On The Road to Schytherbolle

Back in 3 days
Good golfing at the weekend

As we farewell Carnoustie.
Here's a piece of advice especially if you didn't get a time for THE Carnoustie course.
Don't rush off in a huff.
Don't pass on Panmure says pgatour.com
Panmure provides great golf for adventurous tourists

And here's a link to the Panmure Club and a wee story about Hogan

"Panmure legend has it that, during his preparations, Ben Hogan mowed the seventeenth green himself, to meet his precise requirements for putting practice.
He then cleaned the mower before returning it to an astonished Willie Falconer, the Head Greenkeeper!"

Mind you the Wee Ice Mon still reckoned that THE Carnoustie greens were like "Putting on putty".
And that's putting it mildly.

We're still in Carnoustie and still thinking about Hogan who when asked his secret for success said he:
"Dug it out of the dirt"

Which brings me to Frank Beard's latest post on SI and his comment.

"New technology is for robots, the rockpile is for humans."

Ah well it's back to "doin' time" for me again.

Since we're still at Carnoustie.
A very timely article by Ron Sirak of Golf Digest about famous colossal collapses and here you'll find his take on Jean Van de Velde's collapse at Carnasty.

By the way Ron reckons it's only the 4th worst collapse.
No prizes for guessing who's number one. But guess which one.

Keeping with the theme of Carnoustie and again an article
Remembering the braw laddie at Carnoustie by John Huggan

This time about his first sight of Tom Watson and his triumph at Carnoustie.
Opens in England only count as half a major is Huggan's assessment of the relative value of winning an Open in Scotland and an Open in England.

And just loved this wee story.

Two years ago, while staying in the Marine Hotel in North Berwick, Watson watched in fascination from his bedroom window as player after player attempted to hit the admittedly rather silly 16th green on the town's west course.
So fascinated was he that, late in the evening, he went out and tried the hole for himself. Unfortunately, he had not paid for his ticket and the club secretary asked him, politely, to take his leave, Open champion or not.

And I'll leave you with the thought - could this have happened anywhere but in Scotland?

OK so it's the weekend and you've not got the time to read this article by John Huggan.

Well store away this link so that when you're in need of reference to the Wee Ice Mon and his Carnoustie carve up you'll know where to find it.
This is THE definitive article (in my not so humble opinion).

How about this passage

Hogan said-he played Carnoustie with Stranahan in two hours and 30 minutes. Hogan made six birdies and added an eagle at the 14th to shoot an approximate 69. No one had broken 70 in the two previous Opens at Carnoustie.

Maybe we all need to remember this come the weekend - 2 hours 30 minutes.
Geez I'll be lucky to get to the turn in that kinda time tomorrow
Happy golfing at the weekend

You are warned there's a few oaths in this article as John Philp, the links superintendent for the 1999 Open defends his work and the way the course was presented.

How's this for a comment without expletives?
"When Ben Hogan won here he did his homework. He was at Carnoustie for two weeks walking the course, plotting his approach, taking notes of where everything was. A lot of the players who have been moaning this week have never been here before. They're the top guys in the world and they didn't think they needed to practice and prepare."

By the way most of the locals thought JP was a hero which kind of fits in with Carnoustie.

The name Carnoustie means Cairn of the heroes. This name was given to the area in remembrance of the scores of soldiers that died to defend Scotland during the great battle between Malcolm II and the Danes in 1010.

Hullo there Carnoustie!
To start with allow me to indulge in a wee bit of nostalgia and have a wee look at the wee main street of Carnoustie

Following up that view of the shot yesterday of what Jean faced at the 18th in 1999 this excellent article by none other than Dan Jenkins

A case of un-claret thinking : The collapse of the century creates a crazy Open at Carnoustie - 1999 British Open at Carnoustie, Scotland

Just loved this passage about Jean's choice of going with a 2-iron

As Jean said later in regard to the ill-chosen 2-iron shot that caused him all the trouble: "It hit the grandstand and bounced backward, but you know, it could have hit someone on the head and bounced forward."

And there's some who still say he had rocks in his head to go with a 2-iron - myself not included after all - fortibus Fortuna favet - but not on every occasion

On Tuesday, October 05, 2004 on a post - "Good (golfing) god it can't be true"
I mentioned the article in The Scotsman about Golf Monthly’s list of leading Scottish golf courses.
And added "I'll leave the last word to Mike Aitken who was less hostile that I thought he'd be."

Now here's the hostility I'd expected and comes from John Huggan of the same newspaper
Course rankings handicapped by rogue entries

Golf Monthly’s failure to separate the course/resort argument has meant that, if we look at the 30 Scottish courses within the 120, the Kings course at Gleneagles is supposedly the fourth-best course in Scotland. Carnoustie is seventh, Royal Troon is 11th, and perhaps most ludicrously, Royal Dornoch is 16th.

Just had to post this and help save the good name of Royal Dorncoch.

I know we were meant to be moving on to Carnoustie which incidentally and according to the readers of Scottish Club Golfer magazine was voted by an astonishing 80% to be the biggest challenge in Scottish Golf.

And how about this "The fateful shot Jean Van de Velde was faced with on the 18th."

12 months or so ago while in the middle of writing "Life's Lessons Frae The Links" a friend who doesn't play golf asked me if I'd heard of a guy called Moe something or another, I was advised he was THE GREATEST GOLFER THE WORLD HAS NEVER KNOWN

Advising my journalist friend Julian that I know the names of all great golfers past and present I was still sufficiently open-minded enough for him to email the URL for the web site.
I was so impressed with Moe's story I included a few passages about him in "Life's Lessons..."

If you've never heard of Moe who died very recently (September 4th) then you are missing out on knowing about one of the lesser-known legendary golfers of our lifetime.

I've been wanting to do a post on Moe for some time but hadn't found a good enough article to do him justice.
But now I have.
So do yourself a favour and go to The Rain Man of Golf by Ron Salsig

We've left the Granite City behind on our way to Carnoustie.

Now what's that fishy smell wafting our way?

We must coming close to Arbroath, home of the Arbroath Smokie



Here I am 12,000 miles away and the tasty smell is as fresh as the bygone days when I would never drive through Arbroath without stopping and buying some Arbroath Smokies.



There's even a recipe for them in The Giant British Cookbook



And if you're a homesick Arbrothian I recommend that you don't go here because here's a great photo shot of preparing Smokies in the traditional way



And for the historian in our midst.

The Declaration of Arbroath was prepared as a formal Declaration of (Scottish) Independence. It was drawn up in Arbroath Abbey on the 6th April 1320, most likely by the Abbot, Bernard de Linton, who was also the Chancellor of Scotland.



The Arbroath Golf Club's formal title also takes us back to the bygone days of gentlemen golfers and artisans - Arbroath Artisan Golf Club



Workers of the world unite and if you're in the area go there but not into the wee burn that comes into play no less than 11 times.

And once again thanks to Mark Rowlinson for leading me to the link for this links golf course.



Finally, what follows may sound like joke to you Sassenachs but it's true.



The European Commission have granted the humble (but tasty) Arbroath Smokie the same protection as such products as Champagne, Roquefort cheese and Parma ham and the distinctive smoked haddock will now carry the commission's protected-product symbol

Was going to toddle off down to Arbroath en route for Carnoustie but came across this
- The Sublime 75

And how about that pic of the 7th at Pebble Beach?
I've never seen a photo off it taken from this angle - even more impressive than before.

And what about that shot of the 15th at Bandon Dunes?
The more I see of this course the more I want to go there. In fact let's go there now.
And how about this for a "Come on over here."?
:---Life After Golf

Fortunately they're referring to other pleasures to be found on The Southern Oregon Coast
And not the after-life

Too windy today to play golf - I'm not that much of a masochist. Especially since I've already been blown away so often it recent games.
Maybe I should give up my passion for playing golf on windswept peninsulas.
So I turned to the pages of Golf's Greatest Moments

Apart from the pleasures of reading about golf - As a writer I'm always on the lookout for something that turns me on and hopefullywill in turn, turn my readers on.
Reaching a part in an article by George Plimpton "A Little Night Reading"there came one of these Aha! moments followed by a hearty chuckle and a feeling of "Well ain't that write!"

Plimpton is not the first person to comment on the fact - yes it is a fact. That no other sport has produced such a voluminous amount of fine writing.
To quote George.
"Golf literature, on the whole, is on a very high level-which is perhapsnot surprising considering the antiquity of the game and its popularityamong the educated classes."
By George I think you've got it.

However it was the following passage which really turned me on. But alas the euphoria didn't last. Something like belting a beautiful brassie shot to the back of the green and then four-putting.
George writes.
"I asked someone about this once, and he reflected and said that perhaps a game in which euphoria was so short-lived, the bad shot lurking so surely in the future, was conducive to the state of contained melancholy which produced first-rate literature. Dostoevski, for instance. Conrard. Hardy."

God forbid golf- and writing about it - should turn me into a Dostoevski-like character.
As a golfer for over 40 years I've experienced more than my fair share of contained melancholy.

Frank Beard has just posted on SI
As usual, his answers to emails are as interesting as the main story.
As golfers walk the fairway during a championship duel, the talk is bland.

--Jason Ackerman, Tampa, Fla.
Any predictions for this week's Match Play Championship? What's the best strategy to use in Match Play?

Frank replies
I always like Tiger (if he returns from his honeymoon) in match play because intimidation is such a big factor and he still is the most feared golfer playing. The way to play him the most effectively, and the best strategy in general, is to play with blinders on and never look up.
My comment
At the risk of sounding like I'm gloating about the recent Ryder Cup result.
Did Frank really write this "most feared golfer" reply - After the Ryder Cup?

Derek Ithen, Broomall, Pa.
People consider Jack Nicklaus to be the greatest golfer of all time, but I don't agree. Clearly, Ben Hogan was a much better player. Hogan would have won a lot more if he did not get into a car accident. Do you think Hogan might have been better than Nicklaus?

Frank replies
Tough question. Hogan played in a totally different environment. Golf was not a full-time pursuit. The purses were so small that most pros had a teaching job for half of the year, Hogan included. So with a somewhat limited schedule and his health problems, it truly becomes a moot question. Everything being equal, my opinion is Nicklaus would win out because he was a better putter.

My comment
As you'll see from my profile I'm a paid up member of the Ben Hogan admiration society so my thoughts could not be described as objective - In fact when I give some thought to the matter - No comment.
But came across this previously unknown (to me) item about Hogan and putting.
GD Editors, The Secrets Issue: Ben Hogan and the Yips, Golf Digest (Aug 2004), no. 55(8): 97 -- Valerie Stevens says Ben Hogan's putting yips were caused by the bus accident in 1949, which resulted in deterioration of vision in the left eye to the point that at his last Open (the 1967 US Open at Baltusrol) when Hogan appeared to freeze forever on the greens, he basically could not see anymore out of his left eye.

And while on the subject on putting.
If you can relate to the following story-visit here for some tips on putting.
But a word of warning there's so many tips it could put (yes put with one t) you off.

During a golf lesson at Carnoustie, Andra asked.
"Can ye tell me laddie, is the worrrd spelt putt orrr put?
"Putt is correct" answered the polite spoken pro.
"Put means to place a thing where you want it.
Putt is merely a vain attempt to do the same thing."

Now that we've done Royal Dornoch and Cruden Bay and continuing on our way to Carnoustie.

Do we want to make a stop over in the Granite City?

Where once streamlined clipper ships left the slipways for the China tea trade, now oil executives from all over the world drive to their comfortable homes in the suburbs.
Or to golf courses like Royal Aberdeen

Yea! Carnoustie can wait - Or can it?
Maybe just nine holes because according to one fine gentleman.

Royal Aberdeen, located on the north-east coast of Scotland, is widely known for possessing one of the finest first nines in golf. This is unarguable, but what seems debatable is the merit of second nine.

The scribe then finishes off his tour of RAGC with:
Too many travelling golfers head south from Carnoustie or otherwise go inland and up to Dornoch. Absolutely no one should miss this course, as it is the genuine article.

And don't you dare believe all those stories about tight-fisted Aberdonians.
Or the truth in this story, courtesy of the University of Aberdeen Department of Physics

A company of Americans were touring Scotland and lost their way in the North.
Presently they found themselves in the outskirts of a large city.
Stopping their car they asked a boy the name of the town.
"I'll tell ye if ye gie me saxpence" replied the youth.
"Drive on!" said the American - "I guess this is Aberdeen".

Thank God for the internet and the ability to vist if only on our computer vdu some glorious places to view and one day, play golf.
And do I need it.
Mondays are bad enough but after a horrendous 95 with two 9s on Sunday. I need some cheering up.
So after surfing around I came to rest on Rosemount that wonderful Scottish golf course.
What came as a surprise, or maybe my mind is still dysfunctional after my horror weekend of golf - it doesn't quite look like the place I played 40 years ago (Surprise surprise) - where's the photo shots of the silver birches.
But nevertheless there's lots of great photo shots. And a bit about the wee course

The Wee Course formed part of the original layout designed by Dr. Alistair MacKenzie of Augusta National and Cypress Point fame. The nine hole layout is heathland in character comprising 4 par 3’s and 5 par 4’s and provides a delightful and charming contrast to Rosemount and Lansdowne.

When Old Tom Morris left the course after a match at Rosemont he said "I think this is the most beautiful inland green I have ever seen"

Finally while surfing, and since the Ryder Cup is still topical, I came across this wee gem of a web page Storm in a Ryder Cup
And from the page an excerpt:

Still, when it comes to drilybarbed comments at Ryder Cup dinners, nothing tops the one-liner delivered at the 1951 Pinehurst match by the late great commentator, Henry Longhurst. In subtle reference to the unrelenting American domination of the event since before the war, Longhurst proposed a toast with the words: "May the best team lose!" They didn’t.

My how times have changed.

Every two years, beginning in 2001, SCORE Golf compiles the votes of golfers coast to coast through a website ranking program, and the 2003 results have placed Highlands Links at the top of the Canadian golfing list yet again.

The names of the following holes suggests you're in Scotland.
But you're not you're in Nova Scotia at Cape Breton Highlands
#1 Ben Franey
#2 Tam O' Shanter
#3 Lochan
#4 Heich O' Fash
#5 Canny Slap
#6 Mucklemouth Meg
#7 Killiecrankie
#8 Caber's Toss
#9 Corbie's Nest
#10 Cuddy's Lugs
#11 Bonnie Burn
#12 Cleugh
#13 Laird
#14 Haugh
#15 Tattie Bogle
#16 Sair Fecht
#17 Dowie Den
#18 Hame Noo

As to the meaning of Tattie Bogggle

Here is an amusing poem by an anonymous author about a tattie-bogle (scare-crow) which was too nice to the birds - until it learned to screech (sorry, sing).

Warning going to this link and then the links within the link could while away your whole weekend and give you a sudden rush of itchy feet

Feature Interview with Ben Cowan-Dewar
Ben Cowan-Dewar is the President of GolfTI, a golf travel company based in Toronto.

However if you've got more self discipline than me.
I'll recommend this one and only visit
Nirwana Bali GC Indonesia

Good golfing this weekend

Singh tells Tiger to get back in swing

"I think as you get older, your body changes a little bit and your swing changes too - so you have to keep adjusting," observed Singh,

Apparently Singh has a personal trainer.
For the less wealthy and frugal Scots here's a few links to sites where you can get advice on getting your body in sync with your swing.
Well at least some, get into shape ideas, so the extra yards and strength will come.

"Part of a teaching pros success is to have a body that will learn what you’re trying to teach it," Azer said. "You can’t make swing changes with a body that can’t do it."
Ah so Mr Azer

There's actually some body building tips here

I feel I should add - I'm only a blogger - Seek medical advice before proceeding with the excercises.

"I think stretching is the most important of all," says Chartrand. "For my serious players, I suggest arm and hand strengthening exercises along with proper weight control and lots of stretching exercises. I suggest aerobics to the less coordinated pupils I have."

I'll go along with that and now I've gotta go and do some research on aerobics as long as my two finger typing can coordinate sufficiently well enough to do another search

Came across this quote by Sam McKinlay and since one day we'll be arriving at Machrihanish while on the road to schytherbolle, thought I'd share it with you.
And there's a great shot of the tee shot on the link

"The world's greatest opening hole."
I will borrow a description from the celebrated Scottish writer, Sam McKinlay:" The tee is on a modest eminence overlooking a small burn that runs into the sea only a duffed drive distant. The Atlantic rollers pound on the rocks immediately behind the player's back as he takes his stance. On his hooking hand runs the start of a six-mile stretch of strand, one of the finest beaches in Britain. If he is brave and skillful he can bang straight at the flag a quarter of a mile away, but that means a carry of nearly 200 yards over beach and bent. If he is timid, prudent, or just one of the weaker vessels, he has an easy if longer way round."

And this piece of news from the Glasgow Herald about Lee Westwood

Lee Westwood has just received a David Maxwell portrait to mark his memorable albatross (double eagle to the readers from the wrong side of the pond) at Kingsbarns' 9th hole in last year's Dunhill
And here's a link to some fabulous photo shots of Kingsbarns taken by the very fine Scottish photographer Iain Lowe

As you'll read in the following excerpt from Latest purchases are not just any old irons
by Ian Wood of the Scotsman

There's still a few Scotsmen determined to keep the frugal tight-fisted Scottish stereotype alive and well and still lurking on the links.

"Astonishingly, this spirit of dogged improvisation still exists. Only recently, I played with a man who spent some time after hitting his tee-shots casting about the teeing ground in search of broken tee-pegs. On being asked what this was all about, he replied that when the new extra-long wooden tee-pegs break in two, they split into such hearty sections that the bit with the cup can serve as a tee of normal length. To this end, he carried a pencil sharpener, the use of which, he explained, gave a smooth finish to the broken end and reduced wear and tear on trouser pockets. "

And by the way did you know.
The term 'Scot free' has nothing to do with frugal Scots. The meaning has changed over the years. The word 'Scot' is an obsolete term for payment. For example, to avoid being fined in court would be getting off 'Scot free'.

And this wee funny not about saving (well it is really) it's about shaving.
A Scotsman went into a barber's shop and asked the cost of a haircut.
"Six pounds," replied the hairdresser.
"What about a shave?" asked the Scot.
"Three pounds fifty pence," answered the hairdresser.
The Scot retorted, "Shave my head."

Today I'd planned to share with you a wee story about a thrifty Scot and his tale of the tees but today's article from The Scotsman really got my adrenaline rushing.

Ratings confirm Scotland is home of golf by Mike Aitken

According to Golf Monthly, the leading Scottish courses are - The Old Course (1), Turnberry Ailsa(3), Gleneagles King’s (7), Loch Lomond (14), Carnoustie (16), Machrihanish (21), Royal Troon (24), Western Gailes (25), Gleneagles Queen’s (30), St Andrews New (33), Nairn (34), North Berwick (40), Prestwick (49), Royal Dornoch (56), The Machrie (57), Ladybank (58), Royal Aberdeen (61), Blairgowrie Rosemount (70), Glasgow Gailes (89), Gullane No1 (99), Montrose (104), Cruden Bay (106), Skibo (110), St Andrews Bay Devlin (113), Turnberry Kintryre (114), Gleneagles PGA Centenary (118).

My Uughh! comments upon reading this.

First of all I'd like to know the criteria and who the panel were and how many?
- Does this suggest I've a wedge to grind with the panel?

Royal Dornoch at 56 - You gotta be joking.
The Old Course at 1 - My lips are sealed otherwise I could lose a few friends.
Skibo at 110 - Not according to what I've heard.
The Machrie at 57 and just after Royal Dornoch - This confirms it's a must visit for me.
Gullane No 1 only just gets into the top 100 Scottish golf courses.

Gotta go and have a wee dram to settle my nerves.
They've a nerve at Golf Monthly to think they've got it right.
Or maybe the magazine hopes to sell more copies because of the furore its findings are sure to generate.

I'll leave the last word to Mike Aitken who was less hostile that I thought he'd be.

If this list is to be commended, it at least does the game a favour by refusing to value length over intrigue. The relatively short Queen’s at Gleneagles, for example, is ranked 30th, compared to 118th place for the PGA Centenary, which will host the 2014 Ryder Cup in Perthshire.

Oops somehow the links to some of the sights, sounds and surf at Cruden Bay were left out
Here's Slains Castle

The main reason for Slain's fame is Brahm Stoker's association with it. He would often come to holiday in Cruden Bay and was inspired by the cliffs and other surrounding scenery to write many of his books. While in Cruden Bay in 1895 he started work on what was to become his most famous book, 'Dracula', and it is said that the inspiration for this most famous vampire's home in Transylvania was Slains Castle. Indeed there is evidence to suggest that Count Dracula was to come ashore at Cruden Bay in early versions of the tale, but that this was later changed to Yorkshire.

Surf's up at Cruden Bay

And some great shots of the wee village

This shot of The Kilmarnock Arms has a very haunting look about it and if you're into things Scottish I recommend you bookmark the site Tartan TV

It's taken a wee while for many overseas folk to discover the charms of Cruden Bay

But first some great shots of the golfclubatlas

Don't know the gentleman who posted the following on the golfclubatlas site but he obviously was well bred and brought up to appreciate the beautful things in life.
"Cruden Bay and the mountains of the moon as a spectacle revive memories of one of the finest Golf courses in the u.k. A must if you visit the Aberdeen coastal region, I believe that as a pair a round at Cruden Bay and a round at Royal Dornoch in the highlands would combine to make the visitor believe he had died and arrived in a heavenly paradise beyond his dreams."

And here's some heavenly shots of the golf course.

Please remember, after your heavenly round at Cruden Bay and you order a divine 12 year-old malt with a mixer - ughhh.
You may just be told to "Go to Hell!"

Since we'll be going down to Carnoustie after Cruden Bay thought I'd do a wee bit of research and came across this great article about how
'The wee ice mon' came, saw and carved up Carnoustie

Here's a couple of excerpts to whet your appetite.

On the course, too, Hogan's strategy was noticeably different, especially at the 567-yard sixth hole. In contrast to defending champion Bobby Locke of South Africa, who decided to play the dangerous hole with a 4-iron from the tee, a 3- iron lay up and a pitch to the green, Hogan took a bolder approach. With his driver, he aimed for the 30-yard-wide stretch of fairway between the out-of- bounds fence on the left and the bunkers in the middle of the fairway, then went for the green with a wood. In time, the narrow gap became known as "Hogan's Alley."


The next day, the Hogans flew from Leuchars airfield to Paris (where Hogan played in an army exhibition match) in a U.S. Air Force plane. Surprisingly, they did not take time to visit St. Andrews, less than five miles from the airfield. Hogan remains the only great player in the history of the game never to see the home of golf.

The only great player in the history of the game never to see the home of golf - there's one for your next golf trivial pursuit session.

For many ears I've said you've gotta be a masochist to be a golfer.
To suffer the tortures and mental torments of a round of golf.
And then suffer the week-long wait for the weekend to get back
out there and beat this bloody game.

But over the years I've started to get a feeling that I kind of enjoy
self flagellation - and that's a scarey feeling.

So what would I do if I suddenly played almost perfect golf?
Give up the game because it had become boring?

And what would you do?

Here's a story, food for thought and maybe discussion
over a wee dram at the clubhouse during the weekend.

The (true) story goes the great triumvirate were playing in an exhibition game and Vardon was in
such awesome form Braid and Taylor couldn't come close to matching the pefection of his play.
Braid, the canny Scot said very little. But Taylor became so moody and disconsolate he advised
Vardon this kind of form was "Not Golf."

And indeed would it still be golf as we mortals know it, if we began playing golf like a golfing god ?

Good golfing over the weekend and may the gods be with you.

I was going to move on to Cruden Bay.
But then remembered one of joys of travelling is doing the months of research, especially if it's going to be a trip of a lifetime.
And so if you're planning on playing Royal Dornoch there's two people you should be very aware of and a famous hole.
That way when you talk to the locals they'll know you've taken the trouble to do your homework.

"I have not played golf with anyone, man or woman, amateur or professional, who made me feel so utterly outclassed," said Jones."It was not so much the score she made as the way she made it. It was impossible to expect that Miss Wethered would ever miss a shot -- and she never did."

Yes that was THE Bobby Jones talking about Joyce Wethered who spent many a summer in Dornoch.

And then there's Donald Ross - a greenkeeper who emigrated to the United States and laid out hundreds of golf courses

And the hole is called Foxy
'Foxy', the famous 14th, was considered by Harry Vardon to be the most natural hole in golf, snaking first left and then right to a plateau green,which will hold only the most sweetly struck long iron shot.

And just case you missed it when you went to the web link.

This piece of advice.

Go in June and the memories will be of glorious yellow gorse, radiant blue sea and fast, true greens.

But remember that although the sea is a radiant blue. It's temperature could mean you also turn blue with the cold if you care to go for a dip.