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| Hiking | 7.00 Miles |
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| | Hiking | 7.00 Miles | 5 Hrs | | 1.47 mph |
| 15 Mns Break | | | |
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| no partners | | With my entry into St. Andrews on Monday the 8th, the hiking portion of my trip was completed. Somewhat sad to see the hike end, but also glad to get to my goal of the Home of Golf. I'll summarize the 9th through the 11th here.
A lot of walking around town, sightseeing, and trying to get on the Old Course. On the 8th I got in to the city around 12:30pm. Had to locate my hotel, which was about a mile outside town. That meant a good bit of walking back and forth. Also got the key to a friend's locker so I could borrow his clubs.
Tuesday I went to the Old Course around 4:10am and stood with perhaps 25-30 others who wished to walk on. Weather was cool and breezy but otherwise OK. Shop opened at 6am and they had 9 definite openings and 6 other possible openings. I gave them my phone # but never got a call, so I was too far down the list. Spent the rest of the day looking at shops, getting a few goodies, visiting the British Golf Museum and finding places to eat. If you're in St. Andrews, definitely try The Criterion bar on South St. Their chicken/chorizo Cri-Pie is to die for. North Point restaurant on North St. also makes a wonderful American brunch of ham, eggs and hotcakes.
Old and Young Tom Morris are buried in the town's cemetery. Their sites are located in the back right corner if you're historically inclined.
I got to the Old Course again on Wednesday the 10th around 5am. Again about 25-30 people lined up. I chatted with a 70ish fellow from TX, an A&M guy. Half the fun of getting in line is chatting with others and comparing stories. It's an experience. We lined up at 6am in the pro shop and waited to be called. I saw many of the singles going out ahead of me. At 9am the A&M guy went out. I was next in line if anyone cancelled or didn't show up. Problem is after 9am it's corporate and prepaid times, so you might wait forever. I hung around for about 45 minutes along with two other guys who were waiting. At that point I thought I might get shut out completely for 2 days and not play at all. I made an executive decision just before 10am to walk down to the New Course. Got off around 10:30am and it's a wonderful course. Just doesn't have the history of the Old Course. Disappointing I didn't get to play one of the most famous courses, but I just wanted to play.
Also walked West Sands Beach where the opening/closing to "Chariots of Fire" was filmed. Absolutely beautiful.
Flying home through O'Hare I happened to run into one of the two guys that waited with me. I asked if they got out. He said "Yeah, about an hour after you left the shop called and said they had a time. We got out at 5:10pm and finished at 9:10. Probably couldn't have played another hole as it was getting dark."
Almost missed my connection at O'Hare. Not because the flight was late, not because of Customs (I have Global Entry), not because my bag was the last one off. I was fool enough to go through the regular security line in the domestic terminal instead of Pre-Check. That took a good 20 minutes. I had to sprint for the B4 gate about 400 yards beyond security. I didn't know I could still move like Eric Liddell or OJ! Made it with about 2-3 minutes to spare. |
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