Kingarrock

Before I even get started I just want to say, bedding makes the difference. Yes, the Fairmont is a totally chichi hotel and not our style at all. From the bellman who took our bags to the girl at the check-in counter (who was sweet as pie btw), to the over the top waiter at the restaurant....it's everything I hate.  BUT, that being said, the bedding IS IT.  Down comforters and down pillows.  Sounds simple, sounds normal but you try sleeping without them for over a week and you'll realize how much you need it. Well I need it.  I climbed into bed tonight and did a little happy dance and told Walt I am going to sleep like the dead tonight.  Yeeewww So excited. Not that I haven't slept well, especially at Greystones, but I just have a feeling I'm going to REALLY sleep well tonight.  Speaking of Greystones, that place is heaven.  It's one of the most beautiful, serene places I've ever stayed.  The owners were the nicest people and the included breakfast was over the top.  Worth a trip back just to stay there. 

We left there this morning and headed toward St. Andrews.  The plan was to check in to the hotel then drive back to Kingarrock.  We ended up getting waylaid by the sheep.  I was dying to pet the baby lambs.  I kept saying, pull off, pull off here, now here, and he kept ignoring me until finally he did.  I went up to the fence and damned if the little jerks just stared at me then ran away.  They ALL ran away, as in the WHOLE herd of them.  Not sure why I looked so scary but off they went while I begged and pleaded for them to come back so I could steal a baby and take it home with me.  It was disappointing.  The other disappointing situation regarding sheep was that when we finally (more later) arrived at Kingarrock, the guy told us that the sheep keep the rough down and wander around the course all day making sure it's trimmed up. But yesterday, they put the sheep away because they are going to get their "summer haircut" and they'll be back out next week.  Oh of all the luck.  I could have had my crack at them all day.  But better luck for us was that Walt and I were the only two checked in to play golf today.  All day, just us.  No one before, no one after.  This is a golfer's dream. The whole course to ourselves?  Yes please.  Getting to Kingarrock was a little bit of a challenge. Besides having to deal with Walt ignoring the speed limits again, almost rear ending a parked car and running our car up the curb on the left side of the highway at God only knows what speed, GPS sent us to a little neighborhood and said, "you've arrived at your destination" when we pulled up in front of what looked like a retiree community of row houses.  Or according to Walt, "the low income neighborhood".  I'm pretty sure it was just row houses, he doesn't watch enough BBC.  We were so worried about arriving too early at the golf place and it now looked like we were going to be late. I searched their website until I found another address and off we went again.  It was like finding a needle in a haystack. We kept driving around this area and finally found a road that led a parking lot but there was another road and a cottage and no golf in sight.  We finally just parked and decided to head off to find it on foot.  And have I mentioned the weather? Remember yesterday's balmy 70?  Today it was a brisk, windy 55.  Fuh-ree-zing.  At one point I had on my vest and my jacket and gloves and a beanie.  Impossible to golf in all that so I pared it down to a jacket and hat.  Still freezing, like shivering can't feel your hands snot running down your face kinda cold.  Ah, THIS was the weather everyone talks about.  We are finally experiencing it.  It's pretty brutal. Eventually we find the place and we get our intro to hickory golf.  https://www.nts.org.uk/Kingarrock-Hickory-Golf/About/History  If you're really interested.  It's an amazing place with a ton of history and you can tell that the guy who checked us in was passionate about it.  I loved learning about the family and picturing them playing here in their front yard whenever they wanted.  The original rules were posted inside the clubhouse.  The funniest two were that you could have your legal spouse come out with you and SHE could be your caddy.  Men were the only ones allowed to play.  The other funny rule was that you had to "lose" a ball somewhere when you were playing and write a letter to Mr. Sharp, who allowed the public to play his private course, detailing exactly where you "lost" your ball.   And if you lost another ball while playing, you had to detail how and where and why you lost it.  ie "Mr. Sharp, I shanked my drive on hole number two and my ball is in the trees to the right".  I thought that was really funny he required that.  It was basically his tax or fee for playing the course.  Playing with authentic balls and hickory clubs was humbling.  Walt did great though.  Me? Not so much.  I putted well though.  I guess I don't need a Scotty Cameron, I only need a piece of wood with a hunk of metal welded to the end.  Walt really enjoyed his day.  I knew I hit it out of the park with this destination when he told me no less than 40 times how great today was, how much fun he had, how amazing it was playing alone, how gorgeous the scenery was, how great today was, how much fun he had.... I'm so happy he loved it so much.  It really was an experience I'll never forget and we both feel so blessed to have played here.  Again, we were like, "Who are we? How is this our life? How did we get so lucky?"  Just never taking a minute for granted not only to experience this amazing country but to do it together.  Such a great time.  Regardless of the reckless, over the top, annoying, almost can't stand it, driving, it's been great.  So here we are at St. Andrew's.  I'm reminding myself that we are here because we like golf and this is the birthplace of the sport. Tomorrow we will survey the old course, maybe for future play, probably not.  Then a wee walk in town following Rick Steve's guide.  Dinner at Fogart's then pack and get ready to head home.  Just putting that all in there because I'll probably not have much to talk about or the time to do it.  Unless I run into some famous royal family members that go to uni here....fingers crossed. Oh and I forgot to mention when we finished the round, there was ginger beer and shortbread cookies waiting for us as a treat.  Delicious.

Sheep!!

and the views

Highland Cattle.  Look as I zoom in.  They just stared at me.  Angrily