It's
about a 5 hour drive to Troon from St. Andrews. This means
an early start to hit my 13:30 tee time at Royal Troon. This
is another British Open Venue.
I
should be able to play this course well, I've been playing
it on my computer for years.
Well,
here's a major change to the plan.
I'm not going to Paris. I was going to meet friends there, but their
plans were canceled after I left, and the prospect of spending 4 days
alone in Paris frankly pales compared to spending 4 more days in Scotland
playing golf (sorry Mona). This will also allow me to play Troon (more
about that later) and add Turnberry to my list.
Today's drive
was intense! Big, multiple lane highways and roundabouts with lots
of traffic. I drove right through Glasgow on my way to Troon, and
even though it's only about the size of Colorado Springs, it was
quite a thrill. Road markings over here are strange. Maybe it's
just that it's different than what I'm used to, but I think that
the US method is much superior. Inside metro areas the only place
you see a sign indicating what road you are on is at the entrance,
so if you make a wrong turnoff, you have to notice it right away,
or you could be off in the wrong direction for a long time before
you notice it. Also, none of the roads are marked North, South,
East or West. Instead they list the cities or towns which lie along
the route in either direction, so you have to memorize city names
unless you have someone reading the map for you.
Anyway, I made
it through Glasgow without any major screw-ups only to hit a massive
traffic jam caused by an accident south of town. This really screwed
me up, because I was counting on getting to Troon in time to get
on to the Royal course there. I ended up getting to the course around
15:45, 20 minutes too late to play.
So my little,
golf soaked mind started working . . . crap! Come all this way and
miss playing at Troon because of a car accident - and one that didn't
even cripple me at that! I would have skipped Prestwick (reluctantly)
and played Troon on Friday, but Troon only allows non-member play
on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday. I called British Airways and for
40 pounds, changed my ticket to fly to London on Monday night, skipping
the whole Paris thing. I guess that just means I have to come back!
Now the plan
is to play Prestwick tomorrow (Friday), a local course, Brassie
on Saturday, Turnberry on Sunday (a wonderful addition) and finally
Troon on Monday.
I drove right
through Stirling today, the heart of Braveheart territory, but I
was hurrying to get to Troon, so I didn't stop much. One stop was
a bit of a disappointment.
Advie
Lodge in Old Troon. It's an old B&B in downtown. Its a cool
looking old fishing village.
Special thanks
to my host, Geoff Russon at Advie Lodge for helping me to make the
necessary changes to my plans, and secure a difficult weekend tee
time at Turnberry. Geoff is also allowing me to access the Internet
from his phone line, so the remainder of my updates should be more
timely.
