It’s almost time for Europe’s nearest thing to the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro Am-The Dunhill Cup.

And it’s also almost time for me to get prepared for a barrage of unkind comments about Scottish weather. To which I’ll give my oft-used response:

“Like the wise old Scottish golfer said, ‘If there’s nae wind, it’s nae gowf.”
There’s nothing on record to what he said if it’s a cold wind blowing in, straight from Siberia.

Fergus Bissett at Golf Monthly writes:
Skills required: Grit - Conditions on the east coast of Scotland in early October can be testing. The winning professional will not let the weather put him off.
And the golf correspondent at bettingpro.com says, “The 'Old Lady's' wide-open fairways makes this the easiest course of the three.”

The Old Course is only one of the three which also includes “Carnasty” – My favourite.
I always advise those who seek my advice on which courses to prioritize on their trip to Scotland, “Go see the sights and experience the history of St Andrews but play Carnoustie.”

Or as a lower cost alternative, the following words of wisdom from a comment by Chene on Geoff Shackelford’s site:

“As my Scottish wife ( who plays off 10) says fondly..."you play the Old for the history....the Jubilee... is the course in St. Andrews if you're playing golf!"
Do I love this lass? Or do I love and agree with this lass who reckons, “Of one thing there is NO dispute...Royal Dornoch IS the finest rural golf course on the planet!!!!”

Now back to the, to give its correct title, Alfred Dunhill Links Championship.
Judging by Fergus Bissett’s comments the event will have far fewer famous celebrities than the AT&T. “The amateur field includes Hugh Grant, Sir Ian Botham and Sir Steve Redgrave”

“Huggie” reporting on last year’s Dunhill writes, in The Guardian, “As for the pro-am section of this often-unwieldy tournament, Sir Steve Redgrave was the best of the celebrity pack. The five-times Olympic rowing champion - who made a gross eagle at the 337-yard 6th hole after driving to four feet - combined with Francesco Molinari of Italy for an 11-under 61 at Kingsbarns.

Frank Bissett reminds us, Rory McIlroy’s “Third place finish in the Alfred Dunhill Links of 2007 announced the Northern Irishman's arrival in the professional game.”

The potential “breakthrough man” I’ve got my eye on is a lad I’ve previously mentioned, Callum Macauly.
The Courier, the local rag for Fife and Tayside quotes the young Scotsman as saying:
“…I won the Scottish Amateur at Carnoustie last year, playing it six or seven times in a week—it’s probably my favourite course in the world to be honest."
“I played the St Andrews Trophy for GB&I at Kingsbarns last year when we beat Europe, and the Old Course has its own prestige and you get a buzz every time you play it.”

Here’s a link to Frank Bissett’s article
And Geoff Shackelford’s blog containing the words of the (golf) worldly-wise Scottish lass.

Today’s thought is about attitude.
Had a wee chuckle when I read this at the Golf Channel’s Quotes of the Week.

“On 16 the cameras showed up. I liked that because I’m good under pressure.”
Who said this? You’ll never guess.
“Ten-year-old Charlie Reiter, who was crowned a champion in the Jones flight at the Golf Channel Amateur Tour National Championships”

Sceptics will say, just another precocious American kid.
I say, if only I had that kinda attitude as a kid. I might have ended up playing pro golf instead of just blogging about it.

Slainte

Stan