On Friday the plan was to go golfing at a nearby links course so I woke up early and called a local course to see if they were open. The conditions outside were atrocious and the Open Championship was actually delayed for about four hours because of the amount of rain they received. Luckily the course that we were planning on playing did not have the same amount of rain and it was up and running but it was going to be very windy. We tee'd off around 1:00 and it was a beautiful course right along the ocean. For the first seven holes the wind was at our back so we were just crushing the ball (I hit a drive 350 yd on hole 3). On the third hole the clouds started to clear and the sun actually came out for a little while until we hit the dreaded 8th hole. That is when the course turned around and we had to hit into the wind. I quickly realized why links courses are so hard. When the wind is that strong the ball goes out of control! Regardless of the last 10 holes it was a lot of fun to play a true links course and to experience some of those deep pot bunkers! The girls went to a nearby castle that looked amazing from the pictures. The castle was basically ruins on the side of a seemingly huge cliff. Although the boys were gone and I'm sure it was actually quite a difficult time for them, they all said they had fun.
On Saturday it is moving day at the British Open. That means that it is the day that the players try to make a push for the lead. Since it was a rain delay on Friday, Tiger still had 6 holes to play on Saturday morning (before he got cut for sucking so much) so we went to the course nice and early to watch him finish. As we were about 10 minutes from the course I saw on Twitter that there was a wind delay and we had woken up early for nothing! So instead of pouting we did some drinking. We went to a local pub and met some great people over a few glasses of non-alcoholic beer at 9am (just kidding about the non-alcoholic). The tournament was delayed so long that we were only able to watch about 3 hours that night but we did get to see Tiger for a few more holes before heading back to Blairgowrie. While we were at the golf the girls explored Blairgowrie and went for a cup of tea.
On Sunday, which was supposed to be the final round, they were actually planning on playing the third round of the tournament. This means that the tournament was postponed by one day and the final day was to be played on Monday. The problem with this is that we were planning on going back to Edinburgh for a day but instead we would be watching the final round (much to the dismay of the girls). Sunday was a fairly uneventful day on the course. The leaderboard had lots of big names by the end of the day which was going to make for an exciting final round. The girls meanwhile did a tour of another castle which they enjoyed. It was the Queen mother's castle and they came back with lots of interesting facts.
Monday morning we packed up and said goodbye to our beautiful home in Blairgowrie before heading to the Open for what promised to be an exciting final round. Devin and I followed Jordan Speith for almost the entire day and saw some magic happen a couple of times. For a 21 year old he is an amazing talent. Unfortunately, he missed a short putt on 17 and lost the tournament by one shot which ended his bid at a grand slam. The 18th hole was packed with people from about 12:00 until the end of the day. It was such a cool experience on Monday because each shot has so much pressure. Every birdie the crowd would go wild and you could hear roars all over the course every couple of minutes. Louis Oosteisen made a four foot putt on 18 to tie Mark Leishman and Zach Johnson. This meant that there would be a four hole playoff and Louis missed a short putt on the final playoff hole to extend the playoff. Zach Johnson took home the claret jug in dramatic fashion and topped off a pretty amazing experience. Next time I'm at the British Open I hope to be playing in it (likely won't be back...). We then drove until about 12:00am and stayed the night in Glasgow before heading to Ireland.
On Saturday it is moving day at the British Open. That means that it is the day that the players try to make a push for the lead. Since it was a rain delay on Friday, Tiger still had 6 holes to play on Saturday morning (before he got cut for sucking so much) so we went to the course nice and early to watch him finish. As we were about 10 minutes from the course I saw on Twitter that there was a wind delay and we had woken up early for nothing! So instead of pouting we did some drinking. We went to a local pub and met some great people over a few glasses of non-alcoholic beer at 9am (just kidding about the non-alcoholic). The tournament was delayed so long that we were only able to watch about 3 hours that night but we did get to see Tiger for a few more holes before heading back to Blairgowrie. While we were at the golf the girls explored Blairgowrie and went for a cup of tea.
On Sunday, which was supposed to be the final round, they were actually planning on playing the third round of the tournament. This means that the tournament was postponed by one day and the final day was to be played on Monday. The problem with this is that we were planning on going back to Edinburgh for a day but instead we would be watching the final round (much to the dismay of the girls). Sunday was a fairly uneventful day on the course. The leaderboard had lots of big names by the end of the day which was going to make for an exciting final round. The girls meanwhile did a tour of another castle which they enjoyed. It was the Queen mother's castle and they came back with lots of interesting facts.
Monday morning we packed up and said goodbye to our beautiful home in Blairgowrie before heading to the Open for what promised to be an exciting final round. Devin and I followed Jordan Speith for almost the entire day and saw some magic happen a couple of times. For a 21 year old he is an amazing talent. Unfortunately, he missed a short putt on 17 and lost the tournament by one shot which ended his bid at a grand slam. The 18th hole was packed with people from about 12:00 until the end of the day. It was such a cool experience on Monday because each shot has so much pressure. Every birdie the crowd would go wild and you could hear roars all over the course every couple of minutes. Louis Oosteisen made a four foot putt on 18 to tie Mark Leishman and Zach Johnson. This meant that there would be a four hole playoff and Louis missed a short putt on the final playoff hole to extend the playoff. Zach Johnson took home the claret jug in dramatic fashion and topped off a pretty amazing experience. Next time I'm at the British Open I hope to be playing in it (likely won't be back...). We then drove until about 12:00am and stayed the night in Glasgow before heading to Ireland.