The Beginning of Golf

On Friday we had a really great day. Our tee time was for 5:00 so we had all afternoon to look around. We went to St. Andrews Castle and St. Andrews Cathedral which were in ruins but still pretty cool. At the cathedral we walked up over 100 stairs to the top of a tower and got to see the entire city of St. Andrews. After we had lunch we went back to the car and I couldn't find the car keys. I went into total panic mode. I went back through the stores we'd been in, to the cathedral and then my dad called and said there was a note on the car that they had found the keys right next to the car. OOPS! All was well though and we went to the British Golf Museum which was great. They had clubs and balls from the 1500s to now. It showed the evolution of the game and players. Overall it was a great experience especially since we were about to play St. Andrews. Speaking of, St. Andrews was even better than we expected. It started to rain on the first tee and the wind was blowing, finally it felt like Scottish weather. Every single hole is completely different and the aura around the place is incredible. You just feel like you're a part of history. We both were playing pretty well but I was up in the match going into the 16th hole (The Road Hole). I hit a great drive but a little to the right and it started bouncing down the road (Out of Bounds). My next drive was hit exactly the same (Out of Bounds). I'm hitting five on the tee and top a drive. I then take my three hybrid and proceed to hit that out of bounds. Now I'm hitting 8 and put a 230 yard three iron on the green and two putt for 10... We had to wait on the next tee for a while so I ran back to the tee with just my pitching wedge. After three shots I was next to the green and putting my wedge into a sand bunker where it took me 2 to get out. On the green in 7 and two putted for 9. So I learned that I could do better hitting and putting with just a pitching wedge than playing the thing regularly. Ouch.
The highlight may have been the 18th where we've seen many times players in the British open cross over the famous bridge and onto the 18th fairway. It was an amazing experience and one we'll never forgot. Here are some pictures from the day!