Cruden, Crail, and St. Andrews

On Friday we left Dornoch and made the 3 1/2 hour trip down to Cruden Bay. Cruden Bay was one of those "you can't get there from here" destinations from Dornoch, but after many a winding road, we pulled into the clubhouse about 11:30 AM. We had lunch there and played the course in the afternoon, checked into our B&B for the night, had dinner, and since our green fees were good for the entire day, we went back and played 9 more holes in the evening. The course at Cruden Bay is set amongst giant sand dunes and several holes play right along the ocean. It is a unique course and was well worth playing. I don't have many good pictures from Cruden Bay as I left the camera in the car, so all I have are ones I took with my phone.

We spent the night at Erroll Schoolhouse Bed & Breakfast (pictured left), which was very nice. For breakfast this morning, we had a selection of homemade breads and muffins, cheeses, yogurt, cereal, smoked salmon on cucumber slices, brie, oatcakes, fruit, homemade jams & honey, and coffee/tea. This was one of our favorite meals since we arrived in Scotland. It was a refreshing change from the normal breakfast and we ate way too much!

After breakfast, we headed south through Aberdeen and down the coast to St. Andrews. I should mention here that once we arrived in Cruden Bay and for the trip down, the terrain has flattened out considerably and we were in farm country for most of the trip. The majority of the farming (with the exception of sheep) in Scotland appears to happen on the east coast. There are many bright yellow fields which we believe is mustard, along with other planted crops that are just beginning to grow. The weather has also taken a turn for the better and we got up into the 50's for the first time since we left Kintyre on Tuesday morning. The temperatures in Dornoch remained in the 40's the entire time we were there.

We arrived in St. Andrews around 11:00 AM and stopped at the Old Course to watch a few groups go off the first tee. An oddity about the Old Course is that it is essentially a public park and there are paths that cross the course that go down to the beach. There are people crossing the fairways while golfers play, and others wandering the 18th fairway getting their pictures taken on the Swilcan Bridge before any golfers come through. Note in the picture of the 1st and 18th fairways the truck driving through and people walking across the fairways. Very different than what we normally see in the US. After walking around the 17th green (Road Hole for you golfers), we headed over and checked in to our lodging for the next three days at Nethan House. Nethan House is very nice and easily the most spacious quarters we have had during the trip.

We then headed down the coast about 15 minutes to the East Neuk of Fife to the small town of Crail. Crail is an old town with a harbor where you can get a lobster cooked for you right on the dock. The harbor is completely enclosed with a block wall for protection from the winter storms. After wandering around for 1/2 hour or so, we drove over to the home of the Crail Golfing Society, the Balcomie Links. Crail is the worlds 7th oldest golf club and the course itself has been around since 1895 Like most of the courses we have played on this trip, the course was designed by Old Tom Morris, who must have designed the majority of the courses in Scotland, because every brochure we pick up touts the fact that he designed the course.

The course itself sits right along the Firth of Forth and is very scenic. The weather was nice today, mid 50's and sunny, with a stiff breeze blowing in off of the sea. We enjoyed the round at Crail even though we did not play particularly well. I think too many rounds of golf in too few days are starting to catch up with us. Luckily, we can rest a bit tomorrow as we only have one round scheduled for 12:00 at the New Course at St. Andrews. Monday afternoon we will tackle the Old Course.