Our posted tee time

The pep talk by Graham before the old course...as if we needed it ;)

A little pouch we got for playing the Old Course...so formal and well looked after. By the way, the markers on the course (and many other courses) go from the marker to the front of the green (vice middle of the green as we have in Canada).

I am on the putting surface of the Old Course

I am on the putting surface of the Old Course

I am on the putting surface of the Old Course

I am on the putting surface of the Old Course

I am on the putting surface of the Old Course

I am on the putting surface of the Old Course

Our Foursome getting ready to tee off

As a note, Rick took a caddie. The caddie said there are 170 of them at the moment and there are not enough. The recommended tip of 20 pounds is added to the standard fee of 50 pounds. The caddie's pay an administrative fee of 5 pounds (he never said per day or per round). He did say that the caddie's go through a 3 month probation. Rick's caddie had just finished a morning round (where no carts what-so-ever are allowed, so the caddie must carry the clubs) and he ran to our tee box to push Rick's cart. He says he is really an independent contractor. So when you figure 2 rounds a day that is about 160 pounds x 5 days...800 pounds a week (or $1342 Canadian dollars a week).

On another note, that is Beverly in the background. A strong supporter of what St Andrews Legacy does.

Right before my tee shot, with the R&A in the background, we we got to visit and stand on the balcony

Beautiful holes with a nice backdrop

I was blessed to have Graham with me for 90% of the round and he would point and tell me where to go (and how far to hit it) as long as I did not question his advice. He told me never to ask him "are you sure"...so I did what he said and my game was on so I was hitting it where he said and about the distance he said...it was fun.

Coming up to the famous hotel #17 hole...let me just finish #16 first...

Here is Rick going over the corner

And here is Derek

Me, just before...though there is no picture, I made it over the corner and on the left side of the fairway

The 18th hole is spectacular..I could look at this picture all day and remember everything about the fun of playing St Andrews, how the 18 holes seemed to go by so quick.

Swilcan Bridge is a famous small stone bridge in St Andrews Links golf course, Scotland. The bridge spans the Swilcan Burn between the first and eighteenth fairways on the Old Course, and has itself become an important cultural icon in the sport of golf.

The bridge itself is extremely small; at its farthest extent it measures about 30 feet long, eight feet wide and six feet tall, in the style of a simple Roman arch. Originally built at least 700 years ago to help shepherds get livestock across, it has the modern photographic advantage of great backdrops on three sides: the course’s grand Royal and Ancient Clubhouse and Hamilton Hall on one, often a packed grandstand of enthusiasts on another, and rolling hills facing toward the North Sea, on the last.

These pictures were taken a few days before, but for the purpose of the Old Course, I have inserted them here.

Graham and I. What a gentle giant of a man

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