WEBVTT - Live from St. Andrews - The Old Course and Fife 0:00:00.040 --> 0:00:02.800 I miss a green, for example, I'm already upset. When 0:00:02.800 --> 0:00:04.920 I find my ball in the bunker, I'm really upset. 0:00:05.000 --> 0:00:06.320 And when I find my ball. 0:00:06.120 --> 0:00:08.920 In a bright egg Friday Egg, the dreaded Frida Egg, 0:00:09.039 --> 0:00:11.600 Friday fridagg brid. 0:00:11.440 --> 0:00:14.080 Egg, Lie, I'm about ready to run off of the course. 0:00:37.760 --> 0:00:41.040 Welcome back to the Friday Golf Podcast. I am your host, 0:00:41.159 --> 0:00:46.520 Andy Johnson, and UH, I'm excited. I'm back from Scotland. Uh, 0:00:46.720 --> 0:00:50.440 back from the Masters. UH wrapped up a ton of 0:00:50.600 --> 0:00:54.920 crazy travel and UH wanted to unpack a little from 0:00:54.920 --> 0:00:56.120 our trip from Scotland. 0:00:56.400 --> 0:00:58.840 So we've got a couple of things for you. 0:00:58.960 --> 0:01:03.880 In today's episode, we have our live podcast with Scott McPherson, 0:01:04.800 --> 0:01:10.240 the great author, historian, golf course architect who wrote The 0:01:10.280 --> 0:01:15.880 Evolution of the Old Course, a exhaustive history on all 0:01:15.920 --> 0:01:18.520 the changes and you know kind of how the Old 0:01:18.560 --> 0:01:22.720 Course came to be as we know it. But first 0:01:22.840 --> 0:01:26.040 I'm going to unpack Scotland a little bit with one 0:01:26.080 --> 0:01:30.559 of my colleagues, Matt Rushis, who joined the trip, and 0:01:30.640 --> 0:01:33.200 we're going to talk a little bit about golf in Scotland, 0:01:33.400 --> 0:01:37.119 the Old Course, Old Course Reverse, and then we'll kick 0:01:37.160 --> 0:01:41.399 it over to our live podcast that was held at 0:01:41.440 --> 0:01:46.240 the Buyer Theater in Saint Andrew's really organized and put 0:01:46.240 --> 0:01:49.160 together by the Links Trust. Big thanks to both of 0:01:49.200 --> 0:01:53.240 them for doing that. It was kind of part of 0:01:53.280 --> 0:01:57.560 their programming for Old Course Reverse. A great event that 0:01:57.600 --> 0:02:02.880 I would suggest everybody enter the lottery for. I know 0:02:03.000 --> 0:02:06.480 that lotteries can be frustrating that if you don't get it, 0:02:06.560 --> 0:02:08.960 but you know, enter enter for the rest of your 0:02:09.000 --> 0:02:11.160 life and may you'll get it once, maybe you'll get 0:02:11.160 --> 0:02:14.320 it twice. I met somebody who had won it twice 0:02:14.360 --> 0:02:16.519 in the short you know, a couple of years since 0:02:16.560 --> 0:02:20.320 they restarted doing the big lottery for it. So it 0:02:20.400 --> 0:02:24.920 was really fun, really great event, and in Scott was 0:02:24.960 --> 0:02:26.120 a wonderful guest. 0:02:26.720 --> 0:02:28.160 So we'll do that. 0:02:28.800 --> 0:02:31.920 But before we get to Matt, let's talk about our 0:02:31.919 --> 0:02:37.320 friends over at Perfect Practice. Perfect Practice they make just 0:02:37.639 --> 0:02:44.040 really smart, sensible practice equipment, whether it's their chip Shot, 0:02:44.120 --> 0:02:46.720 which is the best way to perfect your short game 0:02:46.760 --> 0:02:50.080 at home. It has an automatic ball return in the 0:02:50.160 --> 0:02:53.440 chipping net and has it comes with a grass net, 0:02:53.680 --> 0:02:55.960 a grass matt, and a target net that lets you 0:02:56.000 --> 0:02:58.160 get a ton of reps without chasing balls. 0:02:58.160 --> 0:03:00.400 It's great for indoor outdoor use. 0:03:01.840 --> 0:03:05.280 And that whether it's that, whether it's their putting that 0:03:05.520 --> 0:03:09.480 that made them famous with the you know automatic ball return, 0:03:09.760 --> 0:03:12.040 the great kind of felt. 0:03:12.960 --> 0:03:13.880 I think it's felt. 0:03:13.960 --> 0:03:17.200 I'm sorry if I don't know the exact material putting 0:03:17.200 --> 0:03:21.080 that that puts really true. I personally love it because 0:03:21.080 --> 0:03:24.040 of the the lines on it. I love putting on 0:03:24.120 --> 0:03:27.799 a chalk line, and you know, I put best when 0:03:27.840 --> 0:03:31.840 my strokes coming a little inside, and by having that 0:03:31.919 --> 0:03:35.680 straight line, I'm able to see that that putter moving 0:03:35.680 --> 0:03:38.280 inside on the takeaway, which allows me to release the putter. 0:03:39.120 --> 0:03:42.640 So I love their putting stuff. They also have mirrors. 0:03:43.600 --> 0:03:47.320 They also have you know, kind of like a alignment 0:03:47.480 --> 0:03:51.000 string that's really effective if if you're putting on a 0:03:51.040 --> 0:03:54.240 practice screen and working on right to lefters or left 0:03:54.240 --> 0:03:58.440 to rights. So they have a lot of awesome, awesome 0:03:59.800 --> 0:04:02.960 practice tools. You can get some of them at select 0:04:03.240 --> 0:04:07.400 Costco locations in California and Nevada, but the easiest way 0:04:08.000 --> 0:04:12.320 to buy them is perfect Practice dot com and if 0:04:12.360 --> 0:04:14.840 you use the promo code Frida Egg, you get twenty 0:04:14.880 --> 0:04:17.120 percent off. You're not gonna get that twenty percent off 0:04:17.160 --> 0:04:20.719 at Costco, but you'll get it at perfect practice dot Com. 0:04:21.000 --> 0:04:24.080 Big thanks to our friends at perfect Practice. All right, 0:04:24.160 --> 0:04:36.279 let's welcome in our colleague, Matt Rush's Matt, you're back 0:04:36.279 --> 0:04:40.040 from Scotland. I got to ask you, was that I 0:04:40.040 --> 0:04:42.200 think this was your first trip to Scotland. 0:04:41.920 --> 0:04:47.080 Right, yeah, very first time. I made it to Ireland. First, 0:04:47.360 --> 0:04:51.120 was my first overseas trip the England last fall, and 0:04:51.520 --> 0:04:54.520 now I've completed the trifecta and made it to Scotland. 0:04:55.120 --> 0:04:58.599 Wonderful, wonderful. I asked you to do a little prep 0:04:58.640 --> 0:05:02.080 for this. Matt obviously does a ton of writing for 0:05:02.200 --> 0:05:06.080 US and Friday Golf Club about golf courses. He makes 0:05:06.120 --> 0:05:09.760 a lot of videos also about golf courses. 0:05:09.839 --> 0:05:11.320 He was kind of. 0:05:11.160 --> 0:05:16.040 The solo dolo on our recent YouTube video about Crooked 0:05:16.080 --> 0:05:21.080 Stick mascot a lot of bona fides in terms of 0:05:21.520 --> 0:05:26.960 his golf architecture, understanding and education through the years of 0:05:27.120 --> 0:05:31.240 either working on construction sites, working on turf teams, and 0:05:31.279 --> 0:05:35.360 now working with us. What was your favorite thing about 0:05:35.360 --> 0:05:37.560 the old course? It was the first time you'd been 0:05:37.600 --> 0:05:38.000 out there. 0:05:39.160 --> 0:05:42.120 Yeah, it was tough. I was going back and thinking 0:05:42.160 --> 0:05:45.920 about it, and the trip was really a sprint. We 0:05:45.920 --> 0:05:50.200 were shooting four different videos across a seven day period, 0:05:50.279 --> 0:05:53.320 so it was a lot of jumping around and I 0:05:53.360 --> 0:05:56.719 didn't get I would say, as much time to sort 0:05:56.760 --> 0:06:01.200 of digest and consume the old course itself. I mean 0:06:01.240 --> 0:06:04.640 I was walking around it basically every day, and like, 0:06:05.000 --> 0:06:08.440 I think, my biggest takeaway and something that has even 0:06:08.520 --> 0:06:12.040 piqued my interest more in the old course. It's pretty cliche, 0:06:12.040 --> 0:06:15.039 but just how complex it is. Like I walked it 0:06:15.120 --> 0:06:18.159 forwards one day shooting a video, and then the very 0:06:18.200 --> 0:06:21.320 next day, like twelve hours later, walked it in reverse 0:06:22.560 --> 0:06:26.720 shooting another video for the reverse routing, and that just 0:06:26.760 --> 0:06:30.719 like completely threw my mind for a loop. Seeing the 0:06:30.720 --> 0:06:33.880 old course for the very first time walking it forwards 0:06:33.960 --> 0:06:37.600 and then going backwards, it like got me so disoriented 0:06:38.279 --> 0:06:42.240 and like really illuminated how complex the golf course is. 0:06:42.279 --> 0:06:45.880 There's so much going on. There's so many little intricate 0:06:45.960 --> 0:06:49.440 little things in the ground contours, and so many different 0:06:49.440 --> 0:06:51.960 ways to play the holes, and they changed so much 0:06:52.040 --> 0:06:54.839 based on the pin position. So even though I spent 0:06:54.960 --> 0:06:59.039 like four probably full days walking in and around the 0:06:59.080 --> 0:07:01.880 old course, I still feel like I barely know it. 0:07:01.920 --> 0:07:05.560 And I've watched tournaments, I've like consumed so much of 0:07:05.600 --> 0:07:08.400 the old course, yet it still feels almost like this 0:07:08.600 --> 0:07:12.480 foreign thing that I can't yet fully like wrap my 0:07:12.520 --> 0:07:13.080 head around. 0:07:14.000 --> 0:07:17.600 Yeah, having been there, I don't know a ton now. 0:07:17.880 --> 0:07:18.080 You know. 0:07:18.080 --> 0:07:23.320 I spent eight days during the Open in twenty two 0:07:23.800 --> 0:07:30.040 walking around, you know, went out there last year and 0:07:30.080 --> 0:07:32.640 then this year. I would say, the only thing I 0:07:32.720 --> 0:07:35.520 understand about the old course, like to a very you 0:07:35.560 --> 0:07:40.480 know two deep understanding of the holes are one, nine 0:07:40.880 --> 0:07:43.760 and uh and ten are the ones I really I 0:07:44.080 --> 0:07:47.960 in eight, eight and nine ten because they're like the 0:07:48.000 --> 0:07:48.680 simple ones. 0:07:49.240 --> 0:07:49.440 You know. 0:07:49.520 --> 0:07:52.280 One it's like, Okay, I get how this works and 0:07:52.360 --> 0:07:55.440 it's dead flat and it's kind of you know, you 0:07:55.560 --> 0:07:58.280 got to burn and you understand how that works. 0:07:58.360 --> 0:08:01.480 But then you know the yah, the holes in the middle. 0:08:02.320 --> 0:08:02.960 I think like. 0:08:04.600 --> 0:08:07.400 And I think there's a lesson here about about golf. 0:08:07.440 --> 0:08:10.520 It's like it is the most entransing place to play 0:08:10.840 --> 0:08:15.920 because of the sophistication and that it's not the sophistication 0:08:16.080 --> 0:08:19.920 in the architecture, Like it wasn't built to be sophisticated. 0:08:20.040 --> 0:08:21.960 It's just what the natural. 0:08:21.520 --> 0:08:28.600 Contours do to you know, where like there's so many 0:08:28.680 --> 0:08:32.640 ways to play every hole and you don't necessarily know 0:08:32.760 --> 0:08:37.160 what's right and in because the greens are so large. 0:08:37.200 --> 0:08:40.240 In the double green aspect of of all the greens, 0:08:41.120 --> 0:08:45.600 there's so many combinations of everything that can happen in 0:08:45.640 --> 0:08:49.320 a way, in a nutshell, the Old Course represents. Like 0:08:49.520 --> 0:08:55.600 what I think is so amazing about golf is that 0:08:55.720 --> 0:09:01.840 you never hit the same shot twice in your lifetime. 0:09:02.160 --> 0:09:06.800 And at the Old Course, between the wind, the contours 0:09:07.600 --> 0:09:12.040 in the ground throughout it, and these giant greens, it's 0:09:12.480 --> 0:09:15.960 unlikely that you'll ever play one of the holes and 0:09:16.000 --> 0:09:20.480 have it feel remotely similar to the day to another 0:09:20.600 --> 0:09:21.880 day that you played the holes. 0:09:23.520 --> 0:09:23.800 Yeah. 0:09:23.920 --> 0:09:27.200 Another thing that sort of kind of illuminated to me 0:09:28.160 --> 0:09:31.600 is how one of one the old courses, Like we 0:09:31.760 --> 0:09:35.160 probably saw almost ten golf courses on the short trip 0:09:35.240 --> 0:09:40.560 jumping around, and they're all Scottish Linkslan golf courses, and 0:09:40.640 --> 0:09:43.480 none of them feel like remotely even close to the 0:09:43.520 --> 0:09:46.600 Old Course and the amount of complexity and just the 0:09:46.640 --> 0:09:49.960 way that the golf course plays and the land that 0:09:50.000 --> 0:09:53.520 it plays over, Like, Yeah, the courses right next door 0:09:53.520 --> 0:09:55.920 in the New Course and the Eden on either side 0:09:56.000 --> 0:10:01.080 have very similar landforms and the contours can be similar, 0:10:01.720 --> 0:10:03.960 but they're not presented in the same way with the 0:10:04.000 --> 0:10:08.079 old courses, with just like so much plain ground and 0:10:08.120 --> 0:10:11.720 such wide corridors for the holes that you have all 0:10:11.840 --> 0:10:15.640 these other contours that I would presume are on the 0:10:15.679 --> 0:10:17.840 New Course and Eden and all the other courses at 0:10:17.840 --> 0:10:21.160 Saint Andrews, but maybe there's a gorse bush over the 0:10:21.200 --> 0:10:24.320 top of them, So you're not quite like getting as 0:10:24.440 --> 0:10:28.199 much of that complexity in the visual part when you're 0:10:28.200 --> 0:10:32.360 playing those other courses. So there's really just it's just 0:10:32.400 --> 0:10:36.960 an endless like fascination with the course of like you 0:10:37.000 --> 0:10:40.480 can just keep diving in, learning more, finding new things. 0:10:40.520 --> 0:10:42.880 And that was something like playing with Scott, Like every 0:10:42.920 --> 0:10:46.120 time I had a question or thought about something, I 0:10:46.280 --> 0:10:48.520 just asked him and he had the answer for it 0:10:48.559 --> 0:10:50.520 because he's such a wealth of knowledge. 0:10:51.080 --> 0:10:55.240 It's incredible, Like any anything you could remotely think about 0:10:55.240 --> 0:10:58.200 with the old course, you asked Scott and he's like, well, 0:10:58.360 --> 0:11:01.240 let me tell you about how that came to be. 0:11:01.760 --> 0:11:08.080 It's it's honestly incredible. The uh I think like it. 0:11:08.640 --> 0:11:12.480 So it's funny. I you do a lot of our 0:11:12.559 --> 0:11:17.280 drone videography, photography, uh I used to do, you know, 0:11:17.440 --> 0:11:20.600 all of it. I still jump on uh and do 0:11:20.760 --> 0:11:23.840 some of it, and I feel like I learn a 0:11:24.000 --> 0:11:27.839 lot about golf courses when I shoot them. I don't 0:11:27.880 --> 0:11:32.000 remember golf courses as well if I don't do drone 0:11:32.000 --> 0:11:36.080 photography and videography like it, it helps me like think 0:11:36.120 --> 0:11:39.880 about see things differently. One of the things I find 0:11:40.480 --> 0:11:43.800 very like, having now flown a drone at the Old 0:11:43.840 --> 0:11:48.080 Course of a few times now, is that it's also 0:11:48.240 --> 0:11:51.280 like the hardest place to do that because there's so 0:11:51.480 --> 0:11:55.520 many things, so many Like you know, when you fly 0:11:55.640 --> 0:11:59.199 a drone and this is just an anecdote, like you 0:11:59.200 --> 0:12:02.000 you find these and out features and you you kind 0:12:02.000 --> 0:12:05.040 of get I feel like you get fixated on like 0:12:05.320 --> 0:12:08.280 certain places. And if you think about it in the 0:12:08.400 --> 0:12:11.720 lens of like a famous course that everybody would know. 0:12:11.760 --> 0:12:13.320 If you're flying a drone. 0:12:13.000 --> 0:12:17.880 At Pacific Dunes, you get fixated on those holes on 0:12:17.960 --> 0:12:20.000 the coast, yeah, right. 0:12:19.640 --> 0:12:24.520 Because it's een. They're just pulling you over there because 0:12:24.520 --> 0:12:25.360 they're so epic. 0:12:26.640 --> 0:12:29.360 At the Old Course, I find that like I just 0:12:29.400 --> 0:12:31.440 get lost and it's like, wait, did I just like 0:12:31.520 --> 0:12:36.640 spend thirty minutes on two holes that just share a corridor? 0:12:36.920 --> 0:12:39.640 And I'm just because there's so many things that like 0:12:39.760 --> 0:12:43.840 pop and it just is a it's it's it's a 0:12:43.880 --> 0:12:48.360 testament to what we're talking about of like just the 0:12:48.400 --> 0:12:55.480 sheer like number of like little features that are there 0:12:56.720 --> 0:12:58.280 is unlike any other golf course. 0:12:59.640 --> 0:13:03.200 Yeah, And something that like sort of was illuminating to 0:13:03.280 --> 0:13:06.319 me when we were flying the drones and taking photos 0:13:06.320 --> 0:13:10.000 of the course is like the greens and the bunkers 0:13:10.120 --> 0:13:13.800 are really like they make up like ninety five percent, 0:13:13.880 --> 0:13:16.280 maybe even ninety nine percent of the golf course. So yeah, 0:13:16.320 --> 0:13:19.520 there's all the other contours and everything in the fairways 0:13:19.520 --> 0:13:22.920 and whatnot, but it just feels like the greens are 0:13:23.320 --> 0:13:28.440 such a key component to everything on each hole, the 0:13:28.480 --> 0:13:31.240 strategy on how you plane it, where the pin is, 0:13:31.440 --> 0:13:35.040 and there's so much that gets derived from that that 0:13:35.800 --> 0:13:38.480 I feel like it's even more so than most golf courses. 0:13:38.559 --> 0:13:41.720 Like there's the famous CB McDonald quote where he said 0:13:41.720 --> 0:13:45.160 the greens are like the face to a painting, and 0:13:45.400 --> 0:13:48.640 it's it's it's never more true than any other course 0:13:48.960 --> 0:13:49.840 than the old course. 0:13:51.000 --> 0:13:54.400 Yeah, Yeah, it's it's an amazing place. Obviously, they're the 0:13:54.400 --> 0:13:57.720 hosts of next year's Open. We'll have a ton of 0:13:57.760 --> 0:14:01.559 coverage for that coming. You know in the coming months. 0:14:02.000 --> 0:14:05.839 Talking a little bit more broadly, I asked you to 0:14:06.480 --> 0:14:10.760 compile three big takeaways from your first trip to Scotland. 0:14:11.880 --> 0:14:13.240 What's your first big takeaway. 0:14:15.000 --> 0:14:16.800 I'll start a little bit broader, and then maybe we 0:14:16.840 --> 0:14:22.120 can work into some more minute takeaways. But the biggest 0:14:22.320 --> 0:14:24.760 takeaway that I started to realize is just like the 0:14:24.800 --> 0:14:29.600 baseline of quality and golf in Scotland is just like 0:14:29.760 --> 0:14:34.520 almost exponentially greater than America. Like I was kind of 0:14:34.640 --> 0:14:38.120 hashing it out in my head, and it's like every 0:14:38.160 --> 0:14:41.360 course in Scotland that's on Linksland is bound to have 0:14:42.280 --> 0:14:46.520 like one, two, three, maybe even four like really stand 0:14:46.600 --> 0:14:50.600 out world class holes because the land just lends itself 0:14:50.680 --> 0:14:55.040 to really interesting and unique things. And then part and 0:14:55.080 --> 0:14:59.440 parcel with that is like the sandy the sandy soil 0:15:00.120 --> 0:15:04.200 and the fine fescu turfs make the plane and like 0:15:04.240 --> 0:15:07.680 the playability of the golf courses like such a drastically 0:15:07.720 --> 0:15:10.440 higher level than America. So it's like you have these 0:15:10.480 --> 0:15:15.200 inherent qualities in Scotland, in the land that just makes 0:15:16.240 --> 0:15:20.120 the level of golf so high, and it almost like 0:15:20.400 --> 0:15:23.560 makes each course like destined to be like really good 0:15:23.680 --> 0:15:26.480 in some form or fashion. So when you're like trying 0:15:26.520 --> 0:15:29.600 to rate them or like assign some sort of grade 0:15:29.640 --> 0:15:33.200 to them, like we're talking about kind of our egg 0:15:33.280 --> 0:15:35.600 riting system and the courses, it makes it so much 0:15:35.600 --> 0:15:39.160 more difficult because it's like, oh, well, it inherently is 0:15:39.200 --> 0:15:42.120 going to play really really well and allow you to 0:15:42.160 --> 0:15:45.880 play very creatively and either fly the ball or use 0:15:45.920 --> 0:15:49.840 the ground and play your game how you want to 0:15:49.880 --> 0:15:53.680 play it. And then also like the land itself is 0:15:53.720 --> 0:15:57.840 going to generate some really spectacular golf holes in themselves. 0:15:57.880 --> 0:16:03.200 So it's almost like every course in Scotland is worth 0:16:03.520 --> 0:16:06.080 going to venture and see because there's there's there's bound 0:16:06.120 --> 0:16:09.040 to be a few really cool holes playing over some 0:16:09.080 --> 0:16:13.120 really unique landforms because it's just inherent from the natural environment. 0:16:14.760 --> 0:16:15.040 Yeah. 0:16:15.160 --> 0:16:22.600 I think like the the turf, uh is the turf 0:16:22.680 --> 0:16:28.040 and the soil and then the wind also. Yeah, so 0:16:28.440 --> 0:16:34.920 the combination of those three you know allows actually like 0:16:35.200 --> 0:16:43.400 very simple architecture to to wow you where you know, 0:16:43.560 --> 0:16:46.400 like a lot of simple architecture is great architecture, but 0:16:47.320 --> 0:16:50.280 where the if it's really you know, windy and as 0:16:50.280 --> 0:16:55.760 firm and as fast turf, you're able to like put 0:16:55.800 --> 0:16:58.200 a bunker ten yards in front of a green and 0:16:58.280 --> 0:17:01.800 if it plays down wind a lot, that bunker all 0:17:01.880 --> 0:17:03.760 suddens like right where you want it to be. 0:17:04.240 --> 0:17:06.960 And that if you did that in America, it wouldn't matter. 0:17:06.760 --> 0:17:08.760 Because you just fly it over it and you land 0:17:08.800 --> 0:17:12.160 on the green and you know whatever, Like everything has 0:17:12.200 --> 0:17:16.480 to be pushed up and you know, pushed up into 0:17:16.520 --> 0:17:19.680 the green and you know, if you're you know talking 0:17:19.680 --> 0:17:24.280 about like especially say golf architecture in Saint Louis or Washington, DC, 0:17:25.480 --> 0:17:27.440 like everything has to be. 0:17:27.359 --> 0:17:28.560 Geared towards ariel. 0:17:29.080 --> 0:17:33.359 And I think the benefit of Scotland's you know situation, 0:17:33.600 --> 0:17:36.600 and I think it is similar with Ireland, is that 0:17:36.880 --> 0:17:42.960 you have aerial and ground game where in certain situations 0:17:43.080 --> 0:17:47.439 even the most aerial player a Rory McElroy or a 0:17:47.480 --> 0:17:50.520 Scottie Scheffler have to land the ball short of the green. 0:17:51.960 --> 0:17:55.520 And that makes just more golf architecture come alive, whether 0:17:55.560 --> 0:18:01.400 it's contouring, whether it's bunkers, like that changes the whole 0:18:01.480 --> 0:18:04.639 dynamic of like what a golf course could be. And 0:18:04.840 --> 0:18:09.879 just that turf, the turf and the wind and the 0:18:09.960 --> 0:18:16.520 natural elements allow rudimentary architecture to play better than really 0:18:16.560 --> 0:18:20.440 sophisticated architecture in America without elements. 0:18:21.640 --> 0:18:24.640 Yeah, And one thing that kind of adds to that 0:18:24.800 --> 0:18:28.239 is like with those elements, you can simply have like 0:18:28.560 --> 0:18:33.159 one singular feature kind of like the fourth hole on 0:18:33.240 --> 0:18:36.880 the old course, there's just a singular like bump right 0:18:36.880 --> 0:18:40.720 in front of the green, and it causes so much 0:18:41.080 --> 0:18:44.119 like thought anxiety of how am I going to get 0:18:44.119 --> 0:18:46.400 around this, thinking about where do I need to land 0:18:46.440 --> 0:18:49.760 it to properly use it and not have it kind 0:18:49.800 --> 0:18:53.199 of hurt your shot. So that's another thing, is what 0:18:53.240 --> 0:18:55.520 you're saying, and how you can just it can be 0:18:55.560 --> 0:18:59.000 so simple yet so captivating. I feel like we often 0:18:59.040 --> 0:19:03.479 found ourselves amiring such a small like detail on certain 0:19:03.520 --> 0:19:07.400 holes and being like just wowed by it because of 0:19:07.400 --> 0:19:09.960 how much impact it had on how you played that 0:19:10.080 --> 0:19:10.560 golf hole. 0:19:11.680 --> 0:19:16.760 Yeah, it and it's I think there's also something about 0:19:16.760 --> 0:19:20.199 Scotland where, you know, the way we experience it is 0:19:20.240 --> 0:19:23.000 like you're kind of going out there and you're, you know, 0:19:23.359 --> 0:19:25.919 it feels like you don't know a lot sometimes about 0:19:26.119 --> 0:19:28.399 some of the courses you're going to, and you're just 0:19:28.440 --> 0:19:32.119 looking for something, and if you discover a couple things 0:19:32.160 --> 0:19:34.760 that you like about it, you feel this like gratifying 0:19:34.840 --> 0:19:37.520 feeling of like, yeah, it was awesome playing out here. 0:19:37.840 --> 0:19:40.520 And I think part of some of that it always 0:19:40.520 --> 0:19:43.240 goes back to like the turf. Like the turf being 0:19:43.280 --> 0:19:47.160 the way it is and allowing you to hit all 0:19:47.200 --> 0:19:52.919 these different shots absolutely lends itself to you having a 0:19:52.920 --> 0:19:54.359 better experience out there. 0:19:55.280 --> 0:19:55.879 Definitely. 0:19:56.800 --> 0:19:59.960 So what's what's the next on your list? 0:20:01.400 --> 0:20:05.119 The next one, which might not come to a surprise, 0:20:05.600 --> 0:20:10.160 is that Saint Andrew's Links as a whole is even 0:20:10.200 --> 0:20:14.840 more incredible of a golfing facility as I imagined. I mean, 0:20:14.880 --> 0:20:17.720 I didn't really know a ton about the other golf 0:20:17.760 --> 0:20:22.280 courses going in. I just knew that there is so many, 0:20:22.320 --> 0:20:24.760 and I didn't even realize, like you have the Streft, 0:20:24.840 --> 0:20:28.560 Tirem and Bowgrove courses, which I had no idea even about, 0:20:29.080 --> 0:20:31.480 And it's really cool the way that it works. One 0:20:31.480 --> 0:20:34.640 of the caddies was telling us about how you kind 0:20:34.640 --> 0:20:37.960 of start on the Bowgrove course or the Himalaya's putting 0:20:38.000 --> 0:20:41.159 course and you kind of work your way up because 0:20:41.160 --> 0:20:44.119 there's like kind of this like tier system of courses 0:20:44.320 --> 0:20:47.959 and the difficulty, the length and all that. So like 0:20:48.040 --> 0:20:50.760 as you progress as a child and get better at 0:20:50.760 --> 0:20:52.679 the game of golf, you get to progress up the 0:20:52.680 --> 0:20:55.439 golf courses. So it starts with the putting course, the 0:20:55.480 --> 0:20:59.119 Ladies Himalaya Putting Course, and then you move on to 0:20:59.359 --> 0:21:02.320 the bow Grove Course, which is like a Paul par thirty, 0:21:02.520 --> 0:21:05.560 like fifteen hundred yards, and then you have the strath 0:21:05.640 --> 0:21:09.320 Tim Course, which I believe is a par sixty nine 0:21:09.480 --> 0:21:13.000 and it's probably like only fifty five hundred yards. And 0:21:13.040 --> 0:21:16.160 then kind of the three other main ones, like the Jubilee, 0:21:16.280 --> 0:21:18.760 the New and the Eden kind of sit in their 0:21:18.800 --> 0:21:21.800 own class, and then kind of the penultimate one of 0:21:21.840 --> 0:21:26.880 the Old Course, and I didn't really think too much 0:21:26.920 --> 0:21:30.160 about them, And then the more I got to get 0:21:30.200 --> 0:21:32.959 to know each of these courses, you really start to 0:21:33.000 --> 0:21:36.199 realize how different they are and how they all have 0:21:36.400 --> 0:21:41.760 like kind of these different landforms and just styles of 0:21:42.600 --> 0:21:45.160 golf holes, where like the New Course and the Jubilee, 0:21:45.240 --> 0:21:47.760 a lot of the holes sit more on the ground 0:21:47.960 --> 0:21:51.120 and feel like kind of more of those natural links courses. 0:21:51.720 --> 0:21:54.840 And then the Eating Course has just like these incredible 0:21:54.880 --> 0:21:59.280 green complexes built by Harry Colet, and it just feels 0:21:59.280 --> 0:22:02.960 so different that it's like pretty fascinating that there are 0:22:03.040 --> 0:22:06.040 only a few hundred yards from each other, and each 0:22:06.040 --> 0:22:08.800 of the courses when you're playing them just feel so different. 0:22:08.920 --> 0:22:12.160 And the landforms and the way that they look visually 0:22:12.280 --> 0:22:15.200 from the tea and when you're playing them is so different. 0:22:15.480 --> 0:22:17.919 And it honestly was like kind of reminding me of 0:22:17.960 --> 0:22:21.080 band and Dooms, where like it's all kind of the 0:22:21.119 --> 0:22:23.800 same area. It's all all the courses are on top 0:22:23.840 --> 0:22:26.440 of each other, but they each have such a strong 0:22:26.680 --> 0:22:30.800 identity that makes them all like so worth visiting each 0:22:30.880 --> 0:22:33.400 one and getting to know each one and play each one. 0:22:33.560 --> 0:22:36.080 So that was a big takeaway that I wasn't really 0:22:36.119 --> 0:22:39.399 thinking about going in about the other courses. Obviously, if 0:22:39.440 --> 0:22:42.320 you're going to Saint Andrews, you're gonna be pretty focused 0:22:42.320 --> 0:22:45.439 on trying to play the old course and get on 0:22:45.520 --> 0:22:48.000 that ballot if you don't have a tea time secured. 0:22:48.040 --> 0:22:51.520 But there's so many other good good times to be 0:22:51.560 --> 0:22:53.919 had on the golf courses that are right next to 0:22:53.960 --> 0:22:54.639 the old course. 0:22:55.600 --> 0:23:03.520 I I will contend that the most underrated golf trip 0:23:05.040 --> 0:23:09.399 is just you pick a weekend, especially for anybody on 0:23:09.440 --> 0:23:13.120 the East Coast, You fly into Edinburgh, you get it. 0:23:13.280 --> 0:23:16.000 You get a taxi that picks you up and just 0:23:16.080 --> 0:23:20.280 drops you at St. Andrew's and then you just go play, 0:23:21.040 --> 0:23:25.640 just go play the Links Truss courses and you don't 0:23:25.640 --> 0:23:27.840 have to do anything. You don't ever have to get 0:23:27.880 --> 0:23:30.760 in a car. You just carry your bag and there's 0:23:30.920 --> 0:23:34.439 there's restaurants, all sorts of stuff to do, and you 0:23:34.520 --> 0:23:37.480 just enter the enter the ballot every day for the 0:23:37.520 --> 0:23:40.159 old course. But if you don't win, you go to 0:23:40.200 --> 0:23:42.119 the new course, you go to the Eden Course, you 0:23:42.160 --> 0:23:46.120 go to the Jubilee. Like that's a wonderful trip you play. 0:23:46.240 --> 0:23:48.120 You know, it could be like a you play one 0:23:48.200 --> 0:23:51.080 round of golf a day and hang out in town 0:23:51.160 --> 0:23:54.520 the rest of the day. Like I would be perfectly 0:23:54.640 --> 0:23:57.720 content doing that. I would love to do that more often. 0:23:58.800 --> 0:24:01.720 Is just go and hang out, Like yeah, there's all 0:24:01.760 --> 0:24:05.080 these other great locales and people become enamored with like 0:24:05.200 --> 0:24:10.240 checking boxes. But there is something wonderful about just it's like, oh, 0:24:10.280 --> 0:24:13.080 I just went for three or four days and I'm 0:24:13.240 --> 0:24:15.680 I'm done. And there are so many other great golf 0:24:15.720 --> 0:24:17.800 courses in the area that you know, we went to 0:24:17.840 --> 0:24:21.040 We went to Krale, We played the thirty six holes there. 0:24:21.119 --> 0:24:26.280 I was actually I hadn't played the Craighead Course, the 0:24:26.280 --> 0:24:31.840 gill Hands Course, I loved it. Done Barney and and 0:24:31.840 --> 0:24:35.640 and King's Barns. Get all the love is the new 0:24:35.880 --> 0:24:39.520 golf courses in that area. The thing I liked about 0:24:39.520 --> 0:24:43.359