Well, we've done it. We've gone full circle with the game of golf. Ever since we were kids, golf was integrated into our lives. From chipping in the back yard to going to various tournaments as young bucks- golf was a sport that never got old and we never gave up on.
Friday, February 4, 2011 will forever be ingrained in our minds. We woke up around 7 AM after a few hours of sleep. Tired and dragging tail, we showered up, grabbed some chow and made our way to the coach bus. After a two hour, much need nap, we arrived. First sight, 18th hole of the Old Course. A green that is the most legendary hole known to the golf world. A green that rests on a 459 year-old course. It took our breathe away.
Sadly, we were scheduled for a guided tour so we were forced, literally forced, to leave the course. After numerous moans and groans, we headed down the street. Little did we know what we were in for. We all walked into the visitors center of St. Andrews and were given directions of what our day was going to consist of. First was a short walk through of the history of the city, then to a castle, followed by a cathedral, then free time.
The walk through of the visitor center was unbelievable (a word that will probably be used many times here). The history of this city was quite hard to fathom. Having been established in the year 1140 and how 871 years later there are still early evidence of those time is just remarkable.
Next was to the St. Andrews Castle. This was one of those places where you don't really expect a whole lot since it was so old and beat up. This was not the case though. The castle sat on the side of a 100 foot cliff and had many look out points towards the ocean. The sun peaked out right as we got to the top of one of the castles peaks. It was truly a sight to see. After numerous photos we strolled down to a underground tunnel. Going down towards the tunnel, we walked down a flight of old rock stairs into what we thought was just a small cave... hardly the case. Instead we walked, no, we crawled on our hands and knees to get through this small 4X4ft passage. Guert, with a taste of claustrophobia felt a little uneasy. But, with 15 other guys behind him pushing him forward it wasn't a hard task to make him face his fear. It didn't make anyone feel better about the crammed situation as he kept saying "this is my nightmare."
Our next adventure took us to a gigantic cemetery which used to be St. Andrews Cathedral. Huge would be an understatement. Little remained from this place but pillars of rock and one standing tower. We got a coin from the visitors center to walk up the 108 foot tower. First to enter the small gate leading into a single person walkway up to the top was Guert. After putting his coin in he turn the gate once. Stuck. hmmm.. "Jordan give me your coin" Guert says as he steals Jordan's coin and puts it in and proceeds to the other side. (reminder, one coin per entry)
Nate- "Waittt..what?!"
Matt- "Just both you and jordan fit in and come through."
So the two squeezed in and with Matt pulling from the inside and two girls pushing from the other side the gate slowly turned. Nate- "Ah! Cant breathe! Go back Go back!" We tried it one more time and succeeded. Noticing directly after that two girls would fit comfortably by themselves. Eh, another story and experience, right? Pictures of the top of the tower are on the slide show.
Up next, finally as we waited impatiently all day, was to the famous St. Andrews! Walking the course we all had one thing on our mind. Taking a stroll on the famous 18th hole bridge. A slow jog turned into a sprint where we threw our cameras at the girls and got ready for a pose on top the bridge. This memory will last the rest of our lives. To turn on the British Open and see all the famous golfers to have walked over that bridge, and then to do it yourself really is a surreal moment. Afterwards we walked the rest of the course taking golf action pictures on various tee box. (FYI- we witnessed a TORO workman on the course being used by their maintenance workers, the same as ours. An excitement needed to be witnessed to get) A couple more shops and Ziggy's restaurant were our last few stops. Ziggy's being the most memorable due to us ordering the largest burgers on the menu. Pictures will explain this tale. Jordan had a 3 1/2 pound burger along with a pound of toppings. Guert's had two patties, both wrapped in bacon, topped with two eggs. Nate had a simple mega burger with extra pickles. This filled our stomachs up like the course filled our hearts with joy making this one beautiful day.
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