As we become immersed in the culture of each place we visit, we start to take on some of the local expressions. “Haste ye back” is seen as you pass through each town encouraging you to visit again.

We really feel this way about Turnberry. Prior to arriving we had concerns about the golf course being more resort style than other links courses (with the quality of the course suffering). Fortunately this was not the case and it was better than we expected.

Surrounded by farmland and sea with the majestic and imposing Westin Turnberry sitting atop the hill overlooking the course, Turnberry is a championship golf test in every sense of the word. In addition to hosting multiple Open Championships, Turnberry is hosting the Senior Open in little over a months time.

This course is tough! With only one par 5 and a string of 430 yard plus par 4s (many uphill and into the wind) we found ourselves using 3 woods and rescue clubs for many of our approach shots. Thankfully our driving off the tee was solid (can’t imagine how painful the round would have been with errant driving) but the course still proved challenging. Regrettably no birdies were had on the day as our putters could not get working (Gary – 39 putts, David – 39 putts).

The lighthouse is “the” recognizable feature of Turnberry. Standing alongside the 9th hole it has a dramatic and iconic presence. As we were playing this hole we noticed a wedding was being conducted outside the lighthouse with the bride almost taking off into the sky due to the heavy winds.

The routing of the course made excellent use of the land and holes moved in all different directions ensuring different types of wind (into wind, downwind, cross winds) was a factor on every shot.

Playing surfaces continue to be excellent and the revetted bunkers were prevalent but fair. We did not see the need to take a caddy as the course was laid out before us (maybe a caddy would have helped with the putts…)

The polish of Turnberry is evident with the friendliness, initiative and knowledge of the staff from the time of check in right down to the small touches of the small gift bag we received on the first tee (with yardage book, tees, pencil, scorecard in a keepsake bag).

Shot of the day

The 7th hole is tough 410 metre par 4 that swings left, uphill and into the wind. From a hanging lie in the right hand rough Gary hit a 3 wood onto the green to 15 feet.

Overall birdie tally

David (no birdies, cumulative 10)

Gary (no birdies, cumulative 20)

Tomorrow is a big day. A 6am departure time for the 1.5 hour drive to Loch Lomond where we are being hosted by good friend and business colleague Ron. As Gary’s local “on the ground” partner for all trips to the UK and Ireland, Ron is a member of Loch Lomond and has kindly invited us to play this very private golf club.

A quick dash to the airport for the 45 minute flight to Belfast and then another 1 hour drive to Portrush. All in all a tiring day. Stay tuned….

Gary and Dave on the postage stamp hole 8th at Troon.

Our 7am start from North Berwick for the 2 hour drive west to Western Gailes and Royal Troon was interrupted with a quick stop at the Gullane Golf Club pro shop. Why you might ask? Alasdair Good is the official licensee of all Muirfield Golf Club merchandise. Muirfield does not have a golf professional nor a pro shop but Alasdair stocks a wide range of golf apparel with the Muirfield logo.

As we mentioned yesterday a last minute addition to our golf schedule was Western Gailes – a corker of a course recommended to us by many. It is bounded by the Firth of Clyde on one side and a railway line on the other.

Ex Air Force Captain and Secretary of Western Gailes Jerry warmly greeted us before we headed out for a number of holes with him (6,7,8,9,10,17,18). Playing these holes gave us a great insight into the character of the course.

The seaside terrain delivered a series of holes which were interesting, varied and used the links landscape to maximum advantage.

This hidden gem is not to be missed if you are in this part of the world.

We both played well each and secured one birdie each for the Door of Hope setting up what we hoped would be a solid rest of the day.

A unique tradition of Western Gailes is that members must arrive in a jacket and tie and leave the same way. This discipline is well respected by the membership which has an average age of 67.

A short 12 minute drive and we arrived at Royal Troon – a course which has hosted 8 Open championships. Australians will remember with late night TV watching sadness in 1989 when Greg Norman and Wayne Grady lost in a 4 hole playoff to eventual winner Mark Calcavecchia.

When it comes to hosts we were most fortunate to be entrusted into the care of Jack Paton, the house convenor. Jack was friendly, knowledgable and was genuinely interested in the golf marathon we were undertaking.

Under the threat of rain we headed out and soon started to enjoy the adventure of Royal Troon.

As is proving common, the first five holes run along the water, exposing you to some strong winds and hard fairways, speckled with strategic bunkers. The course then begins to send you inland and your first taste of this is the very difficult par 4 7th hole, a long dogleg right with bunkers well placed to catch a less than well chosen, well played line. You then feel the excitement as you head up the hill to tee off on the infamous ‘postage stamp’ hole.

This has to be the scariest 100 yard shot in golf. From a high tee we played down to a green cut into the side of a dune and surrounded by bunkers on all sides. Any shot not hitting the putting surface would require great expertise in getting up and down. The golf shot of the day was Gary’s tee shot to 5 feet and he was unlucky as his putt did a 270 degree circle before staying out. Dave was just short of the green in the rough and was happy with a bogey.

A refreshing change sees you play 4 holes inland all requiring good drives, but a very fair chance at par or even birdie. You then head back into the teeth of the wind and must work hard for par. Pars here are well deserved as the wind requires accurate shots and the right club selection to find the green. The strong finish to Troon culminates with a long par 4 with the clubhouse presenting a sensational backdrop to the 18th green.

The greens were in exceptional condition and the club will be hosting the British Amateur Championships next week.

One of the more interesting events on the Troon calendar is the ‘cross country match’ which sees the players from Troon and neighboring Prestwick (home of the first Open Championship) play the outward holes at Troon, walk along a pathway carved through the dunes to find Prestwick Golf Club where the balance of holes is played for the morning round and ‘lunch’ follows. After the long ‘lunch’, the remaining holes on Prestwick are played, they trek back to Troon and play the home holes in. A big day.

We felt privileged to play this course and Jack made it even more special.

Shot of the day

An unusual one but probably our best to date. Eagle attitude with unquestionable grit and commitment goes to….Anna and Maureen (our awesome wives). These girls are amazing and are dealing with the daily domestic challenges back home while we experience arguably the best golf in the world. Thanks girls we love you heaps!

Overall birdie tally

David (1 Western Gailes, 1 Royal Troon, cumulative 10)

Gary (1 Western Gailes, 1 Royal Troon, cumulative 20)

Saturday sees a mid morning start (thankfully) for the 45 min drive to another Open venue Turnberry – site of our own Greg Norman’s first Open Championship. Should be fun. Stay tuned….

As we head further north the days get longer. Sun rises at 4:46am and it gets dark at 10:30pm. Golfers were hitting off at 6pm for their 18 hole round. We however were more civil with tee times set at Muirfield for 10am and North Berwick at 3:51pm.

Muirfield, or more formally known as the Honorable Company of Edinburgh Golfers, is a relatively “new” golf club with golf only having been played there since 1744. Yes 1744. That is older than Australia and gives us a fuller appreciation of the real history of golf in this part of the world.

It is one of the games most private golf clubs with very limited tee times available to non members – 1.5 hours on both Tuesday and Thursday (off 1st and 10th tees). The rest of the time it is a members club and a place that both of us would gladly play every day if we could.

Finding Muirfield for the navigationally challenged is not easy. There are no signs and a discrete private road and the sign to Greywalls Hotel (which abuts the course) is the only indication that you are close.

George, the starter and marshall, greeted us at the grand gates with a warm smile and said something like “I have heard about you guys”. Not sure if this was comforting or otherwise but he had a smile on his face.

The course presents with wide fairways that give a real sense of space. This width however can be a golfers undoing as drives not placed in the correct side of the fairway will be “rewarded” with more difficult approach shots.

It is a course that is laid out in two circles. The front nine plays on the outside of the circle whereas the back nine plays inside this circle. The result is that we were faced with shots in all different directions and can safely say we used every club in our bag (including our 60 degree wedge to chip out of the deep rough!).

Over 150 bunkers, mostly revetted, are scattered through the course. The bunkers are not as deep as Royal Lytham but still make you think your way around the course. We have found that being in a fairway bunker in the UK is very much a one shot penalty with no chance to reach the green.

Whilst Muirfield is classed as a links course the water is at least 1km away. There are water views on a number of holes but no absolute ocean frontage holes. This however in no way detracts from the golfing experience.

The greens were rolling true and were relatively large.

Our respective stableford scores of 35 points each was satisfying for both of us on such a strong test of golf that Muirfield presents.

The secretary Mr Brown was very warm and we spent some time over the famous post game Muirfield lunch talking about everything from the exhorbitant golf of living in Sydney (his son lives in Sydney and is a member of Bonnie Doon GC) through to the vagaries of the handicap systems throughout the world.

A pressing tee time at North Berwick (10 minutes down the road) meant we could not graze on the vast lunch buffet as long as we would have liked however it was a remarkably memorable experience.

By way of contrast to Muirfield the links at North Berwick are absolute beachfront. You smell the ocean air, you are affected by the wind that blows off the water and you feel like you are playing on the beach itself on a number of the holes.

Secretary Chris kindly greeted us on the first tee as the rain began to fall and then we were on our way.

The course is quirky and fun to play. The front 9 holes played severely downwind where 8 irons would go 160 metres. We knew this had to end and by the time we turned back into the wind we were faced with the challenge of hitting a 3 wood 160 metres!

Quirkiness at North Berwick is defined in a number of ways – 4 holes presented approach shots we could not see with rock walls to hit over, burns to negotiate, heavily undulating greens and a green on the 18th that was within 20 metres of our parked hire car (needless to say we aimed well left of this to avoid the potential embarrassment – this did not intimidate Dave as he birdied the hole).

North Berwick is your classic Scottish golf experience. It was fun to play and in spite of the rain we encountered for 5 holes was thoroughly enjoyable.

Golf today in East Lothian (the area where Muirfield and North Berwick are located) saw us enjoying excellent playing surfaces on both courses.

Shots of the Day

Round 1 – the 6th hole at Muirfield is a tough dogleg left par 4 into the wind 400 metres. David hit a solid drive and then a wonderful rescue club into the teeth of the wind to hit the front of the green. He then proceeded to calmly hole a 45 foot birdie putt that never looked like missing.

Round 2 – the green complex on the 16th at North Berwick is amazing. Not one or two buried elephants but three. The pin placement was on the front right and the hole was playing into a strong wind. Gary hit 3 wood off the tee and then a 3 wood into the green (a green normally receptive to 8 iron or less) which stopped 5 feet from the pin. Whilst the birdie missed it was a shot to remember. This complemented a very good round of Gary’s with 40 points.

Overall Birdie Tally

David (1 birdie Muirfield, 1 birdie North Berwick, cumulative 8)
Gary (1 birdie Muirfield, 3 birdies North Berwick, cumulative 18)

Friday brings an early start with a 2 hour drive to the West Coast of Scotland and Ayrshire (south of Glasgow). Home to Royal Troon with the famous postage stamp hole we are excited. A last minute addition (yes addition) to our golf schedule will include some holes at Western Gailes – a course that many have spoken very highly about. Stay tuned…