser group on Thursday. They will be staying at Newholme House for the majority of the time here in Scotland and they will be finishing their golf tour at Turnberry for the last two days. Let's hope we can follow any good weather around.  I think the McWilliam group have been lucky although they had a strong wind to contend with at Castle Stuart.

On Friday of last week I had a very kind invitation to play at the Rennaisance Club with three good friends, courtesy of my fourball partner at Gleneagles in order to celebrate his daughter's wedding. We had great weather and played on a course that was in great condition. Nice for once to play on greens that are running true. Gleneagles has had problems this year that have meant that we have not had good and consistent running greens. Let's hope we can get some for the end of the season. The Renaissance is a good course but we all had a close look at the new holes, of which one is spectacular, however the other two are great holes but the greens for each hole are separated by a wall - what happens when you get on the wrong green?  Not sure but lift and drop is probably the only rule available so not really the full payment for going long...interesting.  Fore caddies are not normal in the UK...they should be considered by some of the bigger courses...it works and can, if the individual is good, really speed up play.  The reading of putts by the fore caddy can slow the pace of play, but I really enjoyed the input from our fore caddie Todd.

McWilliam golf tour

Late at night just finishing preparation for the group arriving at Glasgow airport tomorrow...early start and then down to Turnberry..update tomorrow So the McWilliam party arrived at Turnberry with pretty good weather around. Not much wind and no rain, and the course looking in good condition. The stands were starting to appear fro the senior open, and so there was a great buzz around the course.

Here is Mark, Patric Simon Andy and Quinton ready for their first hole on the Ailsa Course.They played round in excellent weather and only just caught a small shower just as the sun was setting, however the shower and the sun firmed a great backdrop for a double rainbow over the hotel and the course, as the two groups played in to the 18th.Tom Watson would have bought at least three of the approach shots into the 18th back in 2009!!!!!!!

The next day i lead the whole group alongs to Girvan harbour where they boarded the kintyre express for their journey over the sea to Campbeltown and onto Machrahanish for their golf. Below are some of the pictures of the group boarding the boat...perhaps a little apprehensive?? not sure but they all returned safely and it was a great success. Save a four hour drive or a flight from glasgow airport.!

Day out at Gleneagles

Gleneagles

A day out for the Links Club boss, his wife Nikki and daughter Sophie.   Out at the Dormy House at Gleneagles for a Saturday lunch before Sophie travelled back home to London.

The food was great and we met up with some old clients from London and also some fellow members. When the sun shines we all come out to play. The weather was fabulous and we had a great view out on to the 18th of both the Kings and the Queens.

The sign showed the way to the courses but as we stood here we could see a sign of our own and that was the clouds gathering...literally....moving slowly up from the south east.

You can see in this picture the clouds gathering...about half an hour after we left, the course was flooded and also the very same Dormy house we were in was also struggling with a flood in the bag store, such was the ferocity of the down pour.

Day 4 The Old Course

The 4th day started early for four of the golfers as
they had a tee time on the Old Course...great effort rewarded with a wet but satisfying round on the mecca of golf courses. The boys can be seen here all finishing from the 'Valley of Sin' on the 18th, with varying results. The weather was wet and windy........typical Scottish weather!

The second group also manage a tee time at around 13.30 on the Old and set forth in strong winds and still persistent rain. Some of the first group arrived to give moral support and wished them well.  Both groups took caddies and most enjoyed that experience. This day's golf was finished off with a long night out on the town for some of the players getting to bed a little later than anticipated.

Here are the second group all lined up in front off the R&A Club House just before teeing off...an amazing experience for them.

Day 3 of the Tour

Day Three was the round at Glasgow Gailes and the pro managed to get the boys off earlier than booked which allowed us to get to St Andrews with time to check in and get to the Dunvegan for a very amusing dinner through the back, with the continuation of the dessert eating episodes, with a lesson in how to eat a sticky toffee pudding in less than two seconds excellently demonstrated by the king of desserts, Greg.

Day 2: Turnberry & The Whisky Experience

The gents at the Whisky Experience

On the morning of the second day, three of the group missed out on the practice to take part in the The Whisky Experience just up the road from Turnberry. They bought two special single cask bottles of whisky for friends and family back home and so popular was this little excursion, that the remainder of the group went back the next day. Back to the hotel for more lunch and more dessert!!!

The afternoon of day two was a windy but sunny one and the boys got ready for their round on the Ailsa Championship Course. The last photo shows one of the boys about to tee off on the open championship tee at the Lighthouse hole and what a shot over the bay which, on this occasion, was struck to perfection into the middle of the fairway!!!!!  You can just see the sea and the fairway in the distance in this last photograph.

Day 1 of the MacMillan Tour

The MacMillan party line up for their first round of golf with as much of their cold weather gear on as was humanly possible. A typical introduction for a windy round of golf on Royal Troon's second course.

For us Scotsman it was not terrible but for these plucky Canadians this was a cold start to the tour!  They all soon warmed up for their first strike of the ball in Scotland.

The afternoon brought the gang out on to the Championship course and with the sun beginning to make its first appearance later in the afternoon, it was time to see how the boys struck the ball off the tee...and they all performed well with the sea and the beach threatening on the right hand side....no one went for a swim! Nice swing!!  Great pose...who is that pro on the tee?

Putting mania on the 16th green with mixed results, however it was duly noted that the entire group took no time at all to speed through the hole and onto the tricky par 3 17th, into a still strong wind, with one of the golfers in the 2nd group getting a two after a magnificent shot to 3 feet.

The sun had eventually come out but it was still a little chilly.

The boys then took off with me to Troon marina to eat in Scotts restaurant and it was here that I first encountered the amazing dessert eating exploits of the team leader, Greg!!!!  The fastest dessert eater in Scotland and Canada, little did I know there was more to come on that issue.

A late return to Wilding's saw half of the gang stay up socialising until the small hours of the morning.!!!!!

Great stamina!!