And now from the golf point of view..........

We were on the course today before 8:00am, not really knowing what we were looking for but knowing that it was the last day that cameras would be allowed on the course so any pictures we were going to get at the course, we were going to get today. But after 2 days of absolutely gorgeous, warm, calm weather, today was the day that the real Scotland showed its teeth with driving rain, wind and cold, and, well, take a look at this................



We were rain bundled to the max and yet we were still soaked to the bone by mid morning. This picture doesn't do it justice but the wind was driving the rain in every direction so that no matter which way you faced you had the rain driving into your face. It was the kind of weather that a good Scotsman loves and the Open Championship organizers were hoping for. Just what they want for a good Open. However, it didn't keep us from running into a long-time family favorite..........................





We ran into Tom Lehman (1996 Open Champion and Minnesota native) on the 9th green. We knew he was on the course but it took us a while to find him in the rain. Most of the players were only practicing 7-8 holes and then getting out of the rain but Lehman, as a hearty Minnesotan, continued through the nastiness for the whole 18. And as he came off the green................








.... I asked him if he would be willing to sign my Open program and, gracious man that he is, he obliged with a smile. I told him that we were Minnesotans and he gave me a hard time about wearing a St. Louis Cardinal rain jacket. I didn't think fast enough to tell him that I had a Minnesota Gopher (his alma mater) polo shirt underneath. But it was a thrill to have a brush with another of my favorites.
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A little Caddyshack insider now: As we were walking off the 8th hole tee box, with the rain driving into our faces, we met another fan coming our way, and I casually said, "The heavy stuff isn't coming for another hour or so." Without hesitation this man replied, "We've got that going for us." If you are not a Caddyshack fan then this means nothing to you but if you are, you are smiling right now. I started laughing, especially with that exchange happening out of nowhere in St. Andrews, Scotland.

I have been refering to the Old Course alot here in St. Andrews but many of you may not know that there is also a New Course at St. Andrews. As you can see, the New Course is only 115 years old, as it opened in 1895. A youngster..............

The highlight of the day was supposed to be the Champions Challenge, where 26 former Open Champions were to play a 4 hole fun competition, including Arnold Palmer, Gary Player, Lee Trevino, and many other all-time legends of the game. As you can see, it was unfortunately cancelled. I hope you can see my disappointed expression. That, however, didn't keep me from getting as much out of the Old Course as I could.....

If the Champions weren't going to play, I figured I might as well get a couple of holes in (a lack of seriousness follows for the next few pictures). So here I am preparing for my tee shot off of number 17. You have to decide whether to play the dogleg or hit it over the corner of the Old Course Hotel and risk going out of bounds. I won't tell you what I chose..................

And here I am hitting my approach shot into number 18. I was imagining Sunday afternoon with the grandstand filled and the Open Championship on the line................ yeah, right. It was a blast, however, to actually be on the course again after 37 years. Can you imagine this being allowed on any major course in the US???? And here I am at the Old Course in St. Andrews, the birthplace of golf. Amazing!!!!!

And finally we ran into Jack Nicklaus as we were getting ready to leave, and he agreed to re-enact his famous farewell to St. Andrews from the Swilcan Bridge on number 18 in his last Open competition in 2005................. Ok, so you all should know this is all crappola but this was such a good picture that I just had to include it. It is at the British Golf Museum, which was our last stop before heading back to the hostel for our last night there.

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So that is the end of our pictures from the Open Championship. No more cameras or cell phones will be allowed in the gate for the competion days starting tomorrow. They run you through metal detectors and everything so there is no reason to even try. And this could be the last blog for a couple of days as we will be catching a late train to Aberdeen after watching the opening day of competition tomorrow. But the next stop is a couple of days in my old stomping ground, Aberdeen. We will see if anything still looks familiar.

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George