Don't fret if you have other plans, I shan't keep you long.
We're settled in for the long haul in Pittenweem, although the Saturday arrival is slightly awkward, in that the local bakery (and much else) is closed on Sunday. You'll immediately grasp the issue, to wit, that we have to somehow drag ourselves through that first round of golf without the benefit of a sausage roll. Oh, the inhumanity!
I should backfill and note that we continued our tradition of dining at The Dory Bistro on arrival day, the perfect spot to welcome ourselves home.
Just a lovely, small and intimate cafe on the Pittenweem harbor. The food is quite wonderful, and it didn't hurt our evening that two of the waitresses remembered us. We'll be there a couple more times (at least), and we imposed on one of said waitresses to request one of their window tables for a week from Wednesday, when we'll be there with Elsie and John. No guarantees, but....
We drew quite the wonderful first day back at Crail, coolish as we started but warming to +/- 70 degrees, which actually feels quite balmy here.
Madam was away nicely, and her husband was sufficiently accommodating to spot her the first two holes.
One of the curious aspects of the Overseas Membership experience is that we're not typically paired up with other players, though today was different. A fellow overseas member needed a time on the Balcomie, and we were happy to be combined and have additional company.
The member was a 60-ish wealth manager from the New York area, who brought his 25-year old daughter on this trip with him (he's also a member at Royal Dornoch, which triggered a wee bit of jealousy). The daughter doesn't play that much golf, but is quite athletic and generates impressive clubhead speed. hearing her father suggest that she play a 190-yard shot while holding an iron was not the typical experience....
I like this photo of Theresa on the fifth tee, as it shows the awkwardness of the hole for the ladies:
It'll be hard to make out, but the pin is visible way out to the right, but the ladies have only a narrow corridor on the left in which to fit their tee balls, and it features a dramatic left-to-right slope that seemingly will kick all balls into the North Sea (they let the grass grow a bit to soften the landing, presumably for that reason).
This photo from the seventh tee captures the traffic pattern on Nos. 5 and 6, but not that landing area off the 5th tee (I'll try to get one next time on the Balcomie):
Madam has exhibited little interest in wielding the camera, but did deign to take this of me on the 14th tee:
We played the back tees, the Tiger tees as it were, which stretches the Balcomie to a massive 5,867 yards (Par-69), including obstructing vision of the green here. I had a somewhat typical day on the Balcomie, where I played the hard holes quite well and gave away many strokes on the seemingly easy short Par-4's.
This is the better view:
If you squint, you can make out hearty souls swimming in the North Sea.
Here's a closer look at the crazies:
As noted, I had a bit of a day, with an especially good and unusual finish. The routing is quite weird, from those back tees there are back-to-back Par-5's (Nos. 11 and 12) followed by back-to-back Par-3's (Nos. 13 and 14), none of which are easy (OK, No. 11 from the back tees is manageable, ironically easier than it is as a Par-4 from the forward men's tees). I don't bore you with too much of my own play, but I played those final six holes in one-under, which I'll not do again anytime soon.
I'm here with quite a bit of new equipment, irons and wedges most notably, but also a new 3-wood. I wasn't using my old one off the turf, so thought about maybe a 5-wood (thinking of the especially tight lies here). Instead, I was put in a high-launch 3-wood, which at 16.5 degrees sounds an awful lot like a 4-wood. It's not like I bought it for just this reason, but I did have the 13th and 18th holes at Balcomie in mind, and it was perfect for both. At least it was yesterday..... I know, my mileage may (will) vary.
We finished our day with the Wimbledon Gentlemen's Final on the Beeb, as well as more pedestrian pursuits:
The weather is changing, as you'll see from our evening stroll:
We've got higher winds and rain a certainty, just the timing of the latter is in doubt. Doesn't look like we're likely to get our full round in, and those mid-teens winds will make the Craighead a bear. At least that might get us off the course before we reach the dreaded Par-3 13th, that's the one where I struggle to keep my tee shot out of the Firth of Forth.
I'm smelling a Tessie comeback, though I probably shouldn't refer to my bride as a mudder. More later.
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