At Least it's Windy

When we started the planning for our trip there were two courses that we all agreed we'd love to play: The Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers (Muirfield) and St. Andrews. We were lucky in getting tee times at both. Muirfield only allows guest play on Tuesdays and thursdays and then only twelve tee times are given out. It is possibly one of he toughest places to get on that allows non-member play.

Today we played 36 holes at Muirfield. In the morning we played a four ball match and in the afternoon a two-ball alternate shot. This is one of the rounds where we had arranged for caddies. Let me tell you, if you've never had a caddy you should get one. Even if you aren't a golfer you should get one. If for nothing else to have someone carry around your stuff and keep you entertained. Our for caddies ranged from a student to a retired college professor and they were a hoot. Stuart, Tom, Graham and Paul fed us great information, jokes and local lore for four hours.

Muirfield is a beautiful tract of land set near but not on the Firth. An Open Rota course, it truly deserves the accolades it receives. And Tom Watson is correct that you have to respect the wind. The wind blew all nit before we played and continued to blow all day. The only upside was that it finally blew in some driving rain to make the whole Muirfield experience complete.

Our first round was played without the rain but with the wind. I knew we were in trouble when my caddy said he was only looping my bag today because it was too 'bloody windy' to play. It seems that every par four was straight into the wind and every par three was with the wind. Made for a long day. You really had ignore the par rating on each hole and just accept that it was going to be a really high score for the day. We ranged from a low of 95 to a high of 101 (mine) today and we were happy to get those scores.

After the first round we were deemed worth to have lunch in their member's dining room. Dress is coat and tie for all participants. Fortunately none of us has enough hair to worry about what the wind had done to our coifs. The meal is served buffet style in a very nice dining room. The entire clubhouse is very nice but not overstated.

After lunch we played our alternate shot round. This is a great after lunch round since it plays much quicker and requires each player to only hit half as many shots. Much easier on fifty plus backs. Mid way through the round we were greeted by the nice driving rain that made our round so much more enjoyable. We finished just as the sun was setting on the east of Scotland.




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Location:Muirfield Golf