Monday: Solidified a few more reservations

• On the road again... The "Road Hole" that is. Another pic from St. Andrews

A few quid riding on this match?

• Makin' a move? Seems the LPGA (I'm assuming it's Commissioner Bivens) is not happy with Locust Hill, our venue in Rochester, according to my contact there. Too narrow and too short are the complaints and a move to Ravenwood Golf Club may be in the works after the current contract is up and certain conditions are met. Corning would be the next to go if you follow this criteria. The Wegmans organization is one of the best on tour and I've always held the belief that when new events come on board, the Tournament Director should visit Rochester to see how it's done. There is more here than meets the eye is my assumption.

Tuesday: Banking, haircut, laundry and packing consumed of a slice of my idle time.

• All we need it the right fuel: Dennis sent along an email with some interesting statistics.

A recent study found that the average American walks about 900 miles a year.  Another study by the American Beer Institute found that the average American drinks 22 gallons of beer a year. This means the average American gets about 41 miles per gallon.

Since I rack up many more miles than the average American, an increase in beer consumption is necessary to maintain the norm. Thing I'll start next week.

Wednesday: All packed and ready to go. I always take too much but have a feeling plenty of warm duds will be in order.

• Evian news: Lucky today was the pro-am cause Na Min's looper whiffed his time. It's been raining quite a bit and the course is soggy. Sunshine today may help. The "Beer Garden" located at the course is in full swing and quenching the thirst of all who partake.

• Welcoming committee: Hope these little buggers don't put a damper on our trip up North in a couple weeks." I visited Canada and all I brought back was a deadly disease" isn't a t-shirt I wish to be sporting.

• Givin' it another go: The women's golf version of Lindsay Lohan, Michelle Wie, will be teeing it up in Portland. Not that she's into drugs or alcohol but I think an analogy may be drawn between physically and mentally "falling off the wagon".

Thursday: Moved next to my departure point, DTW, and found a decent "park-n-fly' package at the Baymont Inn. Tomorrow I'll be on the 4:10 PM Northwest fight to Amsterdam then on to Edinburgh and arriving 9:55 in the AM on Saturday. The plan is to take a bus to Edinburgh Waverly railway station. and catch a train to Leuchars. From there it's a short taxi ride to New Hall.

• Those bodacious bidets: The guys and gals at Evian may wish to check this out. May come in handy.

The Links at St. Andrews

My player this week is Dina Ammaccapane.

Friday: Dale Jones (Moira Dunn's looper) and I were sipping our morning coffee in the Baymont's lobby and discussing the latest Evian scores. We were overheard by a couple waiting for the airport shuttle who's son, Doug Eibling, just happens to be the Executive Director of our tournament in Tulsa. We ruminated on the "state of the Tour" for a bit and they went on their way (fly to Switzerland then up the Rhine to Amsterdam). Talk about a small world.

Saturday: Arrived in Edinburgh on schedule but that would remain the only part of the trip to do so. Per instructions, I took a shuttle bus to Edinburgh Waverly Station and managed to buy my fare to Leuchars using a self service kiosk. An inquiry as to which train to take discovered a diversion that was unavoidable. A critical bridge was under repair and bus service was arranged to the nearest viable station. Dalgety Bay happened to be it and resided on the other side of Kinkardie Bridge which was probably the source of the problem. 

The impermanent transport was not far but not flat either. Equipped with backpack and two heft pieces of rolling luggage (one of which had a misaligned wheel and didn't help) I hoofed it up a fairly seep incline to the awaiting coach and made it just before departure. The route to our destination took me right past the airport which made the trek downtown seem unnecessary but what can a guy do? Just go with the flow. 

No worries. I caught the train (after lugging my belongings up and over the tracks via a ramp) and after arriving in Leuchars, another ramp took me to the bus stop. Within minutes I was off to St. Andrews. Took awhile to find New Hall but settled in without delay. The whole trip took about four hours which gave me some time before walking the course.

• What planet am I on? With three hours to kill, people watching in the Amsterdam airport was my only option. YIKES! I thought the goobers at a Louisiana Wal-Mart had had odd features.

• Now this is scary: I was joined by Dale and Motion in Amsterdam and while boarding the plane, talk of our prolonged stay at the Toledo Knights Inn arose. The couple just to our front overheard and couldn't help but chime in. They were from Toledo themselves and the Mrs. was a good friend of Judd Silverman the Tournament Director. The world just keeps getting smaller.

• I'm exhausted! With play continuing all day on the New Course, I joined two other qualifiers, Laurette Maritz and Cecile Lundgreen, staying with them the whole way. Finished at eight thirty but by then, I had been awake for over thirty-three hours and was a wreck. Being so late, I munched on a half of peanut butter sandwich and some cheddar flavored Chex-Mix dreaming of the "full Scottish breakfast' awaiting my arrival in the morn.

Sunday: Drat! The two Tylenol PM I downed last night, along with my prolonged lack of sleep, had me in bed past nine o'clock. I was positive breakfast was missed but found out nine-thirty was the cut-off. Eggs, sausage, toast, a spoonful of Haggis (just to give it a try) and coffee, two of which were cappuccinos, hit the spot. Yum!

The early part of the day I played tourist. Walked around the city and took oodles of pictures. After editing, I'll have a separate page with a link on my home page.

Dina arrived sans luggage but with clubs in tow. We teed off around three-thirty and played nine. She eventually pooped out so we  just walked the rest of the way checking our playing options.

I was not to miss dinner this time therefore a stop at the 1 Golf Place Pub was in order. An plate of fish-n-chips bracketed by pints of Kronenbourg 1664 put me in heaven.

• Just not ready for us: The guys hired to do the yardage books were a disappointment to the early arrivals. "Not done yet" was the response if you needed one for the Old Course and from past experience, I heard they're a couple of "Richard Craniums" as a result of their arrogance.

• Got me stumped: Saw the oddest thing yesterday. A man sporting a kilt along with a sombrero. I've heard of Tex-Mex but what the hell was that?

• Even scarier: Dina had her own "small world" experience on the flight over. A man just across the aisle happened to be a regular at her dad's bar in Phoenix when work brings him to the colonies.

Monday: Shot +1 in the qualifier and waiting for the final tally. Looks like +2 will play-off but not sure yet.

Checking early results.

Tuesday: We made it by one so more work was to be done. Walked the Old Course then teed it up afterward. As always, play was backed up on almost every hole. After four and a half hours and only through fourteen holes, Dina called it quits. We walked two more than went in.

Logjam on eleven tee.

• He got hosed! Coffee Joe arrived in Edinburgh late Sunday but all the trains and buses were put up for the day. One last hope was Sylvia Cavalleri who was being picked up by a courtesy car provided by the tournament. She agreed, but wait. Remember that little blurb about transportation not available to caddies? You guessed it. Joe was denied a ride and had to shell out £109 for a taxi. That's about $120!

• Where everybody knows your name: The Dunvegan Golfers Corner is the place to hang in St. Andrews. Just down the street form the R&A Headquarters, it's a magnate for all who pass by.

Back row: Greg and B. Funk - Front row: Me, Dale, Wilkesie and Danny

• Eat up: Ran into our qualifying playing partner Bronwyn Mullins-Lane and had a couple pints at Dunvegan's. Way too busy to eat there so we opted for 1 Golf Place next door. On her suggestion, we both ordered the steak-n-ale pie which hit the spot.

Good eats!

• Aye! It's a mutiny! Enough is enough for a few of the loopers working for Koreans. Heard a handful are ready to jump ship after this week.

Wednesday: A morning shotgun pro-am was followed by a shotgun practice round. We got in the back nine and called it a day.

• From downtown: Our approach to the front pin on thirteen took off to the back left like all the others but Dina thought she'd give the putt a go anyway. With Jane Crafter and Judy Rankin looking on, Dina performed a full pivot and a healthy whack ensued. Wouldn't you know it, the little bugger found the jar and drew a cheer from all who witnessed the magical feat. I used a laser to measure what had to be the longest putt she ever made and 135 feet was the reading.

• Surrogate loopers: What seems to be a trend on tricky venues like these, local caddies are being hired on for a day or two to tote the bag and reveal all the knowledge in their possession. Some of the guys foot the bill themselves but finding this to be out of my league, I found the next best thing

She can play a little and very trainable.

• Perfect fit: With yearly membership dues of only £125 which includes golf on all the courses here, Wayne just wanted to see if what it would be like before he was arrested for trespassing.

Wonder how he'd look in a kilt?

• Speaking of kilts: Click here and picture your favorite cadero in this group shot. Not a visual I'd wish to remeber.

• The hell with it: The Hell bunker resides on the fourteenth hole and we couldn't resist having a little fun during our practice round.

Beth Bader and Dina seem to enjoy Satan's abode.

The same with Donna but I'm out a here!

Thursday: We were first off but couldn't take advantage of the conditions. Skunked on birdies, we shot +3.

• Nice try but no cigar:  Dina knocked her approach into the greenside bunker on sixteen and faced quite a dilemma. Too close to the sod wall to get it up in line with the pin, she opted to go in the opposite direction, knocked it on and made a great two-putt for bogie but that's only part of the story. One of the other caddies tidied up the bunker for me and just before we finished, I decided to reposition the rake. Good thing too, he missed all the footprints next to the face and messed up the ones he did rake.

• Why didn't someone tell me? If you were wondering why Aree Song had a DNS (did not start) next to her name last week it's because she didn't even know she was in the tournament. Snooze, ya lose.

Friday: Dina hit it on the screws today and shot level. We be playin' on the weekend.

• Someone needs to do something: Another Korean misfit father is abusing his offspring this week. This time it was the amateur we were paired with, Hye Yong Choi. After an hour long discussion with her and the caddie after yesterday's round, he gave her a slap. We also found out that after the qualifier, she was told that because of the missed putt on the 16th, she would not be receiving lunch.

• Slow go: Being fist out of the box yesterday, our pace of a four hour thirty five minute round was the envy of all. The afternoon games were dragging on for over six hours. One even stretched to a dreadfully painful six and forty minutes!

• Tall tales: Yesterday, the Dunvegan was the gathering place once more (who didn't know that) and stories of horror and amusement abounded. One of the best was Dale Jones describing his player's folly on the seventh hole. After a mammoth tee ball, only 13 yards remained to the front of the putting surface. The pin was back about 40 yards (I say about because it was 49 on the pin sheet but the green was only 50 deep) but a false front had to be negotiated initially. She chilly-dipped the approach and the pellet rolled right back and off the green. All he could say was "You know, this doesn't count as a green in regulation".

• Not so friendly skies: It's bad enough when British Airways loses your luggage (1.3 million bags this year) but what happened to Shi Hyun Ahn sounds like deliberate design to rip people off. She planned to use her Louis Vuitton bag as a carry-on, but was told it had to be checked. After arriving here, she discover the two $10,000 watches (gifts for relatives) inside had been pilfered. It looks as if the employees have the same scruples  as the home office (fined for price-fixing).

Since we're on the subject, Dina finally received her last piece of luggage yesterday.

• It's payback time: One looper, who has been dissed by his Korean boss one too many times, turned the tables on her yesterday. The last straw came Monday when she decided to stay in bed while he waited four hours at the course for her. His retaliation? Didn't show up for work yesterday and she had to take a local. Nothing says "I quit" better than not showing up for the first round of  The Open. By the way, she carded a +6 then added ten more whacks over par today.

• Night owl: Earlier in the week, The Rusacks Hotel, bordering the eighteenth hole, was emptied in the middle of the night due to a false fire alarm. A weary Pat Hurst and Julie Inkster made their way to lobby only to find Gail Graham, all togged out, grasping a glass of bubbly. Pat queried Julie on the time and after a nonchalant glance, 3:00 AM was the determination.

• New bonnet: Stopped in the Tom Morris Golf Shop after the round yesterday and picked up some keepsakes. Along with a couple of flags, I couldn't pass up the best of all.

Very becoming, don't you think?

Saturday: The wind howled and we took a drubbing, eighty-three whacks later, I went pubbing.

• Reading list: On days like these, you need all the help you can get. Three yardage books were available and they all come in handy.

Pick one.

• Different rules: The roads, paved or not, are an integral part of the course and no relief is given. Katherine Hull found out the hard way yesterday by lifting her ball off the road on seventeen. Still made par.

• For example: To give you an idea how hard it blew at times, we had 157 to the front on number one and 6 more for the pin. Playing to the middle of the green, we hit three metal! It was perfect.

Sunday: Totally mixed bag of golf today. Highlights are as follows. Started off rinsing one into the Swilken Burn on number one; barley reached the par five fifth in two leaving a whopping 228 foot putt; drove the par four twelfth leaving the most wicked putt riding a ridge I've ever seen and three putted for par, birdied the tough thirteenth; doubling the par five fourteenth from just in front of the green; finishing with back-to-back birds for a a one under round.

The game's afoot.

• A waste of time: This article nails the slow play dilemma on tour.

• Night life: The inmates at the asylum (Life on Tour followers) are on holiday and hosted a get-together the other night of which I was invited. Copious amounts of adult beverages and finger foods satisfied our appetites but the celebrity pop-ins really made the evening. Ty Votaw and wife, Sophie Gustafson, had arrived early but the fashionably late Michelle Wie, was an added bonus. Of course, the paparazzi followed and I managed to finagle a personal memento. The press conference that followed showed the "real" Michelle Wie and was videoed for posterity. May be coming to You Tube very soon.

Wonder if she prefers older men?

• Final thoughts: Everyone agrees, this has been the golf experience of a lifetime. Replete with its pot bunkers, the Swilken Burn, unforgiving gorse, double greens, the Road Hole and unpredictable Scottish weather; the hallowed Links of St. Andrews has bestowed upon us memories we will cherish till our days are over. We have made our mark, and will forever be a part of this special place.