We had to get up early for this one. Our tee time was at 9:30 and it takes an hour to get there. If we wanted to warm up at all, we had to have breakfast at 7 and leave by 7:30. All on schedule, but we forgot about unpacking our travel bags. Heed yea, future golf traveler, there’s a lot to unpack in this process. To add more to the morning, the starter invited us to go out early. 

It’s actually very normal to warm up “in the net,” as they say, rather than on the driving range which is way on the other side of the clubhouse, a long walk. So we hit a few balls, rolled a few putts and then were off!

I watched every minute of the LET British Open this year and felt I knew the first hole (at least) very well. It’s the only Open course that starts with a par 3. Boom boom, into the green side bunker, out, putt, putt, bogey. So what’s so hard about this course?

So many of the holes are straight with just a few doglegs here and there. What gets you are the bunkers. They;re everywhere and usually where you least expect. Stay in the fairway. Have a good bunker game. And know how your putt is going to roll. That’s key for this course. We had never played it before, so the surprise on 8 (was that hole on TV?) was that the approach shot lands on a huge undulation— like a really fun water slide. If your ball doesn’t go up the other side, you’re looking at an uphill chip shot to a blind shot. 

Another fun little area is the walk between 12 and 13 through a charming tunnel of bushes and out the other side to the tee boxes. If you ever play this course, don’t take the easy way around. You’ll miss the fun.

The final hole heads toward the clubhouse and is well guarded by bunkers. I hit a shot in that landed in a green side bunker. When John told me the yardage, I realized I’d hit the wrong club. Since it was the last hole, I dropped a second ball (stroke and distance) and hit a shorter club—with exactly the same result!. So there i was, in another bunker. This time, and without realizing that everyone in the restaurant upstairs watches these kinds of things, I chipped out to two inches and made the putt… to the cheering of the members. (I’d like to think.)

After a lovely game, John and I were met by the clubhouse manager who gave us the full clubhouse tour. We heard all about Bobby Jones and his time here, saw the huge portrait and the donated clubs. We heard about Seve and why all the Spaniards make a pilgrimage to Royal Lytham to pay homage to the great man. Gary Player was there and Tom Lehman who still comes up with his son and friends on occasion. And the great claret jug, which I had to take a picture of for my collection. News on that: none of these claret jugs are “the one.” The real claret jug lives at St. Andrews and is brought to each event in a huge box that takes two strong men to carry. The winner holds the real trophy and then the club puts the winner’s name on the 7/8th size replica that is stored at the individual club…. In case you wanted to know.

As we were having lunch, and cheering for those below, we met an American at the next table. He noticed John’s Riviera shirt and John noticed his LA Country Club shirt, so they struck up a conversation. It turns out the new friend, John, is an overseas members here. After a short chat, friendly and full of amazing facts—John just bought a soccer team— he invited us to play again tomorrow, at the guest rate. I said “yes” before consulting with my lovey-dovey. Luckily, he is also enthusiastic about the idea. We’ll be starting early again, so I began the evening with a spa treatment, and a paracetomal, a miracle, UK drug. Feeling better all ready. It’s only 6 pm here, but good night!