I have been fortunate to travel widely and see many amazing golf courses with outstanding scenery or surroundings. OLD HEAD in Ireland stands out as one of the most spectaular. St Andrews OLD COURSE will always bring on a bout of goose-flesh. The view from the terrace of SUENO in Belek, Turkey is another. As are PEBBLE BEACH, VALE DE LOBO, rOYAL dORNOCH and all the others. But a visit to IGLS, outside Innsbruck (home to 2 Winter Olympics) certainly comes close in terms of sheer uniqueness. Golfers lining up their putts or head down on the tee have a steady stream of cable cars passing overhead, with amazed tourists watching their play from above. Surrounded by forests and in the shadow of “Olympic Mountain”, it is truly a unique golf setting. And that is in summer! When the winter snow has left a white carpet up the mountain the experience must be even more spectaular! And please remember, no skiing on the greens!
Going to Vienna any time soon? Discovered a great little hotel close to the city centre but quiet, well managed, friendly staff and really great breakfast. Stay at Hotel DAS TIGRA without any concern…we spent 6 nights there and did not have one complaint. No coffee making facility in rooms, but ask at Reception and they will place it in your room for you. A 10 minute stroll past the cafes and shops brings you to St Stephans Cathedral…if you can resist the temptation of the coffee and cakes along the way!
If the South African Hole-in-One Society were not so stringent in their verification of hole-in-one achievements, I would have said it was impossible. Beyond any statistical chance. No ways, Jose!
But it was verified and it did happen…so you better believe it.
Father (playing off a 16 handicap) and son (playing off a 6 handicap) were enjoying a dad vs son round and had opted to play the round as a game of skins. Having halved the first, the son won the second to take the two skins up for grabs.
From there on they halved the holes and there was a lot of needle as they walked onto the tee of the par 3 16th which had a stroke index of 17. There were now 14 skins on the table and a lot to play for! The son promptly drove the green, pitched short and left of the hole and they watched in amazement as the balled rolled slowly towards and finally into the hole.
Jumping around with delight the son demanded his skins…14 of them!
“Not yet, I am afraid” replied the Father, “I have not played yet”. The son burst out laughing but politely stepped aside for his father.
And this is where the statistics go mad! The actuaries tell us that the chances of a hole-in-one are 43 000:1. Who knows what the chances are of 2 players having holes-in-one with consecutive shots on the same hole?
But that is just what the Father did. Knocked it in with one bounce straight down the middle.
And then it gets even better.
The father won the hole because he received a handicap stroke on that hole….
How many excuses has the average golfer used to back out of a game when the elements are against him? It’s going to rain! My golf car is in for a service! I have to fetch my wife from the hospital! I broke my driver and the pro has not finished the job yet!
Not that any of his playing partners ever believe the story, it just goes with the territory. Fair weather golfers rule! Period!
Well, not always…and not everywhere?
While on a call to St Andrews yesterday to book a tee-off time on the Old Course for a client, I heard from Jack (he’s the man with the available tee-off times) that it was minus 8 degrees when he was driving to work that morning. Now that is really cold… anywhere!
And it reminded me of when I made a courtesy visit to Nairn Golf Club, just outside Inverness up at the top of Scotland, a number of years ago. It was the first week of February. The countryside was under a spectacular blanket of snow, farms were only identifiable by the fence poles which stuck up out of the snow. Even the fluffy sheep beside the road looked cold.
“Grin and bear it”, I told myself, looking forward to the visit to the Johnnie Walker Distillery at Cardhu on Speyside later in the morning. That would warm me up if nothing else did.
As I drove into the empty car park at the club, Jim the manager (I am eternally amazed at how many golf clubs in Scotland are managed by someone called Jim) was at the door, waving his arms and showing me to be careful on the icy tarmac. The mug of steaming hot chocolate pushed into my hands as I walked into his office was as warming as the wee dram or two on Speyside would be later in the day.
“Minus 8, with a 25 mile an hour north easterly….that’s around minus 12 with the wind chill factor,” Jim advised me. Despite the warmth slowly seeping through my frozen bones, I kept my jacket securely zipped.
From Jim’s office I could see across what I learned was the North Sea. It looked grey and menacing and certainly not the placid blue water a golfer on Phuket or even the Costa del Sol would look out on.
As Jim poured a most welcome refill of his legendary hot chocolate, the scrunching of tyres on snow made us look out the window to the car park which had just doubled its occupancy. Out of an old Ford Escort climbed four figures, totally unrecognisable in their puffy jackets, balaclavas, gloves and thick leggings. From the boot they took four large bags and disappeared around the side of the building.
“Well, at least your staff made it in today”, I said, thinking I was stating the obvious.
“No, laddie”, Jim replied. “They be the Tuesday 9:26 fourball…they play every week”.
Jim must have noted my expression, I felt my mouth hanging slightly open as I looked at the Jack Frost scene outside.
“Ay’, he said to me.
“They are golfers”.
So when you have played the Sandbelt courses in Melbourne and tamed Royal Sydney, climbed the bridge, explored the Opera House and cruised the harbour, what else are you going to do?
Like to try a little wine tasting?
A great idea, so head across to Adelaide and up into the Barossa Valley to taste some of Australia’s finest wines. And be sure to stop at Penfolds for a tasting with a difference. So different in fact, that you actually blend the wine you will be tasting!
After the customary introduction to the founding of the company and who did what and who is still around, you are taken into a laboratory complete with white coat, measuring tubes, funnels and plenty of unlabelled wine.
Three cultivars are placed in front of you…Grenache, Shiraz and Mourvedre. The subtleties of each are explained and after tasting them, you are invited to select your own percentage of each which will go to making up your own blend.
Pot luck comes into play here, as your blend will either be imminently palatable or taste like drain cleaner. But now understanding a little of the winemaker’s craft, you tackle your second blend, which hopefully is closer to the mark. Growing with new-found wine confidence, the third attempt is accompanied by sounds of encouragement and excitement by a previously silent and intent group.
With three blends of varying quality now in front of you, you need to select the best of these for “bottling”. With blurring of the taste buds and a heightened level of uncertainty taking over, your appreciation for the winemaker’s talents in getting the blend right every time is growing by the second.
Make a decision and stick with it is the advice given, so your “secret” percentage split is once again measured, but this time in larger amounts as you need to fill a bottle and not a glass. Bottled and sealed, the label with your own name as the “assistant winemaker” is a nice touch and certainly one to be displayed proudly to the wine-buffs back home.
With all the concentration behind you, a long lunch on one of the nearby farmsteads is a great idea before heading back.
No need to rush though…Royal Adelaide will still be there to be played tomorrow.
Here is some hard-earned advice!
If you are planning to watch the NYE fireworks on Sydney Harbour Bridge live, do NOT schedule golf for the next day.
Over 1,5M locals and tourists line the waterfront area of Sydney harbour each New Year’s Eve to watch probably the most spectacular display ever seen. And if you are serious about seeing it the way it should be seen…front on from the west side of the Sydney Opera House…you are in for a long day.
Camping out overnight will get you a spot on the NW tip of the Opera House peninsula. A 10:00 arrival will get you the last of the “front row” positions against the railings. A 16:00 arrival will see you standing on the Piazza, where the proximity to the beer tent and long row of green portable toilets is good, but your view of the fireworks is certainly 3rd class.
And having travelled half way around the world to see the “once in a lifetime” spectacular, a 10:00 arrival it will be. So there you are, a great view of the bridge, plenty of passing shipping traffic from the nearby Circular Quays to watch, great chance for people-watching as the masses stream in (behind you) and of course the occasional beer and spicy sausage roll to keep the dehydration and hunger pangs at bay. That takes you to 12 noon, which means there are now only 12 more hours in the baking Sydney sun, with your very own concrete patch to sit on and the crowds wanting to edge closer because the beer garden and portable toilets are not where they really want to be.
But somehow the time passes quicker than you can imagine…stand for 15 minutes, sit for 15 minutes. Stretch that to 20 minute spells and there are only 3 position changes in an hour…time flies at that rate.
Suddenly the aerobatic team fill the sky over the sweeping shells of the Opera House and another hour has passed. The sun starts setting and the bridge turns gold. Taking that all in speeds up the watch again and suddenly it is dark and the 9PM “family” fireworks light up the sky. Bright and loud, and gratefully it moves the time along as well as giving everyone a chance to get used to taking their photographs of fireworks in the night sky. Sony rules!
Just 150 minutes until the real thing…and the minutes drag but also fly past. The legs and back are starting to complain, the effects of a day in the sun are taking their toll yet deep down you do not want it to end…let this feeling of being one with another 1,5M souls last forever!
The “oooh” from the crowd is deafening as the countdown projected onto the pylon of the bridge begins. 10, 9, 8…the crowd counts down with the projected images.
And somehow 10 seconds has never passed so quickly.
The crack and sizzle of the display is drowned out by sighing of the crowd…the visual impact is almost too great to comprehend….the colours are like an exploding kaleidoscope.
And just as suddenly it began, so it ends.
20 minutes have passed and you cannot remember drawing a single breath. You experienced it. You lived it. You shared it with 1,5M fellow inhabitants of the planet and you were all drawn into the centre of the display. No outside world while the heavens reverberated and the exploding colours ruled the skies.
But then reality sets in… a long walk back to hotel or transport. On tired legs with a back begging for a horizontal position.
And when the first sun of the New Year rises later that morning, the body is quick to remind you that it spent 14 hours the previous day on a concrete sidewalk and has no intention of playing golf today. None what-so-ever.
So take the advice, avoid having to be surprised by the body’s complaints on New Year’s day and simply mark it off in advance as a rest day and book an early tee-off for the 2 January.
You will enjoy your first round of the New Year a lot more! Guaranteed!