Mike took his wife to Scotland for her 60th birthday to play golf along the east and west coasts. They played at famous courses like St. Andrews, Carnoustie, and Prestwick, the site of the first Open Championship. In between rounds they toured historic sites like Edinburgh Castle, saw the rugged coastline, and experienced Scottish culture and cuisine. It was a memorable golf and sightseeing trip through different regions of Scotland.
1. Scotland 2009 For my 60th birthday, Mike took me to Scotland to play a little golf. We played three times on the east coast at St. Andrews, Carnoustie, and back again in St. Andrews. We then drove to the west coast and played Old Prestwick, the course where the first Open was played in 1860.
5. These are the streets we drove on in Edinburgh. This is a two-way street!
6. We woke up the next morning, Saturday and headed to the Edinburgh Castle. The Scots seemed to have consistently build their castles on the highest hill.
7. We had to park a ½ mile down the road and walk up hill.
8. The walk to the top of the mountain went up these stairs. This photo is taken because I needed an excuse to stop– had to rest!
9. This is what the street looked like when we arrived at the top.
10. These lucky folks took a bus! (Scottish buses kinda look like insects!)
27. Here is what the street looked like when we were leaving.
28. Fringe festival on the street leading up to the castle and throughout the whole castle district. The must have been close to 100,000 people on the streets below . . .
40. The rain didn’t stop people from playing golf. This is Scotland!
41. So we played our first round . . . It only rained on six of the holes! We were kinda dry by the time we took these photos.
42. We played the New Course at St. Andrews, was built in 1897. Since Mike was giving me 10 strokes, he bought dinner Sunday night! I didn’t object since he made me walk!
48. A view from our hotel at St. Andrews: the 18th green on the Old Course, and the clubhouse.
49. The weather was so nice, we decided to play another of the six courses at St. Andrews on Tuesday morning – Jubilee Course built in 1897.
50. The second hole at Jubilee is called “Whinny Knowe”, a 352 yard par four from the yellow tees. Mike hit his drive five feet on the front left edge of the green! The pin was a couple feet up a ridge and back left. He three putted for a par . . .
59. We walked down to the beach to see the castle’s beach house! Nice!
60. Further down the beach, we discovered that the Indians made their way to Scotland too!
61. Leaving the castle, we drove north to our hotel at Troon. Nice spot! I drove for the first time in Scotland and managed to leave the lights on in our car when I parked. . . A dead battery was quickly fixed by Scotland’s version of AAA! Mike didn’t let me drive again . . .