Loch Lomond

Well the final day of our tour has arrived, and we are at the exclusive Loch Lomond Golf Club.

It has been a really wet summer here in the west of Scotland, and this means that the course played very long. There was no run at all, and the ground was quite wet underfoot.

We are very fortunate to have access here, as Loch Lomond is the most exclusive private members clubs in Scotland, and one of the most exclusive in the UK.

The course opened for playing in 1993, having been designed by the team of Jay Morrish and Tom Weiskopf.  Weiskopf regards Loch Lomond as his "lasting memorial to golf".

It is not just the quality of the course that is magnificent, but the experience is second to none.  As you arrive you are required to progress past a guarded and gated checkpoint.  Once through, you make your way past the 17th and 18th holes, catching a glimpse of the magnificent Rossdhu House and the ruins of the Rossdhu Castle.

We were met by staff offering scotch whisky as we disembarked the coach, prior to heading to our accommodations.

Our champion of the day Jenny Jones pictured of the par three 5th.

Geoffrey Knight prepares to drive on the par five 6th, alongside Loch Lomond.

The land here has been owned by the Clan Colquhoun since ancient times, and constructed Rossdhu Castle in 1457.  The building above, overlooking the 8th hole is Rossdhu House (mansion), and was built in 1773, as a replacement for the castle.

The castle was destroyed by fire not long after the construction of Rosshdu Mansion, and it's ruins remain in place behind the 18the green.

Rossdhu Mansion now acts as the clubhouse for the golf club, and contains some of the property's brilliant accommodation.

This is the view down the par five 13th.

The club was the host of the Scottish Open for ten years, prior to it moving around the country on a rotation.

Elizabeth Knight driving on the par four 15the.

Unfortunately we received yet more rain whilst playing, which doesn't allow the true beauty of the site to be shown.

Our group today myself, Geoffrey & Elizabeth Knight, and Bernard Cassell

Members have access to the yacht moored near the 18th, should they wish to explore the loch.

Here you can see the old ruin, and the remains of Rossdhu Castle.  Sorry Bernard, had to be done. The old ruin did make a great birdie here on the last.

Our location for our final dinner, the magnificent Founders Room.

Our touring party standing on the steps of Rossdhu House prior to dinner.

Rossdhu House after dark.
Today brought our tour to an end, and what a stunning place to finish. As mentioned earlier, Jenny Jones claimed the final win of the tour.  Jenny bookended the tour with wins, winning the first day at Swinley Forest as well.
We all had a wonderful two weeks, and I want to thank everyone involved for the great spirit shown.
I look forward to sharing more experiences with Members in the future.

Ladybank

Ladybank Golf Club is situated near Cupar, not far from St. Andrews.

Ladybank was established as a six-hole course in 1879 by Old Tom Morris. It expanded to a nine-hole course in 1910 and to 18 holes in 1958. Since then, the layout has been consistently celebrated as a qualifying round for the Open Championship due to its challenging but fair layout.

Ladybank is situated amidst heather, pines, and silver birch trees that provide a valuable habitat for a diverse range of flora and fauna. Red squirrels, which are in decline in the UK, can be seen throughout the woodlands both on and around the course.

Unfortunately we had steady misty rain for most of the day, which made taking photos difficult.

The big two tiered green on the par four 9th hole.  This is one of the signature holes on the course.  A tight dogleg left needing an avoidance of trees from the drive, and then a big swale in front of the green.

Ladybank provided a big change to what we have played already in Scotland.

Geoffrey Knight preparing to hit his approach into the par four 11th hole.

There are some beautiful sections of heather in the roughs here.

Andrew Cookes readying himself to drive at the par four 17th.

The most undulation you see is here, just at the start of the 18th fairway.  A nice course, but really just a filler round when given the quality of the remainder of the tour.  Congratulations to Geoffrey Knight who took the bonus win today.
From here we head to Loch Lomond, staying at the magnificent Rossdhu House, before playing Loch Lomond Golf Club.

St Andrews Scenery

Although very famous for golf, there is plenty of other history in the town to go and see.

The Cathedral of St Andrew (often referred to as St Andrews Cathedral) was built in 1158 and became the centre of the Medieval Catholic Church in Scotland as the seat of the Archdiocese of St Andrews and the Bishops and Archbishops of St Andrews.

It fell into disuse and ruin after Catholic mass was outlawed during the 16th-century Scottish Reformation. It is currently a monument in the custody of Historic Scotland. The ruins indicate that the building was approximately 119m (391 feet) long, and is the largest church to have been built in Scotland.

The grave site of all of the Tom Morris's.  Old Tom, Young Tom, and little Tommy.

The perfect spot for any misbehaving members on the tour.

St Rule's tower is located in the Cathedral grounds but predates it, having served as the church of the priory up to the early 12th century. The building was retained to allow worship to continue uninterrupted during the building of its much larger successor. Originally, the tower and adjoining choir were part of the church built in the 11th century to house the relics of St Andrew.

This is the view you recieve from the top of St Rule's Tower.  33 metres of climbing small stone spiral steps, which were added in the 18th century.

The view over the cathedral shows just how impressive a building it would have been when complete, and makes you understand why it took over a century to build.

You can look out over the North Sea from the other side of the tower.

No conservation of the cathedral ruins took place until the 19th century.

Back near the golf course, the 18th green, looking towards the first tee, with the majestic R & A clubhouse behind.

The Swilcan bridge.

Note to self: Don't park on the right hand side of the 18th.

Kingsbarns

Golf has been enjoyed over the links land of Kingsbarns since 1793. Attired in their blue coats, the Kingsbarns Golfing Society men met for their Spring and Autumn Meetings to challenge for the Societies medals on the links, and to enjoy the conviviality of friends over dinner in the Golfers Hall.

The course was laid out on land leased from the Cambo Estate until 1850. At this time land was considered more valuable for farming than for golf.  The golf course was reacquired by the Cambo Estate in order to add to their farmable area.

Prompted and inspired by Lady Erskine of Cambo, the old Kingsbarns Golfing Society was re-established and founded as Kingsbarns Golf Club in 1922 and Willie Auchterlonie laid out a nine-hole course on the links about Kingsbarns Bay. This course served the golfing needs of the locals and holidaymakers until the onset of the Second World War when the Links was mined in the national security defence effort and it quickly reverted to rough pasture.

Marilyn Cookes prepares to play to the par three 2nd hole.

Golf remained absent on the site until the year 2000, resuming again after the Kyle Phillips design was created, providing the first new course on links land in Scotland for over 70 years.

And what a stunning creation it is.  Many links courses, although close to the sea, do not provide any view of it.  Not here at Kingsbarns.  A lot of work was done in the creation of the course to ensure that you can view the North Sea from every hole on the course.

Not only is it visually appealing, but it is also appealing as a golf course too.  There is a sense of space from the tee, but penalty should you stray.  It requires a lot of thought, and there are many risk / reward options waiting to seduce you into the wrong shot.

What a friendly group I was with today.  Jenny Jones, Grant Nicholson and Marilyn Cookes all within a few feet of each other from the 11th tee.  I wasn't quite as friendly, you can see mine further down the fairway.

One of the signature holes here at Kingsbarns is the par five 12th hole.  The hole works it's way down alongside the North Sea coast, and the beach remains in play as a fairly sizeable water hazard.  If you hit a poor shot, and the tide is out you can just pop over the stone wall and play it back off the beach.

Jenny Jones is helping me search for my ball.  I am sure the caddy said keep it left of the wall!!

You can get a bit lost in the scenery here and forget about golf.  This is from behind the tee of the par three 13th.

The other signature hole, the par three 15th.  Grant Nicholson is pictured prior to successfully negotiating his way to the edge of the green.  Right is not ideal, and can lead to your ball pinballing around on the rocks.  This hole plays at a monstrous 212 yards during the Dunhill Links Trophy (being played in four weeks' time on this course, Carnoustie and St Andrews).

We were quite fortunate to have good weather here today.  No rain, even a bit of sunshine, and enough wind to be a good test.

We ahve been fortunate to time our visit quite well.  Kingsbarns is in between tournaments.  The 2017 Women's British Open was held here a few weeks ago, and then the Dunhill Links Trophy is here shortly.

Melanie Hannon was our winner today, taking the honours with a finely constructed 35 points.

Tomorrow we leave St Andrews, heading west, and play at Ladybank before moving on to stay at Loch Lomond.