hey is that guy from Ferris Bueller
Scotland one word infinite possibilities for damn near 20 years I'd wondered what
Scotland would be like could it possibly live up to the experience I had spent
decades imagining I was anxious maybe even a bit nervous to reconcile the
Scotland in my mind with the Scotland now sitting below me I couldn't shake
the feeling I was setting myself up for disappointment a few things in life are
ever truly as good as our grandest expectations but looking back on it now
it really was that good
before we could actually hit any shots I had to address to immediate concerns
where were our cars and how does one drive on the opposite side of the road
this is us big dog 100% I I'm sarcastic a lot I've always wanted to drive a
station wagon why'd you ever driven on the other side of the rats whatever this
is weird just try your best that's all you can do it's all anyone can do we get
a fourth exit roundabout we got a hit I know where the cars are coming from oh
my god I'm terrified but we gotta get off that we're right I think we did it
oh we liked it armed with a false sense of security it was off to kill spin dee
our first leg of this wild Scottish adventure one thing that needs to be
addressed right off the bat is the condition of the courses you're gonna
see this season specifically how they're all completely browned out you might
think that's a negative due to some idea of golf aesthetics but in reality we
were thrilled for it the brown means firm and fast allowing these courses to
play much truer to how they were designed if anything I don't think we
appreciated how lucky we were till spendy Golf Club traces its roots all
the way back to 1867 when it was the Luft miss golf club at the time of
registration it was the 35th oldest club in the world
it became kills bhindi some two decades later after a quote non acrimonious
split end quote of the membership resulted in two clubs forming from the
original one one club became the left nosov club and moved closer to gulling
the second club renamed itself kill spin D and remade their course near Craig
Ehlo farm where it remains today percent round of golf in Scotland Hey England
nerds
filss pindy is a charmer of a course everything about it is entirely scottish
from its setting on a burr lady bay in the Firth of Forth to the quaint
Clubhouse that sits right next to the 18th green it's the type of course that
Scotland seems to possess in space and honestly America would do well to
emulate kill spin D is a par 69 design of Lily Park jr. and Ben sayers it's an
extremely welcoming 55 hundred yards of relatively flat terrain ideal for
jet-lagged travelers and anybody looking to stack a second or third round into
their day like most every Scottish course
don't let the yardages get in your head it's got more than enough exposure to
the wind bumps bumps and traditional Scottish pop bunkering to be more than
enough challenge for any level of golfer the most picturesque holes and kill
spinies layout are the 3rd 4th and 8th holes the fun in number 3 it kills spin
dee is the blind tee shot otherwise it's a fairly straightforward par for playing
a touch over 400 yards but the uncomfortableness on the tee box is a
welcome anxiety in order to pick a good line you have to climb the observation
deck and take in the fairway shape and routing over the ball with a burr lady
bait beckoning off the right it's really easy to say screw it and bail out way
left which is exactly what I did it's very playable to the left you'll
just be hitting out of the wispy fescue instead of the fairway it's a great
reminder should you need one you're not in America the 4th hole which plays 365
yards from the metal tees ranks as the number one handicap mostly because of
its fantastic green site it features a dollop of a green that rests
precariously on a sliver of land jutting out into the bay there's nowhere to miss
and even with a short iron or wedge in your hand it showcases why the 5,500
yards on the scorecard is just a number the eighth hole resides on the far
boundary of the property and is a devilish little part 3 which can demand
all manner of trajectory and shape depending on the wind and hole location
the day we played the wind was hard off the bay we need to get at the right hand
hole location we'd either have to work a hard fade into a stiff breeze or start
to draw out over the beach and hope to god you judged everything correctly it's
an uncomfortable shot but fun as hell to play trying to hit one solidly to the
middle of the green a mighty effort on this or any day it's wild to think how
of course like kill spin D fits into the Scottish golf hierarchy both in East
Lothian and across the island even with its charms playability and
views to say nothing of the affordability they probably wouldn't
crack at top fifty yet back home in Florida over twice the size of Scotland
there isn't of course I found I'd rather play a place like kill spin D really
drives home how special the golf is in Scotland I hold them good hanging in
it's lovely yeah how many search does he have you keep asperity he's got eight
our three he'll spin deus full of incredibly fun shots like this the tee
shot on number nine almost feels like a bite-sized version of the road hole both
nines open with part threes something I'd never experienced before
or since the finishing stretch of 15 through 18 is delightful and just the
right amount of insane an old Stonewall is in play there's a drivable par 4 and
of course the finish is framed by the charming Clubhouse and patio so close
you damn near play into somebody's lunch I can't think of a better introduction
to Scottish golf than what kill spin dee provided us tired from travel but with
smiles from year to year we went back into a burl ad to set up camp for the
night at the Ducks in we were in search of warm beds a hot meal and maybe a cold
Piner - we found all those as well as the ducks in owner Malcolm duck malcolm
duck is exactly the type of guy you'd hope to meet in a spot like this of
course he's extremely professional and hospitable but he possesses a sharp wit
strong opinions and more than a hint of rambunctious nests he's also very
passionate about Scotland and Scottish golf particularly his East Lothian home
particularly beautifully dressed in
Scotland in the home of golfer of you feel this this is a muppet chip hey you
see that's hot which is fine I love this guy I should have a proper shirt when we
get on the coastal level put my golf shirt back on
this is building ducks informally cold kills bindi house was built in 1638 no
television in this bar because bars are for Tolkien family-run but that doesn't
indicate not professional we try and create memories
hopefully was the good ones heaven I mean it's the home of golf it's where it
all started so if it's in our culture it's 9 DNA this area here he's slowly in
Scotland's Gulf Coast we call it and a little bit of competition to the home of
golf which to which St. Andrews call themselves is where
golf started so Edinburgh east links that's where the first golf shots were hit and
Musselburgh old course that's where the first hole was cut. We enjoy our American
comrades, colleagues, fellows descendents, coming back to see us it's all good
Malcolm provides guests at the Ducks in with tremendous food cold beer and good
stories but the highlight of the night may have been especially crafted putting
games which kept us up way later than we had planned
prior to present the dark jacket oh my god what is this for so long in every
other Spartan history cut this part of my dreams did you ever think it would
come to this no I didn't I look around I see all
these names on these on the wall I adult I don't recognize a single one so I'm
not I'm still evaluating what it means to have my name up there on the wall but
I I it's hard to even describe it a champion crowned and his name forever
etched in history on the walls of the ducts a big moment for me in my family
eventually jet lag had overcome us all we were ready for a good night's sleep
what's your attitude when you're standing over a short putt well I didn't
I didn't mentally miss enough to know everything that was my problem
what explain the mental miss by anything inside five feet you try to mentally
miss it as soon as possible like picturing it so then like meditation
paint the picture so that when I do stand over it I feel much more at ease
and it kind gets her that yep sorry missed it
sometimes it goes in like found money before we go one more note about Malcolm
about two months after we got home from Scotland Holly saw a news story floating
around Twitter about a robbery attempt in the small town of Babur lady and well
we'll let Malcolm tell the story from here neither lady loves Friday we were
just playing the fucking games and one of the guys said they're open this door
across the road so I went across and asked him to stop quite Lively
one of the guys threatened with the crowbar so I advised them he didn't know
he was talking to maybe shouldn't do that they go to their car oh by the
driveway so I just lay on the bonnet try and stop them but the car is a bit
bigger than a duck like being under car so I spoke deceased
Alton yeah 11 years in their old Marines so really never under threat never
endanger extinct groups land back to the bar in the beer and use the local paper
so yeah so you turn up within just stir it up on the front page of the local
paper which is kind of embarrassing but funny ladies and gentlemen a strong I'd
been worried about Scotland failing to live up to my near impossible
expectations yet one round in and I felt at ease the golf was fun and creative
there was quirkiness to be enjoyed everywhere and it was all in a postcard
setting this might sound ridiculous but the only way I can describe it is a
feeling of nostalgia even though I had never been here before I immediately
felt like this was how golf was supposed to be played I would should be enjoyed
the best part was that we had more lined up tomorrow
I don't say this lightly I think this is my perigorskiy of the world exactly
the ball of one mr. Fowler shut up Chris congratulations thank you thank you tell
us about the ecstasy of success on the heels of so many failures just after
knocking on the door for so long it's just kind of started to ask myself is
this actually going to happen and the answer I kept telling myself was yes hey
I don't want to keep you from this moment go sign your name all right well
thank you so much for granted