The Kingdom of Fife is a council area and county in Scotland, where the bride and I will be spending an idyllic fortnight beginning on Friday. Fife is brodered on the North by the Firth of Tay, and on the South by the Firth of Forth. As is typical, its historical roots run deep:
The Kingdom of Fife dates from only 1678, in a proposition that the term derives from the quasi-regal privileges of the Earl of Fife.[2]:132 The notion of a kingdom may derive
King James VI of Scotland described Fife as a "beggar's mantle fringed wi gowd",[5] the golden fringe being the coast and its chain of little ports with their thriving fishing fleets and rich trading links with the Low Countries. Wool, linen, coal and salt were all traded. Salt pans heated by local coal were a feature of the Fife coast in the past. The distinctive red clay pan tiles seen on many old buildings in Fife arrived as ballast on trading boats and replaced the previously thatched roofs.
1678 is yesterday as these things go in Scotland, but that sea link to the low countries is historically significant, perhaps even in the formation of our beloved game, the origins of which remain shrouded in mystery.
Our base of operations will be St. Monans, alternatively St. Monance, a fishing village in the East Neuk of Fife. Not familiar with a Neuk? Neither were we until we spent five days there in 2016:
The East Neuk or East Neuk of Fife is an area of the coast of Fife, Scotland. "Neuk" is the Scots word for nook or corner, and the East Neuk is generally accepted to comprise the fishing villages of the most northerly part of the Firth of Forth and the land and villages slightly inland therefrom
That south facing coastline looks across the Firth of Forth to East Lothian, its own golf hub featuring
Muirfirld, North Berwick, Gullan, Dunbar and, in a class of its own, Musselburgh, whose historic nine holes are now contained within the oval of a horse racing track.
That tip of the Fife peninsula is Crail, where on that 2016 trip we parked ourselves for five days. From Crail past St. Monans are a series of similar old fishing villages, including Anstruther, Pittenweem, Largo and Elie, among others. As we make our way through our journey you'll find me referring often to James Finnegan, the recently-deceased writer whose Blasted Heaths and Blessed Greens served as my initial tutorial on Scottish golf. Finnegan described these East Neuk fishing villages as being picturesque without being precious, a formulation I liked. Though he also admitted to some difficulty in keeping the villages straight, which I can totally get.
Our house looks quite lovely, dont they all here on these Interwebs. Here's a couple of views of it:
That dining table in the top photo I've pegged as ground zero for your next two weeks of random musings...subject, as always, to Madam's approval.
Twenty minutes or so to the North is St. Andrews, about which we needn't speak much at this point. It is, of course, the Home of Golf, but also a thriving university town with all sorts of attractions. When in the auld grey toon, we will of course pay our respect to the Toms, Old and Young:
Alan Robertson as well, though you've got to know your golf history to appreciate his import.
Edinburgh is quite reachable by train to the south though, with The Fringe Festival on during our stay, has little appeal to me. The ladies tend to be more adventuresome, so perhaps I'll drop them at the train and grab some bonus linksy goodness.
Did you catch my use of the plural? We will be joined for the first portion of our journey by our dear friend Jewelle, whose love of Scotland is no less than our own. I mention this because you should expect Jewelle to make frequent appearance sin my daily blogging, and there's a couple of things you'll notice immediately. First, Jewelle is the most put together golfer this side of Walter Hagen.... It's not just that the outfits match, but they seem to be coordinated with the color of tees she uses on a given day.
The second is her swing....need I say more:
Just slightly past parallel... It's quite amazing that from there she can square it up, but square it up she does. That's obviously a fairway wood, but with the longer shaft of her driver it amazes that she's never hit her ankle. We'll have lots of time to see how her swing has evolved....
Also expected to make an appearance are Elsie and John Coupland, who ventured with us to Askernish on that 2016 trip, and who have hosted us in their home in the Highlands several times. Lovely folks who are friends with Jewelle as well, so it'll be like old times. They've promised us BBQ for dinner on the night of their arrival, though Elsie is keeping me in suspense as to whether that will include a banoffee pie.
That's Elsie and John at Askernish.... And how can you not love folks that were up for that crazy journey....
But it gets even better, as their son Ross and his wife Dace will be venturing up from Edinburgh to stop in and see us all. Best of all, we'll be doting on this guy:
Long past time for baby Sebastian to make his Unplayable Lies debut....Though I suppose we'll have to wait a little longer to tee it up with the lad. C'mon, Seb, your humble blogger isn't getting any younger.
Did you ask about the weather? Because virtually everyone does, as somehow Scotland has gotten a bad rap in that area. Perhaps it's the ski hats in July at the Open Championship, but here's Accu-weather's take on our prospects:
Sounds about right.... It may or may not conform to reality, but variable conditions will present.
Of course, it's the Met Office that should be the authority on weather in this corner of the world, and they show this for St. Andrews:
I'd sign up in a heartbbeat for their take, especially as relates to the early part of next week.
I'll not get into the golf just yet, as there will be time enough for that once we're on the ground. I've booked only three rounds at this juncture, on the two courses at Crail and also at Elie. Crail was most accommodating... Not only did they offer us a day ticket for play on both 18's within a week, but they were also more than willing to receive and hold two golf bags for us, thereby solving our most pressing logistical challenge. The other reason to play both course at Crail is for the excuse to enjoy a post-round lager in their clubhouse with those spectacular vistas....
All of the towns along that coast have their own golf clubs, and I expect we'll make our way to Lundin Links and Leven Links as well. Additionally, we will be entering the Daily Ballot for the Old Course, the hope of course being that we have enough days that the odds will be in our favor. One amusing/annoying aspect of this process is that, when booking at the local courses, they understand the daily ballot and are happy to reschedule your play should you score on that day. Ironically, the only place that is inflexible is the Links Trust itself... Book on the New Course, and you're eating that green fee should you gain access to The Old through the ballot.
I've also heard some favorable thoughts on David McClay Kidd's Castle Course, which garnered the nastiest set of reviews imaginable upon its opening. Reportedly, Kidd has softened some of the contours and made it playable, and there's never been any dispute that it's a beautiful spot offering the best vistas of any of the Links Trust courses.... Mark W., any thoughts?
You'll have to sort your way through the remainder of the FedEx Cup playoffs. Not only will we not have Sky Sports available, but the broadcast times are far too late for this early riser to watch. My only regret is to miss the mayhem resulting from the bizarre new format for the Tour Championship, though perhaps we can survey it from afar.
We'll next catch up from the other side... I'll check in as soon as possible, if only to confirm our safe arrival. But do check back early and often, and pray for adequate WiFi to upload all those pictures.
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