Nov 8 
 

Except for Dorts we are all home now. He returns to Vancouver on Thursday. The last three days were mostly spent travelling. On Saturday we flew to London and because everything on this trip has gone without a hitch, naturally our flight left on time, arrived on time, our driver was there to get us to take us to London, the apartment we rented for two nights was huge, we checked in without incident, visited three pubs in walking distance, had a meal in one of them that was really good, not very expensive and hit the hay early in nice comfy beds. It couldn’t have been a better day travelling from Spain to England.
 

The next morning, SD, Jumbo and Sports Book headed out for London to do a mad one day sightseeing blitz. They took one of those city sightseeing buses that you can get on and off,  so they saw Buckingham Palace, Big Ben, The Tower of London, Harrods, the Parliament Buildings, plus a lot of other stuff and they had a great time. The Blade, Wilson and I set out by taxi to Victoria Station, took the train to East Croydon (2 stops) another taxi to the Addington Club and got there in about 45 minutes. We teed it up at 10 and although this course is only par 69 it played 6200 yards and was as stiff a test as we played during the three weeks we were away. The course was surprisingly hilly and it took its toll on us as we walked every inch of it. The Addington Club is narrow, tree lined, well bunkered, has that gorse that is near impossible to get out of and smooth undulating greens that were fun to putt. The Blade played well and got it in in 78, the ol commish was 81 and Wilson struggled on the back to an 85. Once again my putter drove me bonkers and three visits to the gorse did not help either. The round cost us 70 pounds each and if you ever get the chance to play in London it is well worth it. There are three Addington Courses so we played the one on Shirley Church Rd. It didn’t rain at all during the round so our goofy luck held up the whole trip. Thank you God for that.
 

We met the boys after the round and headed out for some Italian food at a restaurant around the corner. The food was good and again reasonably priced. Then it was back to bed as our driver was coming at 6am to get us for the trip to Gatwick and our flight home. As we expected the driver showed on time, we got to the airport on time, our flight left on time and although we all had heavy bags were not charged any extra by Ait Transat. Our trip is now complete and could not have gone any better. On my custom declaration it asked if I was bringing any meat in and I had to answer yes as I had 4 cans of haggis I had bought in St Andrews and had lugged all over. I was sent for inspection and the officer looked up haggis and told me Nah Nah, not allowed. So the haggis and I parted ways. He also told me if I had answered no and was searched and they found it, the fine is $800. A steep price to pay if you are caught smuggling in six dollars worth of haggis.
 

At this time I want to thank Bob Londry for posting the blog so quickly on the site, as our families and friends watched for it daily so that they could keep tabs on us. The boys and I will go through all our pictures and send some to Bob to post. Hopefully by looking at them it will rekindle some of your memories or give you a look at some places you have never been.
 

The crack of thunder at 12.30 am woke about 6 of us up. I must have jumped about a foot out of bed as it sounded like it was right beside the villa. The rain was pounding down and with only one round left to go for the group, maybe our luck had run out. Seven of us planned to play today with Dorts taking the day off to take care of some personal things. We ate a little breakfast and loaded up the vans and headed for the San Roque New course with the rain bouncing off the pavement, as it had not lessened in strength at all. It continued raining as we drove there but was finally lessening in its severity, so our hopes increased. We found the place, checked at the pro shop and were informed that presently the course was closed and although the rain was almost stopped, they had no idea if it would open today as it was soaked. We decided to wait around a bit, have some breakfast and consider our options for the day. As we ate, the rain stopped and the sun peaked out. Maybe just maybe our run was going to continue, but how much water could this course take and still be playable? We checked back with the young lady at the pro shop and she said she would call the head greens keeper and he said he would be up to see us in a few minutes. He arrived and turned out to be an English ex pat and when we said this would be our last round before heading home, he seemed to relent and said, okay you can go at 10. All right was the resounding cry and as we got ready we all wondered what this poor course was going to be like and should we wear hip waders or golf shoes. Well the course must be built on sand because although soggy everywhere, the greens were fast and smooth, there were no real puddles anywhere and even the bunkers were playable. The sun came out and away we went, our roll still unblemished.

The San Roque Club has two courses the Old and the New. The New costs about 70 Euros to play and the Old is double that. We had been told the Old is not worth that kind of green fee and to play the New as it was a great course and we would really enjoy it. I have no idea what the Old is like but the New was great. Once again we were treated to a golf course that had spectacular views, a stiff but playable layout, 18 holes that did not mirror each other and a chance somewhere in the round to show all the skill, or lack of, that we have. The Blade, Dex and I decided to walk as it was cart paths only and we find we walk just as much going back and forth to the cart as we do just moving from shot to shot. We worried at little about how hilly this course was going to be and how long the walks from tees to greens would be, but after walking all sorts of courses for the past three weeks we figured we could take it. Well the walks from greens to tees were fine, but hilly it was. If we hadn’t been in reasonable shape, this would have been a long day.

We got to the 9^th green and as we putted out some serious black clouds rolled in, along with some thunder, lightning and rain. Dex who lives in Jacksonville FLA has seen this scenario too many times and rightfully said, let’s get out of here. We pondered what to do and then spotted the empty starters hut at the 10^th tee and checked to see if it was open. It was and we loaded our clubs and us into it and as soon as we did, the skies let loose. We never would have made it to the clubhouse without getting drenched. We hoped Wilson, Sports Book and SD who were playing ahead of us had found shelter as this storm was right above us. The downpour and light and sound show lasted about 30 minutes and then moved on and the sun came out again. We regrouped and as we decided to try for the back nine, the three that were ahead of us drove up and said they had made it to the 12^th green and unbelievably the toilets were right there and they took refuge under the roof. Just who is looking out for us? What are the odds of both of us finding shelter in the nick of time? This just proves the saying that God looks after fools, drunks and golfers must be true. We fit all three categories so we know we must be in good hands. However as we looked to the northwest another dark band of clouds were quickly rolling in, so Dex joined the other three in heading for the clubhouse. Jumbo, the Blade and me decided to stick it out in the starters hut because we were determined to finish the final nine on this terrific layout. It pounded down for another 10 minutes or so and then we could see blue skies on the way. Maybe, just maybe, we were going to make it after all. The clouds blew over and we teed off and went on our way. By the time we putted out on 10, the skies were clear and SB and Wilson showed up to join us on the back nine. SD and Dex decided to remain in the bar; they had seen enough of Mother Nature. We played 4 more holes as a fivesome because understandably no one else was on the course and we would be bothering nobody. On the 15^th hole SD and Dex came charging over the hill and we played the last 3 holes of our trip together in true Meoff style, as a sevensome. We putted out on 18 as huge dark clouds rolled in again and just made it to the vans when it let loose once again. In the most fitting of endings we missed the rain and really never played one hole in 2 weeks in the rain. The 10 minutes the four of us endured on day one in Ireland was it. I only played in my rain suit to protect myself from the wind and the only time I wore rain gloves was when I spilt beer down my golf bag and the grips got all wet. If you are a little down on your luck and you run into one of us, give us a little rub and your luck may improve. One of us is blessed. I was 82 today and the Blade was 85, the rest were in the low nineties and we all rued the fact we missed so many putts.

I kept track of all my scores and the number of putts I had per round and I did not have a round with less than 30 putts. The number of putts that lipped out, stopped just short or skimmed by the edge was exasperating for all of us. Only SD seemed to make his share and more. However, when you see each green for the one time only, you never have the chance to pick up on the nuances of it, like is this putt uphill or downhill, quite often it can be hard to tell, is there as much break as I think I see or is it straighter than it looks. If I hit it firm will it hold its line? You only get a minute or two to make your decision and without any help, well stroked but nevertheless missed putts will be the order of the day. I know the days we had caddies and they read the putt for me, I putted better. Not having to guess what a putt will do certainly helps your stroke. This is why guys putt so much better on their home course. So a word of advice to anyone that travels to a golf destination they have never played before, do not expect to make as many putts as you think you should make. Golf designers put little nuances into their greens to make a player have to work at making putts. They are not pool table tops, so even though you may start losing it as putt after putt fails to drop, reading greens is also a part of the game that must be mastered and anyone who can play a course, sight unseen and get it in, in under 30 putts has done really well. Don’t beat yourself up as I did from time to time, as I watched good ball striking rounds that should have had me in the 70’s, turn into low 80’s as the putter seemingly let me down. Just enjoy the course, views and your buddies. That is what is really important.

We returned to the villa and Santi prepared us a dinner of tapas, pork tenderloin, Dorado a local fish like Mahi Mahi, potatoes, veggies and blueberry cheesecake. Fabulous, absolutely fabulous. We could not have eaten better if we had gone to restaurants all week. We got to talking about which courses we liked the best and how we would rate them. The four guys that did Ireland first, unanimously rated Royal County Down as the best course we played on the whole trip. That is saying something when you look at the courses we played, but the other four didn’t play it so we just rated the ones we played in St Andrews and Spain. The consensus was not unanimous obviously but a pretty good indicator of how we all felt. We took into account the course itself, how we were treated by the staff, views, facilities, character and value. So our picks from top to bottom were Kingsbarn, Valderrama, Old St Andrews, Finca Cortesin, San Roque New, Jubilee, Carnoustie, Lundin, New St Andrews, Sotogrande, Cabo Negro Morocco, Rio Real and Crail. I liked Crail and would not have placed it last so this list is subjective. However, if you have played some of these courses you can see how your rating of them mirrors or disagrees with our assessment. Actually it is a lot like comparing a Monet with a Van Gogh, they are both masterpieces but which one do you like better.

Saturday is a travel day. We say goodbye to Dex and Dorts and the rest of us head for London. We will spend tonight at some English pubs and probably do some avid imbibing. On Sunday, Wilson, the Blade and I will play the Addington Club in East Croydon, which is not far from where we are staying in downtown London. SB, Jumbo and SD are going sightseeing for the day. This is my last chance to get into the pockets of Mssr’s Wilson and Schmidt, so I am hoping our weather roll continues on in England.

England, then home awaits and we are ready.

Nov 3
 

Last night the rains came to Marbella and it rained all night long. Our pool overflowed from all the water dumped on us. The report was for rain off and on all morning, with some clearing in the early afternoon. We teed off at 12.30 at Valderrama and 2 minutes before the first ball was struck, the rain stopped and never returned. The temps were about 20C with calm winds. We played in shorts and shirts the whole round and are absolutely dumbstruck at the luck with the weather we have enjoyed.  I have to play the lottery as soon as I get back to Toronto.
 

Valderrama is rated the number one golf course in Europe. I have not played all the courses in Europe so I cannot comment on that, but Valderrama is spectacular. Unfortunately, the range was closed because of all the rain the night before, so we did not get a chance to loosen up our stiff muscles and work on our swings before teeing off. On a course this difficult this is an important part of the process in trying to prepare for your round and we were going to pay the penalty for this. We all (except the Rook) struggled early as the first two holes are narrow and trees overhang the fairways, so even balls in the short grass may have to be massaged left or right, high or low, to get them on the green in regulation. Balls struck off line into the rough are now a real problem. The cork trees that line every hole are wide, dense and have many low hanging branches, so punching under them is a real challenge. Then you usually have a bunker between you and the green, greens that are lightning fast so holding this low punched shot is impossible, so the chances of pulling this shot off is about zero. As we played a few holes our bodies loosened up and we started to get into it and our wayward shots diminished. Thank heavens for that as each hole presents its own set of challenges and solidly struck shots are the only way to get around Valderrama. I honestly believe it is not as hard as The National in Woodbridge, but I would compare it more to St Georges. The old guys decided to play the white tees (6700 yards) which are one set up from the tips and the young guys played the yellow tees (6200 yards) which are one in front of that. They proved to be all we wanted and more as the fairways, although perfect, gave us very little roll and long shots into greens were the norm. The set of four par 3’s may be the best set of par 3’s I have ever seen. The course is also very hilly so having caddies with us was nice. Some of the guys had caddies that spoke no English whatsoever, so communicating was difficult. We had a few instances where the caddie gave us wrong info because of the language barrier, but all in all, they did a good job, read most of our putts accurately and assisted us in having a great day.  Valderrama is a must play if you ever get the chance. The ol commish got it in, in 84, Wilson and Dorts cracked the 100 barrier like I did at Rio Real and the rest were in the nineties. Jumbo was only one over playing the sixth hole and visions of sugar plums danced in his head, but eventually Valderrama wore him down. Great start though. The shot of the day went to the Blade who went right at the 205 yard 15^th par3 with a five metal to a pin tucked right behind a bunker. His perfectly struck shot landed and stopped eight feet away and while we all cheered him on, his birdie putt broke a hair too much at the hole and he had to settle for a tap in par. The Blade has come agonizingly close three times on this trip to scoring a hole in one. What a memory that would be.
 

Today was the final day of the competition for the Meoff Cup and the New Kids on the Tee Block coasted to a win over the Swinging Sixtiers. They played well for two weeks and the MVP of the team was SD. He constantly showed his brilliance around the greens with his chipping and putting and if the ol commish had his short game I would be a real golfer. Hats off from the old guys and maybe we can figure out a way to have a rematch some day.
 

We returned to the ranch for a meal prepared by Santi that was a cheese, grapes and something else we couldn’t quite figure out what it was appetizer, but it was good, chorizo and lentil stew/soup and tomatoes stuffed with ground chicken or turkey and Parmesan cheese and they were great. We have dined like kings.
 

They are calling for more rain tomorrow but we are just pooh-poohing that, it won’t rain on us. It hasn’t so far so why would it start now. San Roque, the New Course awaits us and if it is half as good as Valderrama we will enjoy it immensely. Although we are really getting tired, we are ready.
 

Nov 2
 

We arrived home about 2am from our day in Morocco and we were exhausted. However everyone was up by 8.30 and we all got ready for our day ahead. Dorts drove us to Sotogrande, dropped us off and went on his way. When I asked the lady in the pro shop if the course was flat she answered that it was. Flat must be the Spanish word for hilly. Sportsbook and I loaded our clubs on our backs, set off to play and then spent all day walking uphill and down dale. However, not surprisingly, we have been walking golf courses daily for over two weeks and have gotten in a little bit of shape. We bounced around the 18 holes and barely raised a sweat. In fact, we have noticed that our belts have gotten a little slack. We thought losing weight was never in the realm of possibility, but all the exercise we get every day is negating all the food and booze we consume.

Sotogrande is a parkland type course and has many difficult holes, but none of them were as penal as the beasts they have in St Andrews. Sotogrande has wide fairways, the widest we’ve played so far, bunkers that you can get out of without going sideways or backwards, greens that are not too sloped and is very well manicured course with longer grass around the greens that makes chipping a little easier. They also have North American style sand in the bunkers which made them a little easier to play. The boys all enjoyed the course and we are all glad we played it, however at 170 Euros we do not think it is that good a track to be charging that much to play. But if they can get it, why not charge that much.
 

The shot of the day in our group was Skippy Shaw. On #17, a par 3 that you must carry about 150 yards over water, Sports Book hit it a little thin and the ball skipped twice before clearing the pond and rolled up to 10 feet from the pin. He just missed the birdie putt but settled for a par. When he hit this kind of crappy tee shot and it rolled up to perfect, in his best Pee Wee Herman imitation turned to us and said “meant to do that”. Good one SB. The ol commish got it in, in 78 and unfortunately both me and my putter are on holiday, me in Spain and it is who knows where.  If it ever shows up I might really have good round. Jumbo got it in, in 85 The Blade was 86, SD and SB were 87, Dex was 89 and Wilson had his bad round but got it in, in 99. Broke 100 and that’s AOK. If your bad round is under 100 what the heck. The ol commishes worst was over 100, but fortunately you only have one worst round.
 

Dorts decided he needed gas for the trip back to get Wilson, the Blade and the ol commish and put 20 Euros worth of gas in the tank to cover his journey. Great plan except he put gas in the tank and the van runs on diesel. Ooops. The van made it to Sotogrande and no further. It wouldn’t start and we soon realized what the problem was. We got the head greens keeper to come by and he saved our sorry asses. He drained the tank of the gas, drained the fuel lines and put some diesel in the tank. After about an hour of working on it, he got the van to fire up and away home we went. Dorts tipped him 50 Euros and he was worth every penny. S—t happens and this will go down as one of the trips more memorable stories. I wish I had a nickel for every time I screwed up.

We have returned to the villa to roast lamb prepared by Santi and there is enough food to feed an army. We left her another 100 Euros to buy the food and she said she had enough money left over from the other night to pay for tonight’s dinner. Are you kidding me? Have I died and gone to Heaven? Pinch me. So tonight we have meat and olive appetizers, left over bouillabaisse soup, roast lamb, veggies and flan for dessert. I guess we are making out okay.
 

Tomorrow they are calling for rain, about an 80% chance and we are headed for Valderama. They have been calling for rain almost all the time we have been over here and we have had to endure 10 minutes our first day in Ireland. We are all convinced it will miss us, somehow we are blessed.
 

Nov 1
 

The time for us to go to Africa and specifically Tangier Morocco arrived and at 6.45am we took off for our starting point Tarifa. Although the Garmin seemed to take us all over the place, we arrived in 90 minutes no worse for wear, boarded the high speed ferry and away we went. We had purchased regular fares but upon boarding we found out we could sit in the first class section for the 35 minute ride for all of 9 Euros ($12.50) Can. It gave us large and comfy front row seats, free booze and snacks, our own stewardess and she handled the entry forms and passports being stamped which eased our entry into Tangier. What a deal and we jumped at it.
 

As we all strained for a look at our first sight of Tangier our anticipation level was off the charts. We got through customs without any issues, met up with our representative that was going to make sure we were well looked after all day. We also met our driver that was going to take us to Tetouan and the Cabo Negro Golf Course, piled in his van and away we went. Our first impression was that we were not in Kansas anymore. Cars, vans, trucks, motorbikes and pedestrians roamed the streets in no real particular order and the Rook who was sitting in the front was constantly visually inundated with near misses. As we rolled along, these near misses increased exponentially to jaw dropping regularity. Canada’s Wonderland doesn’t have any rides that can compare to the rollercoaster ride that is Moroccan roads.
 

We took the coastal road to Tetouan which is not the most direct way to the city of Tetouan but is certainly the most picturesque. The coastline of Morocco is backdropped by the Rif Mountains and our ride became a seemingly endless journey of uphill and downhill experiences of near death. The views of the mountains and the Mediterranean Sea are awesome and the vegetation mirrored Spain’s which is also sparse and rocky along the shoreline. In some areas we could see that the people living there must live a very meagre lifestyle, however other areas looked clean,   well kept and affluent so we could see why many Europeans are calling Morocco their winter home. It took about 2 hours but we finally made it to Tetouan and the golf course.
 

We were met at the door by the head man and he introduced us to our caddies. To create work, caddies are mandatory so after a couple of practice putts, some Advil and a pull on my flask of Scotland`s best, we teed off and the round commenced. My caddies name was Mustafa and although he did not speak a lot of English it was much better than my Arabic, which is zero and he did a great job for me. The others names were your typical Abduls, Ali’s and Muhammad’s. Abdul actually means, son of. Everyone was impressed with the job their caddie did and they really helped us have a great day. The course was layed out in a parkland style and was lined with heavy African bush. I played with Dex, Dorts and Jumbo and with no warm up they all struggled early with their game.

I got many chances to get up front and personal with this dense vegetation and my experience was heightened when Mustafa answered yes when I asked him if there were snakes in these bushes. From then on I watched out more for the snakes than the other three’s balls. The course was not spectacular in views but it meandered around and was in fairly good condition. The greens were slow and we all struggled early to get the ball to the hole, but we soon got on to them and some putts were made. Dex really struggled on the front nine but on the back nine he hit two shots on par 3’s, one a foot away and the other was about 2 feet away. He easily made both putts for birdie and needless to say, his enjoyment of the day increased significantly after those two perfectly struck shots. Dorts, Jumbo, Dex and I all played better on the back nine and the ol commish was one under on the back and that was the worst I could have been. A couple of putts lipped out or I could have been really good. The other foursome also said they played better on the back nine and I think all the travel to get to the course took its toll on our play on the front nine. I was 76, most shot in the 80’s and the rest were in the 90’s. We all left the course fairly happy with the round we shot. I got back into the Blade’s pocket again which is as it should be, although Wilson got into mine so the day wasn’t perfect for the ol commish, but close. Our caddie fees for the day were 100 Dirham’s ($14 Can) so we all gave them double that, but it is hard to believe our guys worked four hours for us for $28 dollars. We also gave them balls, divot tools and golf gloves and they really seemed to appreciate it. It just makes you appreciate all that we have in Canada.
 

Right after the round, we piled back into the van and took off for Tangier via the capital city of Rabat. Now we really got an eye opener. As we drove the streets of Rabat which are as narrow as my driveway, we saw vendors selling everything imaginable. They had their wares lying along the roadway and everyone walked every which way. We turned onto one road and there was just a sea of people on the road. That concerned our driver not at all and although he didn’t slow down and the pedestrians didn’t move very fast to get out of the way, no traffic accidents ensued and there were eight widely gaped mouths in our van. As he went along the roadway it was like driving in total chaos. People were inches from each side of our van and we barely squeezed past all the wares lying along the side of the street. Who buys all this stuff we wondered? We finally got through town and headed for Tangier. Once again we had to go over the Rif Mountains and happily made it back safely. We then met up with our tour guide whose name I couldn’t pronounce and he was a real crackerjack of a character. He said to call him Chop Chop and he wanted to take us to the markets to shop and then to a restaurant for dinner. We were starving and extremely thirsty so we asked him to reverse the order and off to eat we went. Once satiated with a fine Moroccan dinner and very nice Moroccan white wine, we headed out to the old town to see all the vendors, shops and street hawkers that line the narrow laneways everywhere you go. These people would sell you the continent if you let them. We actually got into stopping to look at something we really did not want to buy just to have them come out and give us their spiel. These are the greatest salesmen in the world and listening and kibitzing with them is a memorable experience. The amount of products each small stall carries is unbelievable. Again I asked who buys all this stuff. I really think if you had some money to spend and were in a haggling mood, you could get some great deals and have a blast doing it. They don’t ever take offence to whatever is said and anything goes. I would call it full contact shopping. Chop Chop then hooked us up with our driver who had watched over our golf clubs, we collected them, tipped them handsomely and headed back onto the ferry for the trip home. We headed for the first class lounge again and Wilson and I made sure we drank more than 9 Euros worth.
 

All in all it was a most memorable experience for all of us and we are all glad we went. The sights, sounds and smells of being in Africa will stay with us forever. If you get the chance to go, don’t hesitate. I felt very safe there as a police presence is everywhere and I would recommend it to anyone. Also being escorted is a must; otherwise you are like a lamb to the slaughter.
 

Oct 31
 

The five that were playing golf today, were up and gone by 8am. The run to Finca Cortesin would take about 45 minutes and we wanted to check the place out and hit balls before playing. The other three were going shopping so that they could buy what they needed to make everyone dinner tonight. Chef Wilson with sous chefs Dorts and Sports Book were on deck to take care of the rest of us.
 

The owner of the villa, who is in the golf business, told us not to play this course as he did not like it. However, we felt if it was good enough for the European PGA to have their match play there, it had to be worth a go. We arrived to a beautiful and sprawling complex of golf course and hotel and we could tell first class just oozed from the place. We were not wrong and we could not have been treated better. The views overlooking the course were stunning; the practice facilities were second to none, carts were electric and quiet, the carts were equipped with the latest golf GPS system to give you yardages to the pin and the staff was friendly and efficient. A marshal on the first hole drove by and handed us a bag with 2 apples and 2 bananas in it and drove by us a couple of times during the round to offer us complementary bottled water. When have you ever experienced that? We knew we were in for a good day.
 

Due to being five we had to play as a threesome and a twosome. Dex, Jumbo and SD teed off first as the Blade and I were being paired with another couple Reinhard and Mirjam, who were from Stuttgart Germany. They turned out to be enthusiastic golfers that were fun to be with and the Blade and I thoroughly enjoyed their company. Sometimes these things don`t work out this well.
 

As we worked our way around the course, we could not believe the owner of the villa didn`t like this course. The holes were all tough but fair, well layed out, challenged your game completely, had holes that went uphill and downhill constantly, the condition of the course was immaculate and the greens were smooth. The views rivalled Kingsbarn`s which is saying something and we could not believe this guy didn`t like this course. If I had to give it a knock at all, is that it would be impossible to walk. The elevation changes, the way the paths wound around and the distance between greens and tees all meant that riding was mandatory. If you wanted to use golf as an exercise vehicle, this would not be the place to join, but as a visitor, it is a don`t miss. The Blade was low man today at 84 and Dex was 86. I shot 89 and am having a miserable time with my putter, however I played the last 5 holes at even par, made a couple of good putts and have hope that it is returning to life. SD had his worst round since the trip started and was 92 and Jumbo struggled to a 94. The three of them enjoyed the course as much as the Blade and I did and were really glad they played it.
 

We drove back to the villa to see what Chef Wilson and his able bodied minions had cooking for us. It turned out to be Bouillabaisse and Caesar salad. The Bouillabaisse was spicy and chock full of lobster, shrimp, calamari, halibut, scallops and clams. The salad was also good and spicy too. They had decided to wake our taste buds up, that`s for sure. Delicious. Great job guys and thanks. Who needs restaurants when you have Santi and Wilson?
 

Tuesday, we are off to Africa. None of us have ever stepped foot on this continent and we are highly anticipating doing so. We drive about 90 minutes down to Tarifa and then take a high speed ferry over to Tangier Morocco. The ferry takes about 35 minutes and has a bar on it, so we can continue to be avid imbibers as we take in the views. We will golf in Tetouan which is an hour outside Tangier, then get escorted around Tangier and have dinner there. I called Abdul, our guide for the day to make sure everything was good to go and he assured me that it was. He also informed me that he would not be escorting us but his associate would. What`s his name I asked. Abdul he said. I think if we address everyone as Muhammad or Abdul we will be right most of the time.
 

Oct 30
 

We all went to bed early, so we all arose at the crack of dawn today. As Wilson made breakfast for everyone, ably assisted by Dorts, we all chatted, e-mailed, hot tubbed and blogged. A leisurely start to the day was in order and we all took advantage. A beautiful day had arrived and we wanted to enjoy it. A round at Rio Real, our first in Spain, plus our massages were to come and we were all ready, willing and able, so after breakfast we got ready, loaded up the vans and away we went.
 

When we arrived at Rio Real and saw views of the golf course and that the hotel looked really nice and modern so we all figured we were in for a good time. SD and I were first for the massages and as Sports Book, the Blade, Dex and Wilson headed off on their round, Dorts and Jumbo headed to the bar to await their turn for a massage. SD and I arrived at the wellness center for our massages and SD’s masseuse was a very pretty young lady and my lady masseuse was a guy. Hmmmm, this wasn’t exactly what I had envisioned, however he was supposed to be trained in soothing tired and sore muscles and that’s exactly what I had. Let’er happen captain I thought and so he did.  Both SD and I left 45 minutes later all loosened up and feeling good. The massage had done what it was supposed to do and as Dorts and Jumbo arrived for their massages, SD and I giggled like schoolgirls imagining the other three sets of two arriving and being greeted by a caballero and the instantaneous finagling that was going to transpire upon their arrival. Dorts, hesitated slightly when they arrived and as the saying goes, he who hesitates is lost and that’s what happened when he and Jumbo arrived and like me, off with the caballero he went too. Everyone felt better after their massage, so we are all glad we had one.
 

The golf course proved to be a stern test. It was narrow, tree lined with tight fairways, we got no roll when the ball hit the ground and it played very long. However, the holes were well layed out and interesting to play. The views of the surrounding hills dotted with villas and smaller houses and of course the Mediterranean Sea, made for a wonderful visual experience. Scores soared and the ol commish who had the lowest front nine score of the group had his highest ever nine hole score when I carded a 59 on the back nine. Yup 59 and when I was asked how that happened, in my best Seve imitation, I responded that I shot 59 because I made three footer on 18 or I would have had a sixty. I think the Blade broke 90 barely, and everyone else was over 90 with Dorts and me over 100. The kidding I took was well natured but tomorrow is another day and I imagine I will do better. Not much chance I can do any worse. The best story of the day was when the Blade teed off on #10, a long uphill par 4 that doglegs hard to the right. He let one fly and it went wildly offline to the left into parts unknown and he was going to be forced to take a lateral penalty. Sports Book then teed off and then suddenly out of nowhere a ball comes bounding back onto the fairway. When the boys got to this unknown ball, it turned out to be the Blades and someone had retrieved it and thrown it back into play. I have heard of getting lucky, but this was ridiculous. The Blade still took a penalty shot as he thought that was the right thing to do and that’s very sporting, but I’ll bet most wouldn’t. In fact under the rules of golf I imagine he wouldn’t have to take a penalty as he had not put another ball in play. I guess we’ll have to debate that one. This brings me to the Meoff Cup and the swinging sixtiers are getting smoked by the new kids. The unrelenting rants from the SS’ers that the new kids are sandbaggers, playing over their heads, lucky and did I mention sandbaggers is falling on deaf ears and I believe our fate is sealed. We will keep trying until the bitter end, but we have dug ourselves a hole tougher to get out of than the one those Chilean miners had to deal with.

Tonight we had our first dinner prepared for us by Santi, our cleaning lady/cook. Jumbo left her 100 Euros to go and buy dinner (about $145 Can) and we returned to a clean villa, our laundry done and a prepared dinner of cold gaspacho soup, a huge salad, roast chicken, potatoes with a white sauce on them and ice cream for dessert. There was lots of everything and it was delicious. For less than $20 a head we dined in fine style at the villa. Great job Rook organizing this, who doesn’t like fine dining on the cheap? We are just not finding prices expensive in Europe. Tomorrow, Wilson is cooking for us and SB will be his sous chef. They are taking the day off from golf and are cooking us Monday’s meal. They definitely have a tough act to follow, but Wilson is a good cook and we all expect they will do a great job for us. Dorts is also taking the day off from golf and plans on doing some sightseeing.
 

Oct 29
 

We arrived in Malaga on time and to blue skies, warm temps and light winds. Our run of weather is beyond belief and we are so thankful. The call is for some rain later in the week and we may get poured on when we try to play Valderama. That would be a shame but we cannot complain one bit.
 

After getting hooked up with our vans we headed for the villa. We stopped at a huge mall along the way; hit the grocery store for supplies and about 475 Euros later we headed up the coast to our new home. We arrived around 2.30 to a locked gate and no one around. As the Rook tried desperately to get hold of someone we hung out in front, snacking and drinking from our supplies so with a view that overlooks the Mediterranean Sea this hardship was most bearable. Finally about an hour and a half later our cleaning lady/cook Santi showed up and let us in. The people that own this place charge 75 Euros to greet you, show you around the place, where everything is and how it all works. Santi arrived, said sorry about the delay (well sort of, she doesn’t speak English) and took off. I want to be a fly on the wall when Jumbo talks to the owner that may try to collect that.
 

Once inside and unpacked we enjoyed the pool and hot tub and hung out in our bathing suits soaking up some sun and being the avid imbibers that we have become. In Ireland they described a drunk of a writer as an avid imbiber and we loved that one. Now when our brides occasionally admonish us as drunks we can respond that we are just avid imbibers. Sounds so classy. This villa is magnificent. The views are unbelievable and overlook Marbella, the Marbella golf course and the Sea. The Rock of Gibraltar is also right out our back door and you can see Morocco in the distance. The villa is 6000 sq ft so there is room if you want a little alone time and places where all of us can get together to eat, avidly imbibe and talk. Usually all at once.
 

We did not golf yesterday although it was only going to be the Blade and me that wanted to play, but because of the delay getting into the villa we just didn’t have any time. So we hot tubbed and ate dinner and after being up for about 20 hours with very little sleep, off everyone toddled to bed. I think the last one made it up to about 9. Yup we are real wild child’s. So Sunday we are off to our first round in Spain. We are playing a resort course called Rio Real and it should be a good tune up for the courses we are playing here. We have also scheduled massages for everyone and a rubdown for everyone will help soothe some stiff muscles. I know I can really use one.
 

My first observation of the Costa del Sol is that it looks surprising similar to San Diego. The sea and the large, sparsely vegetated hills that surround the towns and serve as the backdrop, just reminded me of my visits to San Diego. I loved it there and I am sure I am going to love it here.
 

Friday morning dawned with sunny skies, light winds and warm temps, AGAIN. We have now spent 11 days in Ireland and Scotland and have only had to deal with rain for 10 minutes. Why did I pack so much rain gear? It was all so unnecessary and the forecast for Marbella Spain is sunny all week and warm temperatures. Sorry about reporting that as I know the weather in TO is not very nice.

Today is our last round in Scotland and what a way to finish. The gang is taking on Carnoustie today and we all want to see why it is commonly called Carnasty. This course is reputed to be one of the stiffest tests of golf in the world. Although we are going to play it in fairly benign conditions the word is that it will beat us up. And beat us up it did. Six of us were in the 90’s and only Wilson and the Blade had really good games. Wilson shot an 86 and the Blade shot 79. Seventy nine, what a round. I can’t even begin to describe how good 79 is. The course rating is 75 on a par 70 course and every hole is a challenge. You just never get a breather. If you hit a perfect tee shot that manages to stay out of a myriad of pot bunkers, you are then always faced with steep faced bunkers and thick rough surrounding the green and if you miss them too, you are putting on tricky undulating greens that assure 3 putts if your first putt is not played perfectly. For the ol commish, the bunkers and a balky putter did me in. I had to come out sideways from these bunkers 6 times. Everyone had stories of having to escape these potholes from Hell and the unanimous vote was that Carnoustie is the hardest course they have ever played.

When we came back in the van for the ride back to St Andrews, the talk was about whether given the chance you would ever play Carnoustie again. Some would and some wouldn’t and I think I would play it again and hope I played better from tee to green. Every time you hit a bad shot bogey, double bogey or worse was the norm, there is just no escape. If you go to play it and are expecting a nice leisurely round, forget it. By the second hole you will be muttering to yourself, by the fifth hole you are cussing quietly under your breath, by eight you’re almost in tears and then the back nine starts and the course really starts to get difficult. I truly believe that you should come to play this course only for the test, not to have a whole lot of fun. The rollercoaster ride that is Carnoustie somehow feels a little more like work then recreation. Before the round we all went out to the burn fronting the 18^th green where Jean van de Veld had stood surveying if he had any chance to escape the burn. His quandary is one of the most famous moments in golf. We visualized the gut wrenching sequence of shots that led to his triple bogey, allowing Paul Laurie and Craig Parry into a playoff which was subsequently won by Laurie. Yes, 5 iron, 5 iron, wedge would have done the trick and it is still unbelievable that he didn’t do that. He was unlucky that his second shot into the stands bounced back over the burn into heavy rough, but his play of the hole is still debated as suspect to this day. However, the fact that he led the field by 3 shots after 71 holes over this beast of a course makes me a little more sympathetic to his plight as he must have played his ass off to get into that position. His shot making over the four days of that Open must have been extraordinary.

We got back to the Lorimer Hotel, went out for dinner, came back and packed and tried to get a little sleep because the van was arriving at 1.30am to pick us up for the ride to the Glasgow airport. Fortunately the flight left on time and I am writing this at 35,000 feet on our way to Malaga. As I sit here and contemplate our 4 days in Ireland and 7 in Scotland a few observations come to mind. First off, observing the populations of both countries it seems most people are relatively fit and you do not see many obese people here. We noticed that the portions we were served at all the restaurants we went to gave us enough to fill us up but were not huge. The meals subsequently were reasonably priced, well presented and tasted great. I can see my wife rolling her eyeballs up as she reads this as she has been telling me the same thing for 30 years. Sorry dear, when I get home I’ll try to lose this gut I am carrying around. St Andrews is as much a university town as it is a golf Mecca and seeing all those intelligent fresh faced students moving about gives one hope for the future. The university sprawls throughout the whole town and I believe you could get a degree in anything by attending here. If you come here staying in a home inn is definitley the way to go. We were close to everything, our rooms were big enough for us without being too large and who cares, we only slept in them. They are modern and if they are like ours you will find your hosts attentive and very informative. Mick answered all our questions with patience and expertise. The Scots were not dour and the Irish were not all drunks and we were always treated well wherever we went. The roads were tight but in good repair, everywhere was clean with no garbage lying about that we could see, the houses looked good, farms were like estates and although we know both countries have their problems, who doesn’t, they seem to feel they are doing okay. The service people must feel they work for a decent wage because tipping although appreciated is not really expected to be large. This was nice and you didn’t feel under the gun to pay a whack of dough for services that were substandard or nonexistent like you are forced to pay back home. Refreshing I thought.

We are all looking forward to our time in Spain as we will have more time to just hang out, joke around, reminisce and generally relax. The pace should not be as hectic and dining in at the villa should be outstanding. Marbella is waiting for us and here we come.
 

Oct 27
 

We arrived at Kingsbarn to a very cordial welcome and we all spilled out of the van admiring the clubhouse, the range and the view of the North Sea. We all knew we were in for a golf experience we were not soon to forget.
 

We got acquainted with our forecaddie, Andrew, teed off and away we went. Today I was playing with SD, the Blade and Wilson and we followed the other four. Andrew proved to be worth his weight in gold as he gave us aiming points, yardages and read all our putts. He really helped us make the day special and we all thanked him with a nice tip.

So how was Kingsbarn commish? Oh my God. The vistas overlooking the North Sea were spectacular. What the owners and course designers came up with were so over the top that it is unimaginable until witnessed in person. Each hole is stunning and still a true test of golf. Those miserable pot bunkers that can make your good round a car accident abound everywhere, but well struck drives give you a chance for birdie or par on every hole. The ol commish only visited one bunker all day but it took three swings to extract myself from it and one was enough. However, my playing mates found a number of them and they wrecked havoc on their scores. I scored a nine on a par 5 and got it in with no birdies at 84 and that was not too bad, but long putts all day gave me very few chances for birdie. On number eight, a shortish par three with a green that has cars, trucks and elephants buried under it, the Blade hit a perfectly struck nine iron on the exact line that Andrew told him to hit it and it looked like he was going to ace the hole. Unfortunately, the ball stopped one foot away and the Blade had to settle for a tap in birdie. Man, a hole in one by any of the guys on this trip would be the icing on the cake.
 

SD gave us the laugh of the day on number 16 when his ball came to rest in a fairway bunker and the only way he could take a swing at it was to get down on his knees and take a crack at it. After taking a swing he fell forward into the bunker and we got it on film. Pictures at 11. Dorts nearly sunk a 35 yard putt and we are all getting very handy at long chipping putts. The ol commish with the terrible chipping technique loves it over here as putters can be used everywhere.
 

At Kingsbarn when you head upstairs for a little P, you get to go in a urinal that has a window overlooking the golf course. How cool is that? We all went up to have a go and a little view of the course. These guys think of everything. This course is wonderful but you can see it was built for tourists. It was not that hard to play and if you played it a few times you would get on to it. The main focus of this place is the setting. Spectacular is the word that often comes to mind.
 

Oct 26
 

We awoke to the news that the forecast for today would be 15C, sunny and hardly a breeze. For our day at the Old Course the weather was going to be perfect. We could play in shorts if we wanted to and I did play in short sleeves. Going into day 10, this journey has seen us play in all of 10 minutes of rain the first day in Ireland. None of us can believe our luck.
 

After breakfast, five of us took a stroll down to old Tom Morris’s grave which is located in the ruins of a huge cathedral. The cathedral dates back 700 years and was built where the first monastery was founded 1100 years ago. The walls have crumbled in many spots and the roof is gone but there is still enough left that you can see how it must have looked back in its day. It would have been enormous and quite the structure. It also sits overlooking the North Sea and the walk got our golf juices flowing. It was time to make our way to the Old Course.
 

They have a shuttle that runs you out to the driving range and we hopped on it and made our way there to get all tuned up for the round. The ride there and the subsequent practice time was spent in a very less raucous manner than normal. Everyone was working hard on their swings and trying to stay calm. To a man we knew that this was going to be a life memory and we were all hoping that we could bring our A game to the first tee. I know my warm-up went well and all the boys seemed to have done the same so we hopped back on the shuttle and went to see the starter to check in. Our time came ever closer. Since the ol commish had been the one that headed the group I was the one to check us in. You have to have a handicap of 24 or less to play the Old Course and we all knew this and that they may ask for your handicap card to prove it. We knew this and all of us had one. This was hammered home by me to them and to make sure you brought one. Well the starter did ask me to get everyone’s handicap card and I headed for my bag to get mine and it wasn’t there. I had taken out some yardage books and scorecards that I had put in there and had inadvertently pulled out my handicap card with them and they were now in my travel bag back at the Lorimer Hotel. What an eejit I am. However I brought over the other seven guys cards, told the starter what I had done and that I would have to go to the hotel to get mine. He said not to worry about it and now we were good to go. Showtime.
 

The old boys were going first and I had the honour of leading us off. I had met my caddie, Colin and he seemed like a nice lad and I figured we should have a good day together. The clock ticked to 11.20 and a voice on the loud speaker said “the 11.20 time may now hit away” and with that I strode to the tee, pegged it up and looked out one last time at this huge expanse of fairway to hit to, took a deep breath and swung away. As we all watched, my ball started heading right, then more right and I held my breath. Fortunately, it rolled to a stop about 10 yards from the OB fence and five yards from the burn that traverses the fairway. Safe.  Wilson, the Blade and Sportsbook all hit beautiful down the middle tee shots and away we went. The other four did the same ten minutes later and all reported that although they kind of gorped their tee shots they rolled out and we all started in fine style.
 

Colin and I decided I needed a 9 iron on my next shot to carry the burn to the flag and I hit it right at it, but I mishit it a little and into the burn my ball went. After 2 shots I have already got 1 penalty shot, now have to chip over the burn to a tight flag off of grass that is about as long as most greens I putt on and I am arguably the world’s worst chipper. I may be here all day. However old Tom must have jumped in me as I got it over to about two feet and made the putt, so the damage was held to a bogey. The other three all got over in two, all two putted nicely and they started their rounds with very tidy pars. The round continued on and I proceeded to bogey the first four holes. This round was not going as planned, however on the 5^th hole a par 5 both the Blade and I reached the green in 2 shots and I made my putt for eagle. The Blade two putted for his birdie and there were no two happier guys on the planet. I also birdied the 6^th and finished the front nine in one over par and was thrilled. On the back nine I managed to find my way into the Hells bunker, a huge and deep crater that has claimed many a victim and I had now become its next one. I did get out in 1 and it produced another bogey, but it could have been much worse and I happily moved on. At the end I finished with a 78 and was pleased how I played, how great the day was and how much fun I had with my 3 good buddies. Today life was good for the ol Commish.
 

The Blade had an 81 and had three birdies on the day. On the par 3 ninth he rolled his tee shot just by the hole and stopped about two feet away. He came within a whisker of making a hole in one and how special would that have been. Other than a double and triple bogey he played really well and those two bad holes cost him the chance to get into the 70’s. He also got into my wallet again and this is becoming most annoying. Sports Book and Wilson had some issues, George with his approach shots and Glen with his driver. They both got into trouble at times because of it and I think SB was 91 and Wilson 89. Wilson managed to end up in the famous #17 road hole bunker, neatly escaped in one shot and nearly made the putt to save par. Another chance at greatness just slipped by.

SD had the round of the day of young guys as he also eagled the 5^th hole and had another birdie along the way. He ended up carding an 83 and was tickled pink. He has played very well here and won our little three day competition for a prize Mike our host is giving away. Dex said he escaped some poorly hit shots and was 86, Jumbo reported he did not play very well and was 90 and Dorts almost broke 100 with a 102. All in all they all played pretty well and have increased their lead over the swinging sixtiers and we now really need to get it going if we are to claim the Meoff Cup as our own.
 

We ended the day having dinner at the Jiggers Inn. It is a world renowned pub that is attached to the Old Course Hotel and history just seeps from every corner of the place. Millions before us have commiserated their round at the Old Course in the Jiggers and we figured we should too. Lastly we all want to say hi to Greenie who got up early to watch on a webcam the eight of us tee off. Wish you were here with us.

Thursday we are off to the magnificence that is Kingsbarn. Everyone I have spoken to who has played it says it may be one of the best courses they have ever played. The layout and views are incomparable and will be an experience never forgotten. Kingsbarn awaits and we are ready.

Oct 25
 

For today they called for heavy rain and windy. When I awoke the wind was whistling through the trees and the rain was coming down hard and as I looked out my window, bleak would be the best way to describe our day. I met up with all the boys (except Smitty who was in the shower) at breakfast and was informed by the group that it was pouring and would continue to do so all day, the wind would be as bad as yesterday, the clubs and bag would be soaked and since we were playing the Old Course the next day that would be bad and maybe the best thing to do was take the train to Edinburgh and go on a distillery tour and see the sights of the city. I looked at them and said, this is your trip and you can do whatever you want, but I came prepared for whatever the North Sea wants to throw at me. I have rain gear and rain gloves, I am not a sightseer and I am playing, even if I do so as a single.  The New course awaits me and I am not missing it, no matter what. They looked at me and said they knew that was exactly what I was going to say and that Smitty had told them earlier that he was playing, end of story. The Blade and I are kindred spirits, that is for sure.  Then as I ate breakfast and we watched the rain pelt down SD said, “I hate playing in the rain but I am not much of a sightseer either and maybe I’ll play” and that seemed to open the door and the rest of them said “I guess we’ll play, we may not have much fun but we’ll do it”. So everyone grudgingly decided to play, except Wilson who was really hurting and needed a day off. Since our tee time was not scheduled for 1 we got dressed and headed off to the British Golf Museum.

When Smitty and I walked out the door of the Lorimer Hotel to head for the museum, the rain stopped. Karma, I think so. We strolled down and took a look through it and seeing all the old clubs, balls, memorabilia and displays it just heightened our feeling of the hallowed ground we are to play tomorrow. After going through the museum we strolled past the first tee of the Old Course and watched a group tee off and both of us got chills as we watched.  Our time is tomorrow and if you can’t get excited about your first time at the Old Course, well you are not really a golfer.
 

Today we played the New Course and it is called the New Course because it was built after the Old Course. However, it has been operating since 1895 and as you walk its fairways you can see where Stanley Thompson, Canada’s premier golf architect learned his craft. The fairways are all filled with subtle humps, bumps and swales and you never get a totally flat lie. Bunkers await your ball at the area where you drive it to and around the greens you always have options on how to get it close to the hole. Stanley, I have now played where you went to school. All of his designs have these characteristics and that is what makes a Stanley Thompson designed course so special. It is just like playing a course in St Andrews. Another thing about these courses, Jubilee, New and Old is that they run along the shores of the North Sea and the constant pounding of the surf makes for the most soothing sounds that one can hear while playing a round of golf. Your bad shots just don’t seem to matter much when you are under the spell of the sounds of the North Sea.
 

The heavy rains stopped in the morning and never materialized again. This now makes 8 days of playing in dry weather and this is now way beyond stupid lucky. We are blessed and on a roll that just cannot be matched. They are actually calling for light winds and some sun for Wednesday, our day on the Old Course. How good is that? The round of the day was posted by the Rook as Jim played the New Course in 81. Also SD, Dorts and Dex all played very well and the NKOTTB blew by the swinging sixtiers in the race to win the Meoff Cup. Needless to say there was a lot of chest pumping by the young lads at dinner. Tomorrow is another day boys, so enjoy your standing so far was the cry of the SS’ers.  The Blade got into my pocket for 10 pounds today and I think his game has finally arrived. I believe my personal ATM has closed. I hate when that happens.
 

Wednesday is our day on the Old Course and if you Google St Andrews Trust and click on Old Course Ballot, today’s ballot, you will see us listed at 11.20 and 11.30. We have got a game plan for tomorrow starting with the Blade and I walking down to Old Toms grave and giving it a kiss for luck. After breakfast it is down to the Swilken Bridge for pictures, then the driving range to warm up, get our caddies and away we go. I feel like a kid the night before Christmas. After the round, drinks at the Jiggers Inn at the Old Course Hotel will be in order. The Old Course Hotel is the one everyone hits over on number 17, the world renowned road hole.
 

Oct 24
 

They called for rain but it never showed, however the golf Gods had something else cooked up for us to enjoy. WIND. And did it ever blow. We thought Dun Laoghaire was the most we had ever played in but it was a mild breeze compared to today. However we did learn a number of things about playing in that much wind. Put your brake on your push cart, Dex didn’t and it blew into a pot bunker, take off your hat when you have a pull on a Guinness or you’ll chase your hat 80 yards down the fairway like I did, don’t hit your ball high in the air like Dorts did or you’ll watch your ball sail over some sand dunes never to be seen again and it is still manly to hit 6 iron from 85 yards. We agonizingly watched balls going into the middle of the green suddenly turn right and roll off the green. It certainly tested your patience.
 

We played our first of three St Andrews Trust courses, the Jubilee Course and it was beautiful. Once again we strolled on fairways that wound through sand dunes with the North Sea right beside us. This course had narrower fairways than the others we have played so accuracy off the tee was imperative. That task was made more difficult by the wind and everybody had stories to tell of wayward drives that were never seen again. We are playing Springfest rules over here so everything is a lateral. Some of the guys would be ROB (run out of balls) if we played by the letter of the law. The round of the day was put in by SD. He shot a 47 on the back nine. Before you laugh the back nine played directly into the wind and Wilson was the only other guy to break 50. The ol commish was 51 and I figure I could have been a little better but the putter went south. Needless to say we sure hope we don’t see that kind of wind again.
 

After the round our host Mike Cordner took us to his clubhouse. He is a member of the St Andrews Golf Club and their clubhouse sits beside the 18^th of the Old Course. A very popular place to be when the Open is there as you get a ringside seat. As you can imagine the building is steeped in history and he showed us pictures and memorabilia that dated back more than a 100 years. Then we all had a pint in the clubhouse and soaked up the ambiance. Thanks Mike for that.
 

We then finished up with dinner at a restaurant called Playfairs and we are finding that the restaurants here serve great food at most reasonable prices. Understandably the bar bill is more than the food bill but we are getting away with all we want to eat and drink for 40 pounds or less each and when was the last time that happened in Toronto.

Oct 23
 

The young guys got a big night’s sleep and have now shaken off the effects of jet lag. How do the people in the airline business do that on a regular basis? We all got up to our first breakfast at the Lorimer House and it was great. We have really come to a well run hotel and are really pleased to have picked it. Our hosts have really made us feel welcome.
 

After a morning of restocking the bar, a little shopping and just some looking around we all piled into the van to head for the town of Lundin Links and the Lundin Golf Links. The town sits about 10K south of Crail on the North Sea and is about 30K from St Andrews. It is a very pleasant ride through some Scottish farmland and we arrived in plenty of time to warm up and get ready for our round. The course plays about 6100 hundred yards and the first four holes play right along the North Sea. It is hard to concentrate on golf when you have such stunning views. The Lundin course is relatively short even for us old guys but typical of what we have experienced so far with Links courses, if you hit your shot straight and true you are usually rewarded, however not always, the ball lands takes a big hop and rolls well away from the pin. If you don’t hit a good one you can get in all sorts of trouble so the length of these courses is a non issue, the wind evens up everything. A three hundred yard hole into a 20 mph wind becomes a 400 yard hole and you have to hit two good ones to get on the green in two. We are also finding the putting a little difficult as the ball sometimes will not break the way it looks. Some of our putts have made us look really bad. As for that trouble that is always lurking, on one approach shot, I drilled my ball into the bank of a bunker and it stuck in the face of it and I had to take a drop in the bunker. One bad shot and two more shots ensued because of it. Yes we are quickly finding out that links golf is one tough game.

All in all, everyone liked the layout and greens at Lundin. The scores at Lundin were higher than at Crail except for Jimmy, who shot a very tidy 85. However the swinging sixtiers increased their lead on the NKOTTB for the coveted Meoff Cup and now lead by 12. The kids vow that they will win but the old boys are riding them hard as there is nothing like having the lead. Being so close to the sea all day everyone had a taste for fish in mind and we headed over to a place called the Tails Up or some such for fish and chips and it was great. The prices were very reasonable and I think we spent more on drinks and wine than the actual food part. Then we thought we should head over to the Dunvegan Hotel for a couple more pints and watch the golf, but after one we hit the wall and it was home to bed.

Monday we start the first of our three rounds at the St Andrews Trust loop. First up will be the Jubilee, followed by the New on Tuesday with the Old on Wednesday. We can walk to all three courses from the Lorimer House in about 10 minutes. And we have to walk with the North Sea beside us. Have I mentioned that this place is special? Oh yeah about 10 times or so.

Day 6 for the SS’ers brought another day of no rain. We cannot believe our luck and Monday is calling for a little drizzle and sunny breaks so it looks good. They are also saying it is going to be windy, but what else is new. I think if the wind ever stopped blowing everyone here would fall over. However Tuesday they are calling for heavy rain and I think our run of dry weather will come to a sudden and soggy end and we will get the opportunity to experience links golf in all its known fury. The Jubilee Course awaits.
 

Dex, SD and the Rook all arrived early and we piled into the van and made our way to St Andrews. Poor Dorts had to share a room with the ol Commish last night and complained that he didn’t sleep a wink the whole night and that the ol Commish snores like a buzz saw. No s—t Batman, you saw how fast the others dumped me on you, they know. So the four young guys were all suffering from jet lag and no sleep. Perfect, the swinging sixtiers should have a huge advantage on Day 1 of the Meoff Cup over the NKOTTB (new kids on the T block). Well we’ll see.

The drive from Glasgow to St Andrews takes about 2 hours and we all enjoyed the ride. Lots of joking around, teasing and sightseeing. Oh and the odd beer or two was consumed as well. I think we all felt like we were 19 again. As the van pulled into the town of St Andrews the acknowledgement of 1000 plus years of history and the feeling that you have arrived at the home of golf just washes over you like the waves rolling in from the North Sea. You could just feel the excitement level rising in the van as we all took it in. Then when we laid our eyes on the first and eighteenth holes of the Old Course everyone starting bouncing up and down on their seats, pointing and talking all at once and we knew our pilgrimage had come to fruition. Oct 26^th is our day to play the Old Course and we can’t wait.

The van arrives and we checked into the Lorimer House which is about 300 yards from the first tee at the Old Course and we are all impressed by the quality and charm of the place. Our host Mick and his wife Chris take loving care of it and we have found a great spot for the week. Mick is a 1 handicap, a lover of golf and all its traditions and we spent some time just talking links golf with him. We have found a kindred spirit to be our host for the next seven days. Plus our luck is holding, it is not raining again today, so that makes 5 days in a row for us. I think this must be some kind of Guinness record for around here. This trip just keeps getting better and better.

We then piled back into the van and headed up the road for our first round at the Balcomie Links in Crail. The Crail Golfing Society was formed in 1785 and the Balcomie course was built in 1895. It is the 4^th oldest course in the world. Some of the guys didn`t really like the layout, but this course was built when golf architecture was just beginning and they had to start somewhere. Latter day built courses took the best of what was started and discarded what they didn`t like and through the years courses have evolved into venues like Kingsbarn that are magnificent in a visual and playable context. They will be a real experience to play.

Guys asked me what I thought of Crail and I said that I enjoyed every step and every swing I took. I played with three of my old ball team buddies and other than the times we screwed up our shots, we had a great time joking and encouraging each other. I found that each hole had its own subtle nuance to it and because the course sits out on a point the wind forces you to think about each shot and how you are going to play it. It is not a fire at every flag game over here. You may have to bump and run it in, cut it against the wind, hit a low running draw, bounce it in off a mound or putt it. Anything to try and avoid those dreaded pot bunkers and get it close to the hole. To play here you have to become a shot maker and think your way around if you have any chance of posting a decent score. The ol Commish had his best round so far, I finally broke 80, a 79, I just made it but I did it. The Blade was 82 and I think the gravy train I was enjoying is about to leave the station. He is going to want those Smitty bucks I now have back, and I think I am going to have to play my ass off to keep that from happening. Wilson and Sportsbook played their usual game and SB was high point getter for the Swinging Sixtiers. Both expect to play even better tomorrow. The jet lagged young guys will improve after a good night’s sleep and the Meoff Cup will be highly contested. The SS`ers have a slight lead after day 1.

Sunday morning, the Old Course is closed for golf and open to the public as a park. People are asked to keep off the greens and they do. After breakfast we are going to head over and take pictures of us on the Swilican Bridge, teeing off on number 1 and anything else we find to shoot. Then we are going to play Lundin in the town of Lundin Links which was recommended by a Trafalgar clubmate Dave Philp as a course that I just have to play when we are here. Since his opinion is one that I truly respect, we are going to do just that and Mick has also told us that we are going to really going enjoy it. Thanks Philpy. For 6 months I thought the golf course was called Lundin Links in the town of Lundin, but I had it backwards. Oh well; I have it straight now. The course awaits us and as always, we cannot wait.

Day 4 in Ireland and we woke up to cloudy skies, calm winds and 10C temps. No rain again. We must be luckier than a dog with two dicks, 4 days of golf and we got 1 hole of rain. Some guys come for a couple of weeks to Ireland and do not get four days total when it doesn’t rain. Somebody is watching out for us.

After a quick peak last night in the Temple Bar area of Dublin, the downtown area of Dublin, it was fairly early to bed and a good night’s rest so that we would be ready for the world renowned links known simply as Portmarnock. It is a true links course with little pot bunkers everywhere, nothing to slow up the wind and greens that are guarded by those nasty bunkers and runoff collection areas. Only well placed shots or perfectly judged bump and runs would get you close to the hole. The ol commish and the Blade both had their first real go at a links type shot when we both putted from 60 yards away. The ol commish actually got it up and down. A beautiful thing. Sportsbook has visited his fair share of these bunkers and has become deadly at getting out of them. At Druids Glen he sank about a thirty yard bunker shot and has had a few where he did not need his putter, his ball stopped stone dead. Also, a beautiful thing. Wilson is driving the ball phenomenally long and straight and had a great round today. He shot an 82 and would have been better except his putter let him down. The ol commish and Wilson bet all the time when we play, there are always lots of presses and trash talking.  Well I tied him with an 82 but I have to give him 6 shots so the ol commish paid large today and had to suck up a lot of jive –ass talk. A beautiful thing if you’re Wilson. Tomorrow is another day and I told him the money he won was only a loan and not to spend it.

While we walked and played Portmarnock, we all felt that it was a wonderful course with interesting and challenging holes. It gives you some room off the tee, but does have fescue, gorse and those dreaded pot bunkers to cause havoc with any wayward shots. However, after playing Royal County Down yesterday, I wouldn’t say we were disappointed with it, but after playing the 4th rated golf course in the world, it just seemed ordinary in comparison. We played the first three holes and then teed off on four. Everybody hit it good and down the fairway we strolled, chatting away and enjoying the view.  Fortunately, some guy appeared out of nowhere and told us we were playing the wrong hole. Whoops, sometimes the holes are not that well marked. Plus we are old and this stuff happens more often now. So we looped it back to the right hole, laughed at ourselves and carried on.

We caught our flight from Dublin to Glasgow at 4 today and it went on time. We have now hooked up with Dorts and are sitting in our room trying to decide what to do tonight. My guess is that we will probably stay here at the hotel and get to bed early. Then when we meet up with Dex, Jumbo and SD tomorrow morning, we can torment them badly as they will be suffering jet lag. Laughing, talking, poking fun, maybe a little imbibing on the bus ride up to St Andrews will be just the thing to perk them up. The real trip starts tomorrow.

The Balcomie Golf Links in Crail awaits us and the four swinging sixtiers are all warmed up and ready to lay the lumber to the New Kids on the Tee Block (NKOTTB) in the first round of the Meoff Cup. Reports on the results to follow.

On Thursday morning we were served breakfast by Kathleen Knight our lovely host at the #10 B & B in Newcastle Northern Ireland and watched the sun come up over the Royal County Down golf course. We were greeted with sunny skies, calm winds and 10C temps. I always say that “every once in a while you are allowed to win one” and did we ever. You can walk through a gate from Kathleen’s right onto RCD and that is exactly what we did when we walked over to the clubhouse to get ready for our round. We could see the sand mounds that abound the course and a couple of the fairways that wind their way through the mounds. These mounds are covered in wild grasses, gorse and the local flora and are beautiful to see, but they cause strings of expletives when you are trying to extract your wayward shots from these stunning vistas. The grasses play havoc with your club and all sorts of wild shots ensue as you try and get back into play.  A stevedore would blush at the language that was used when this happened.

I have to say that RCD may be the finest golf course I have ever played. When you consider that 3 days ago I played The National, Canada’s #1 rated golf course and a true beauty and the beast golf course, that is saying something. However, RCD overlooks the Irish Sea, the mountains in the distance make a fabulous backdrop, the mounding frames every hole, you have to deal with a few blind T shots, impossible sand bunkers and the greens are fast and true. Because the course winds its way around all these obstructions taking a forecaddie is a must. You just need an extra pair of eyes to help you find your waywardly struck shots. We hired a young guy named John Murphy and he did a fantastic job for us. He gave us all our yardages on every shot, which side of the green to aim at to avoid the runoffs and penal bunkers and helped us read our putts. John also had a great sense of humour and on the 14^th hole, a downhill 200 yard par 3, all four of us hit great shots onto the green and he said “I haven’t seen four balls that close together since I saw Brokeback Mountain”. Needless to say all four of us cracked up. John was really appreciated and we made sure he was well compensated. He really helped make this special day even more special. Thanks John.   

One of the tough things we had to deal with was the sand in the bunkers. To build these bunkers all they did was dig holes until they hit sand and there you go, all done. That is why the faces on many of them are so deep and escaping forward is not always possible. The Blade had to blast out away from the hole on #18 and Wilson had to come out sideways twice. And the sand is heavy, just like beach sand and you had to swing three times as hard as normal to get the ball out. If this continues on in St Andrews we are all in for an interesting time. 

The drive into Northern Ireland is quite pleasant, took about 2 hours and once off the highway we got to experience Irish country roads. Narrow, my driveway is wider and two vehicles have to pass each other. There are no soft shoulders or ditches on these roads so steely nerves are all you can use and the Blade has done a fabulous job getting us around. Smitty we owe you large.

Tomorrow it is off to Port Marnoch Golf Links to play and then off to the airport to meet up with the rest of the boys in Glasgow. As our number doubles to 8, I should have lots of interesting stories to report. Lastly it seems that the Irish population likes it`s Guinness. Downtown Dublin was hopping tonight and everyone seemed to be having a good time. After a whirlwind 3 days and fighting off a case of jet lag, tonight is early to bed for all four of us. We have to keep our strength up because the young guys are about to show and there is no way we are not going to keep up. Or at least die trying.

Once you start on your vacation, time becomes a blur, so let me back up on what has transpired so far. On Saturday night the Blade landed on time, thanks West Jet, and we had a great night eating, drinking and catching up. The next morning, 20 of us played at Station Creek, home course of Sportsbook and we got a cool, blustery day to play and a good time was had by all. We thought that it was windy that day but we had no idea what was coming. On Monday, Reid Ferguson hooked the Blade and I up with Dan Partland who is a member at The National, Canada’s number 1 rated golf course and the four of us played it. What a golf course. Dan the member is a terrific golfer and was very helpful in giving us yardages and advice on how to play it, but our scores still ballooned. The ol commish shot an 89 with 2, 4 putts and 5, 3 putts so the game was not so bad but the putter needs some work. Reid and the Blade both struggled off the tee and you just cannot do that at the National and their scores ballooned, however it was a great day, the sun shone and how can we possibly play any course tougher than that one. The Blade was in awe at how good the National was and was raving about it all the way across the Atlantic. Thanks Reid and Dan for making that round possible.

After the round at the National, the Blade and I raced home and the commish-in waiting, my son Scott ran us out to Pearson for our flight to Dublin. We got there early hooked up with Wilson and proceeded to check-in. The girl at Air Transit told us that we could hang out in the first class lounge for $25 and we could eat and drink all we wanted. Welllllll, we would have spent that in no time at one of the bars in the airport so we opted in. We then wondered how to tell Sportsbook where we’d be when my cell phone went off and it was him telling us he was in the first class lounge and had been for an hour already. SB knows where the deals are. So in fine style, we ate, drank and cheered on the Leafs until out flight left. The flight left on time and was smooth sailing the whole way over and we arrived in Dublin at 8.30am Tuesday morning, a little jet lagged but ready, willing and able.

We went directly to the Druids Glen Resort to check-in and drop our stuff off and what a place that is. Not only is it very regal looking it has everything there and we were thrilled to be staying there. After checking in we played out first course Dun Laoghaire (pronounced Done Leary) and what a spot that place is in. Mountains and vistas surrounded us and the views were spectacular no matter which direction you looked. Oh and did I mention that it seems to be very green over here. Well it is. The course is very well layed out, not that long and very North American in style. This was a perfect starting course and would have been a course to post a reasonable score on, except we had to play it in a 5 club wind. Whoa baby, on the first hole I hit 3 iron from 140 yards and came up 20 yards short. Oh oh, this is going to be a long day and it was. Nothing like playing a new course all jet lagged and in a 40 mph wind. However we got to show off our repertoire of cut, hook and bump and run shots and that made for quite a round. The scores where high but the sun shone and we had a blast. If you ever go to play in Ireland you will enjoy playing Dun Laoghaire. Then it was back to Druids Glen for some R & R, dinner and a good night’s sleep.

Tuesday morning we prepared for our round at Druids Glen with showers, stretching, breakfast,  coffee with Baileys and 2 Advils. We were good to go. The sun shone once more and we teed off  in 10C temps and light winds. Compared to yesterday a category 3 hurricane would be a mild blow. What a golf course. It is set up more like a North American style course with lots of trees and elevation changes, but each hole has a character of its own and was fun to play. The greens were fast and tricky and I had 39 putts over the 18 holes and was flipping. Played well, putted like Stevie Wonder and made my putter lie in a cramped dark space and hopefully it will behave tomorrow. I was the highest score today and probably tee to green played the best. Yup, I had to pay those bandits. Wilson and Sportsbook both have a couple of birdies over the last 2 days and the Blade and I are still looking for our first one. I have putting issues and Dougie has driving problems. We will work them out and then, look out.

I am sitting in Kathleen Knight’s parlour at the Number 10 B & B in Newcastle Northern Ireland and outside the window lies Royal County Down, the 4^th best golf course in the world. That is our challenge Wednesday and we are pumped. The weather is predicted to be cool, with some showers and wind. Can God make this course play any harder? Probably, but I imagine it will be all we can possibly handle and more. Hopefully my putter will show up tomorrow as I am going to need it.

Smitty has been a driver extraordinaire and has shuttled us around to perfection. The roads are beyond narrow and a challenge to negotiate, but he has perfected shifting with his left hand and driving on the left side of the road. I would have had us in an accident by the time I made it into third gear. Thanks buddy.

Royal County Down awaits and we are ready for you.

Welcome to the Ultimate Golf Vacation Official blog. Over the three weeks that we are away, starting Oct 17^th, I will update our adventures as we experience our once in a lifetime boys golf safari. This trip was 20 years in the making and our testament to friendship and perseverance. Six of us got the idea 20 years ago to invest $100 each per year and every year add the cost of inflation to our $100 and see what we could do in the marketplace. The hope was to make enough to cover our expenses on a once in a lifetime golf trip and through the ups and downs of the markets we turned $3K into $6K each and that is going to take care of almost all of our expenses. We struggled to figure out where to go and finally came up with a week in St Andrews and a week on the Costa del Sol in Spain. My long time pal George Sportsbook Shaw and I, along with Wilson and Smitty, are also going to take in four days in Ireland before we meet up with the rest of the boys. George and I both hit 60 this year and who knows if we are ever going to go around this way again, so why not?  We also get to spend a couple of days in London before coming home so George and I will play golf in Ireland, Northern Ireland, Scotland, Spain, Morocco and England. Since we are playing golf the day we leave you can add Canada to the list, although that is a home game for us and doesn’t really count. 

If you are reading this blog you will know one or more of the players that are taking this safari so I will introduce the lineup so you know who everyone is.

I am Dave Walker (walk, the old commish, I answer to both) and it was my pleasure to meet up with these guys during my lifetime and I have a load of experiences with each and every one of them. The six of us played fastball together and I was the catcher. I caught because I was too slow and dumb to play any other position. Who else but a dumb ass goes behind the plate and catches fastballs coming 80 mph from a guy pitching from 46 feet away. Through the years I got broken fingers and toes, a broken nose, a million bumps and bruises, probably at least one concussion for my trouble and I loved every minute of it. Playing a competitive team sport brings guys striving to win together and you just never forget them or the experiences. Since we all quit playing fastball and took up golf, to keep us together occasionally, I started Watsons Springfest. It is a golf tourney that is played every last weekend of April at Bristol Harbour resort in Canandaigua NY and has gone on for the last 22 years. Over 400 Canucks have played in it and now many guys are bringing their sons along. It has been a real labour of love for me and I have met a boatload of great guys and treasure my time with them all. I hope they enjoy this blog.

George (Sportsbook) Shaw has been a friend of mine since grade 10. No it did not take us 3 years each to get to grade 11, that is just a nasty rumour.  We have raised our families together and a closer friend I could not have. George played some fastball and helped manage our Watsons Masonry fastball team. George was also an excellent curler and he and I along with 2 other buddies lost the provincial final on last shot in 1982 to represent Ontario in the Brier. We both still rue that loss a little bit, but at least we took our shot and although coming agonizingly close, we are both still proud of our accomplishment. George is famous at Springfest for running all our pari-mutuels and everyone knows him. George and I have a million memories of all our golf trips to Bristol, Florida, Myrtle Beach, Hilton Head and Brockville. This trip we are about to take is just the icing on our cake.

Brad (dorts) Doherty moved to Vancouver over 20 years ago and thanks to the Meoff fund and the planning of this trip has stayed in touch. When someone moves that far away the chances of staying in touch are nearly nonexistent but it has been great that we have. Dorts was a really good fastball player, played in the outfield and had great wheels. He also loves to curl and still plays competitively in Vancouver. I remember dorts as being like the ever-ready bunny and I am positive he will not allow any of us on this trip to try and take any time off to rest and relax. He will make sure we all go the distance.

Peter (dex, dexman) Daechsel was the second baseman on Watsons and had a great glove. He was a fitness fanatic who ran daily and I think he still does. He was also the only guy on our team to ever chew tobacco. That didn`t last very long and I am positive his bride would have put an end to that little habit. Dex also curled right up until he moved to Jacksonville FLA and he was a very good racquetball player. Or squash, my memory is a little fuzzy about that. Dex has always attended Springfest so that he can socialize at least once a year with his old buddies. He almost always travels across the state of Florida when we are there to hang with us and play a couple of rounds. Having a friend that makes time to be with us is priceless. Dex is a mudder extraordinaire and will probably have the best rounds of all of us if Mother Nature decides to throw all she`s got. Hopefully he will not have to prove that.

Jim (jumbo, rook) McGuin is the youngest of the group and he played third base for Watsons Masonry. Even though he played about 10 years with us being the youngest, he was always known as the rookie. He had a great glove and was fearless about playing in on hitters. He challenged them to hit it by or bunt against him. Jim has also made it to every Springfest and thinks it is important to stay in touch. Jumbo has planned the Spain part of the trip for us and through his efforts we have saved a fortune on accommodation, transportation, golf and meals. He got us a 6000 sq ft villa overlooking the Mediterranean Sea, which has a pool, hot tub, is right beside a golf course and only 10 minutes from Marbella for $4000 for the week. Spread among 8 guys, that`s cheaper than staying home. He arranged for us to play Valderama, Europe’s number one rated course for half price. What a thrill that will be and we save $210 a guy. Great job rook and thanks.

Scot (SD) Watson was the first baseman on our team and his dad Albert sponsored the team. SD was also fearless when it came to pinching in and his glove was second to none. He was blessed with a great pair of hands. Yup, Watsons Springfest is named after the Watsons Masonry team and the Watson family. I will never be able to repay them for all the baseball memories I have. Albert and I talked a lot as I was the oldest player on the team and he could relate to me as I was already in the process of raising a family. One memory I have of Albert was when our team went to Holland to play. For the first five days we would be taken in the morning sightseeing, then in the afternoon we would give a clinic to the kids in the town where we were playing that day and then they would feed us. After that we would play the local heroes that night in an exhibition game. On one of the mornings, I met Albert and Irene (SD’s mom) at the departure spot and asked if they were coming along with us and Albert said no, not today. Why said I and he explained that he was off to pay his respects to his fallen buddies that he fought with as part of the Canadian Forces that liberated Holland in WW2. He then turned and walked away in that unmistakable Watson gait and all I could do was cry. Thanks to guys like him, we have had it pretty good in our lifetime. As long as SD still wants to come to Springfest, I’ll keep running it. It is the least I can do for him and his wonderful family. When SD and I arrived the first time in Holland we rented a car because we thought we had a couple of days off to start the week and we thought we would look around. The plane landed, we ran off and rented the car, showed up where the bus was supposed to be so we could follow it and the rest of the team and somehow we got lost. I asked SD if he knew where we were supposed to go because I didn’t have a clue. He said no, he had no idea either. Perfect, the two of us are in Holland all of one hour and we are already hopelessly lost, no name of anyone or number to call and cell phones didn’t exist then so we couldn’t call any of our teammates. We at least knew the name of the town we had to go to and fortunately the police there knew where to send us. Yup, 2 hours after arriving in Holland we were in a police station. There is much more to this story so if you ever pin SD or me down, we will tell you everything that happened. The story takes a while.

Those are the six that were in the investment group. However two close friends of the group were asked if they wanted to come along and both jumped at the chance. We are happy to welcome along Glen Wilson and Doug Smith. That makes our number eight and that’s perfect for two foursomes. So let me introduce them.

Glen (Wilson) Wilson and I are members at the Trafalgar Golf Club and have been playing together almost every Wednesday Men’s night for the past 10 years or more. We both were very competitive curlers and have very similar backgrounds sports-wise, so we relate to each other quite easily. We are also both sales guys so you know when we are together the BS never stops. Why do you call him Wilson everyone asks me? If you remember the TV show Home Improvement, Tim was always asking his neighbor Wilson for advice. Wilson always had sound advice for Tim and I always feel that way when I talk to Glen. A more sound and grounded guy you will never meet. With all his life experiences he can almost always come up with some life anecdote in regards to whatever we are discussing. That type of friendship is also priceless. We have gone on other golf vacations together and they always have us room together because we never mind that our room looks like a bomb hit it. Wilson is a natural fit for this group and will be the tour director in Ireland and St Andrews because he`s been there and done that. He calls this his annual golf trip of a lifetime.

Doug (Smitty, Schmidt, Doc, the Blade) Smith and I have been buddies since the early 70s. He was a student at the Canadian Chiropractic College in Toronto and while taking the four year course, we curled together and became close friends. After he graduated and moved to Vernon BC to start his Chiropractic career, we always stayed in touch and I sometimes went out there to curl and golf and he would come to Springfest every year to see the boys. He is known as the Blade because he is as good a putter as anyone I have known over the last 25 years. He can roll his rock and has won us a lot of bets with that magical wand he wields. He and I once played in Kelowna BC in weather that would not take a backseat to anything that Ireland or Scotland could throw at us. I was playing like the Bishop in Caddyshack and could do no wrong. He kept pressing and in this maelstrom, I kept making pars and got into his wallet for $50. We still talk about that day and both figure it was the worst weather we have ever played in. Since then, when we have gone head to head, each looking for Walker/Smitty bucks, I manage to mention that day in the conversation. That tradition will continue on this trip.

Those are the eight that are making this trip and I am thrilled to be with each and every one of them. There are a number of other close friends of ours that cannot make this trip, they know who they are and we all wish they could have come. I hope that maybe sometime down the road we can all do another road trip and they will participate. All of them will be in our thoughts as we golf our way across world famous courses that we have only heard about, seen on TV and dreamed about playing some day.

Lastly, to our wives and significant others that are letting us go and be little boys again, thank you for being so understanding. You know the group will be in good hands as I will look after them. Whoops, 2 hours in Holland and I am sitting on a bench in a police station, let’s change that to George will look after the group and then we will really be in good hands. We will be busy as all get out and maybe we may not call or e-mail home as often as we should, but this blog will let you keep tabs on us and know that all is well. Don’t worry we will be home soon enough, taking up our rightful spot on the couch, one hand on the remote and another holding our favourite beverage and you’ll look and sigh and wonder, when is the lazy so and so going away again.