Today was an easy day because we only had one thing scheduled. Let me start by talking about our cute, cute neighborhood in Cellardyke, Anstruther, Fife, Scotland. You’ve probably heard of Fife because St Andrews (Church, University, and famous golf courses are here). We are now 9 miles south of St. Andrews and just 3 miles west of Crail (The Golf Hotel, Crail Golf Club, Kingsbarns). This is a cool place to be and I’ve even thought that if we were going to stay in one place in Scotland for our entire visit, Fife would be the place to be. 

Our game today was at Crail Balcomie with Graham Guthrie. Graham owns the Golf Hotel, a 300 year old building with crooked floors, tight rooms, and tons of charm. I say that this hotel has the cutest bar in all of Scotland because I’ve been to a lot of bars here.

Graham showed up just at tee time, so we shook hands all around. He was going to have to leave early for work, so I gave him his small gift of thanks before we started playing since there would be no afterward.

Our game was delightful—lots of good shots by all parties. We impressed each other nicely. The course goes out for 5 holes right along the coast, then turns with an awesomely long par 3 that both John and I reached, then up the hill for more views—7 and 8, then 9, a short par 4, then up the hill to 10. That’s when we said goodbye to Graham. The rest of the game was fine—mostly along the sea and all holes with a view of the sea. This is a lovely course!

Back at the Golf Hotel, we met Graham for some conversation and a lovely dinner. I took a few minutes to hang out with a couple of characters while waiting for my fabulous fresh-caught lobster salad. One of the fellows, who was missing a few teeth and had been drinking for a while, seemed very happy that I was giving extra attention to the bar. I would have stayed longer, but dinner was waiting. Yum!  And good night.