This weekend we had the luxury of attending the Friday, Saturday & Sunday of 150th Open in St Andrews.
We managed to time this with some research for some recent projects that are heavily invested in the VR golf simulators, sample some of the local produce, invest in a huge amount of merchandise and enjoy the fantastic atmosphere and buzz of a truly one off occasion being the 150th anniversary of the open.
We saw Tiger Woods perform fantastically well, considering the rollercoaster last decade. His support for the game and the open, was noted by his support from the crowds who roared with applause at every strike. I think we all had a tear in our eye when he crossed that bridge for the last time.
Rory Mcllroy consistently performed well at every moment, his calm and considered approach was refreshing as always. Even when he teed off and ended up in the bunker, one strike and in the hole it went’ diamond ? recovery. However, Sunday was just not his day, sadly.
The event itself is probably the most accessible in terms of its city centre location, ease of transport, leuchars park or train and ride dropping n you at the gate.
Upon receipt of a wristband, we could pop out to, Mitchell’s for breakfast, the Balgove Larder for lunch, Forgans for dinner and enjoy the buzz of the town. And the banter of the street entertainment. With a little bit of sight seeing at the old St Andrews Cathedral.
After day two we also grabbed the opportunity to to pop down to Crail. Grab a fresh local lobster, top up our Crail Pottery supplies, grab a coffee and a cake at the Crail harbour gallery cafe overlooking the North Sea over to Norway ?? along with popping back into smoke fired wholefoods. https://www.smokefiredwholefoods.co.uk for some of Vanessa Bullock Pottery, where the lovely lady herself served us.
Sunday…….. the 150th open ….the final day. What more can we say, huge huge disappointment for Rory. But there was just no stopping Cameron Young.
Rory McIlroy admitted he was beaten by the better player, after seeing his dream of a second Claret Jug slip away, on a dramatic Sunday at St Andrews.
Cameron Smith put together one of the great rounds in major history to become Champion Golfer of the Year.
The Australian started the final day four strokes back from Rory McIlroy and Viktor Hovland but shot an incredible 64, which featured five birdies in a row at the beginning of the back nine and another on 18, to overhaul McIlroy and fend off Cameron Young by a stroke. Well done Young, you have truly raised the bar, and fashion of the Sport in 2022.
We stayed in the Crieff Hydro, which is the perfect balance to allow for swimming, spa, fantastic grounds, great breakfasts and late dinners. A huge shout out to the meals created in the Meikle and Chef Manoj great new menu in the Tiffin, fantastic flavours.
Today we have a day off, adventuring through the 90 acres of the Hydro estate, perhaps a bit of paddle boarding, ping pong, putting, driving range, quad biking, lama tre king , tennis, big Chess and of course the breathtaking scenery.
This will certainly be an annual CPD R&D for years to come. Quite how we could fit so much into 4 days, I’m not sure, but it’s worth it, if your struggling for a break (in terms of time and the travel issues that are an avoidable), take a long weekend up in the stunning, Perthshire & Kinross, Kingdom of Fife, Tayside and Angus. (And try the haggis, it’s better than bacon at breakfast)
So if your worried about jumping on to a plane, potentially getting stuck or Covid, refresh those cobwebs and head up to central Scotland.