Today was “Reunion Day” with Peter, our third friend in Scotland (after Karen and Anne.) We met him on the Dunbar golf course ten years ago and always make it a point to see him once a trip, catch up on Scottish politics, his family, and golf! Sadly, his arms were recently injured so he wasn’t able to play but a few holes, but he walked around with us and none of us had a heart attack on 12 which is named “Hill ‘o Hope” for its steep walk up a grassy cliff! Apparently, a usual comment at the top is, “Where’s the defibrillator?”
Carluke Golf Course is in between Edinburgh and Glasgow and not far from either (this is a small country). It’s a parkland course with grass, trees, and traditional bunkers. This one is built on the side of a hill, so every shot needs to be played for the bounce to stay on the fairway. Luckily, we had Peter along to give us directions for nearly every shot. (We paid him in food and drink after the round.) A little like Granton on Spey, this course doubles over on itself in a couple of places. The fairway of 3 crosses over the fairway of 4, and the same with 8 and 9. Very interesting course layout, actually, and great use of land. Hole 11 is a par three hit from a height, down to a guarded green with a lovely river running behind it. And truthfully, if Peter weren’t with us, we might have often wandered to the wrong tee! But it was a beautiful day and a lovely course! And the day was warm—I didn’t need either my second jacket or fuzzy hat. A particular highlight was when Peter recited several lines from Robert Burns’s “Address to a Haggis” as we walked along on 4 th hole.
After the game, we ate at the golf course. Drinks first and a bit more talk. Peter is very pro-Scotland, which means he’s for Scottish independence and even participated in the march in Edinburgh yesterday, with bagpipes, so it must have been big! This is all internal stuff that we have no opinion on, but he is also anti-Brexit. I think his ideal is for Scotland to be independent, but part of the EU, which is the feeling of a lot of people living in the Highlands. The problem is that all of Scotland has only 5 million people and only 8% of the total UK population. Someone once said they have more sheep than people— which, from all we saw, is probably true!
Peter is quite serious about Scottish politics, but he did let out a funny one in his exasperation about a certain political leader: “He is about as useful as a fart in a spacesuit!” It didn’t matter what he said after that. I was laughing too hard to hear! We wish him well, good health, and more tears of golf. I gave him a gift that we’d brought from home when it was hugging time. Soon we were back on the road, going in and out of turning circles— “Take the second exit,” said our GPS. “Take the first exit.” “Take the third exit.” This system is terrific for keeping traffic moving. The roads wound and twisted until we were on the “dual carriageway,” which is like a small freeway, and back into the city again, where we spent a few minutes loading our golf bags into our bag covers so that we were packed and ready to fly in two days. I guess that means no golf tomorrow. So what else is in store? Stay tuned. Good night.