Leven Links

Our survey of the courses in the Kindom of Fife continues and we come to Leven Links (pronounced like even, not seven). It’s next to Lundin Links, separated only by the Mile Dyke, a prominent stone wall. Leven is considerably older, dating to the early 1800s. It’s interesting in that the links are public land but golf is governed jointly by the two separate golf club; the Leven Golfing Society and the Leven Thistle Golf Club. During our 2008 trip it was our first round, played on the day we arrived in Scotland. We were a little late arriving from Edinburgh International Airport (EDI) and had some minor difficulties finding the clubhouse. We were about to miss our tee time. The starter was very accommodating and suggested we have some lunch and then tee off in about an hour. The Leven Golfing Society is housed in a stunning Victorian era clubhouse. We ordered our lunch at the lounge bar and sat at a table near the large windows that overlook the course. Immediately we were engaged by some friendly members. They told us that the two clubs have a somewhat adversarial relationship each having different priorities. Rules changes are frequent and spending priorities change depending on which club holds a majority on the governing council. For example, the budget for course maintenance oscillates between a high and low amounts depending on who is in charge. In any case the food was great and we were rested and ready to begin our round.

The course shares many attributes with Lundin Links. It’s first few holes play to the East but not immediately along the coast as it is separated from the water by a caravan park, some recreational facilities and a car park (parking lot). Nonetheless great views of the Firth of Forth, with Bass Rock in the distance, were afforded at every turn. My journal from 2008 says that it is true links golf with large, firm greens. Nearer the ocean the holes play in valleys between low, grass covered dunes. The grass was long but wispy. Farther from the ocean gorse bushes line the fairways. Like all links courses, it is virtually devoid of trees so long rough, gorse and bunkers constitute the hazards. The lack of trees might sound good but there is a significant drawback. There are few targets at which to aim and shelter from the wind. Only when we turned back to the West with the backdrop of the town on the horizon could we pick out church steeples, smokestacks and ‘tall’ buildings to aid us with our aim. As the links are public land we saw many people walking on the links, often with their dogs. After an enjoyable round we returned to the lounge bar in the clubhouse for a pint and more companionship with the members before we headed to St Andrews.

ODL


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Video Fun

-ODL

ML

Today is a day of great significance. Not for President Obama's State of the Union address, or 'Prom Night' as it is being called. I don't mean to downplay the importance of the speech because I am sure that it does have some significance.

In the context of this blog it is more important that today marks four years since we lost a father, brother, uncle and friend. The coming excursion would have been much better if he had been able to join us.

ODL

Lundin Links

It’s now only approximately 68 weeks until the pilgrimage. I won’t mention how much money you should now have saved because you know and I’m sure you’re on pace so far or ahead.

The subject is Lundin Links, an outstanding course on the Firth of Forth, about 15 miles from St Andrews. It has the ‘hidden gems’ designation on the www.golf.visitscotland.com website and it’s used for final qualifying when the Open is played at St. Andrews. It’s a hybrid, links and parkland course, with most of the holes just above sea level on the links land. However the twelfth hole plays distinctly up hill to a plateau green and thirteenth plays along the hilltop overlooking the rest of the course below. Hole fourteen plays sharply down hill to the level of the other holes.

Old Tom Morris originally laid it out as nine holes that ran out and back between a rail line and the sea, two fairways wide. Later the course was expanded to eighteen holes, and out of necessity to the northern side of the railroad. The rail line was abandoned in the 1960s but the old railroad bed is obvious and still plays as an in course out of bounds, just as it did when the rail line was in use.

We played Lundin Links in 2007 towards the end our trip and though I have fond memories they are no longer crystal clear. I really regret that I didn’t keep a journal that year. The first several holes play out along the coast, crossing two burns. We played directly into a strong wind. and I wasn’t able to reach the green on the longish par fours. Playing with the wind was a different story. There is ample rough between the fairways but in May it isn’t too thick. The real hazard is the whins, or gorse as it is called in England.

Many clubs offer specials that includes greens fees and lunch or dinner. Lundin Links is one of the few courses where we took advantage of them. After the round we retired to the clubhouse for lunch where we were treated like members in good standing. The food was great, the staff was friendly and perhaps we even had a pint!

All the best,

ODL

How do golf holes get their names?

As you guys are aware they often use both numbers and names to describe golf holes in Scotland, but how do they come up with these names? This is a good question. Sometimes it’s quite obvious. Virtually every golf fan knows that the seventeenth hole on the Old Course at St Andrews is also called ‘Road’. More astute golfers may know that the tenth hole on the Old Course, a relatively short par 4, is called ‘Bobby Jones’. If one knew the history of the St Andrews and Robert Tyre Jones II, the choice might be clear.

Good names are often repeated. For example the eighteenth hole leading back to the clubhouse, is often called ‘Home’. I was recently perusing some old score cards from prior trips to Scotland and noticed that the final hole was called ‘Home’ or ‘Hame’ at the Golf House Club at Elie, North Berwick GC, Nairn GC, Scotscraig GC, Tain GC, Cruden Bay GC and Royal Dornoch GC. I’m sure there are many more examples where this name is used.

Sometimes the holes have more unusual names, often with some sort of story behind them known only by the members of the club. The thirteenth hole at the Nairn Dunbar Golf Club has an interesting name. When I visited Scotland in 2007 each of my fellow competitors attempted to convince me that it was named after them (see picture).

All the best,

ODL

Prices Change Constantly

If there is one thing that I never get tired of as a Travel Agent, it’s explaining to passengers that airline prices are not constant (the only thing constant about airline prices in fact, is the fact that they change!) From year-to-year, month-to-month, and even day-to-day they can go up or down due to a variety of external factors including seat-availability, fuel costs, tax changes, economic and governmental regulations (among others).

That said I did a little investigative searching today for the price of air tickets from May 1st through May 15th (2011) and checked departures from Boston, Cleveland, and Phoenix (to both London and Edinburgh).

Approximate Cost of Travel to The Promise Land*

Cities	Boston	Cleveland	Phoenix
London	700	900	875
Edinburgh	750	1000	1150

As I mentioned above, these figures can be taken with somewhat of a grain of salt as airfare is subject to change but it does provide some interesting insights, namely:

• Tickets to Edinburgh are generally 7-24% more expensive than tickets to London
• Ticket prices increase at an approximate rate of 20 cents a mile the farther you get away from the United Kingdom.

Okay, maybe getting a bit carried away here but what can I say, I’m excited. Ticket prices for May of 2012 won’t be released until July or August so we can probably table this item for a while, just wanted to have a quick look now as we are forming our budget.

Cheers,

Young Dan Lux

* Prices are listed in US Dollars and include base fare, taxes, and fuel surcharges. Prices have been rounded to the nearest 25 dollars for simplicity.

Charting the way

I put together a crude Google MyMap of our trip. Dad, I've emailed you a request to be a collaborater. Let me know if you are unsure as to what that means. Dylan, we need to get you a gmail account so you can jump on board!


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-Young Dan Lux

In the spirit!

In the spirit of our renewed commitment to the completion of a long-held dream, I wore my team Scotland Rugby jersey (given to me years ago by Old Dan Lux) to work today!

-Young Dan Lux

Dispatches from Old Dan Lux - 70 Weeks Until the Pilgrimage

D&D,

This is the first of many updates I will send you as a prelude to our pilgrimage to bonnie auld (beautiful old) Scotland, home of the best golf in the world. It marks the end of the first week in our 70 week run up to the journey, so by now you should have saved $20-25. If you save $25/week you will have almost all the money you need for the trip. If the sum is $20/week, you probably will be a little short, but close to what you need. Of course the actual cost of the trip depends on the exchange rate, but I digress.

Photo courtesy of Elie Golf Course

The subject of this correspondence is the Golf House Club at Elie or simply Elie. Allen Ferguson, in his book Golf in Scotland, refers to Elie as a links-heathland hybrid. I saw little heath (heather) at Elie. Perhaps that’s just because I successfully avoided the rough all the way around. We know better than that! Whether it’s a true links course or a heathland layout is somewhat irrelevant, but I can say for sure, there are no trees on the course, zero! 


Heather, also called heath, is a ground hugging bush that is green in the summer and comes into bloom with beautiful small lavender flowers. It grows wild on the mountains in the Highlands and turns the hillsides pale purple during the late summer and early fall. In winter it turns brown and remains so throughout the spring. It makes up a significant part of the rough on heathland courses and is very difficult from which to hit. Like I said, I don’t remember much heather at Elie. 

The Periscope: Photo Courtesy of Elie G.C.

Elie is a tiny villlage on the north side of the Firth of Forth. People once depended on fishing for their livelihood. Now it is a tourist destination with many summer home, B&B’s and rental apartments.  The clubhouse is just off the main road through Elie, and the first hole plays away from town. The course developed naturally but benefited from the helping hand of Old Tom Morris who polished off the design in the late 1800’s. The first hole plays up and over a giant grass-covered sand dune. It’s easy to drive your ball up and over the dune, but you can’t see if other golfers have cleared the landing zone. The members solved this problem by acquiring a periscope from an WWII submarine, the base of which is housed in the starter house. He can look over the hill and determine when to play away. The large dune dominates the first three holes and then it’s down and to the South, towards the Firth of Forth. A firth is an estuary, or bay, at the mouth of a river where it feeds into the ocean. 

Courtesy of Elie G.C.

The first ten holes plays out to the ocean, where there is a stretch of three fantastic holes (11, 12 &13) that play along a beach. These holes curve right to left and favor a slight draw. From this part of the course you can look across the firth to North Berwick or down the firth to the west to see Edinburgh. The subsequent holes lead back to town and the clubhouse. Elie is a bit peculiar in that it has no par fives and two par threes. Fairways are generous and are separated by areas of rough. I played there in May 2010 and remember it as grassy but I suppose there could be some heather amongst it, but don’t remember it as punishing unless you draw an unlucky lie. There are numerous bunkers but it don’t remember much about them. I suppose that means I wasn’t in many. On the way out and home, a hook can take you off the course and into serious trouble. 


Dave McMahon and I played on a Sunday afternoon in May. I remember several significant aspects of the round. First, we played late in the afternoon but not late enough to get a significant discount on the greens fees. The starter was a friendly old geezer and told Dave and I that it looked like a senior and junior player (yeah right!),and he charged us accordingly. He saved us quite a few quid (as they would say in the UK). Very nice old guy. Second, we experienced a sever thunderstorm, a very rare occurrence in Scotland. Thankfully they have restroom facilities out on the course where we could take cover. There we met four young guys who also took shelter in the lieu. The good news is that they had beer. These guys were about to graduate from St Andrews University and were having a celebratory round. They were true gentlemen as their mothers had taught had taught them to respect and share with their elders. 


The last bit of information I will share with you is that Elie is the course on which James Braid played as he grew up. Braid is not a particularly significant figure in American golf, but he was part of the great triumvirate along with Harry Vardon and Ted Ray in the pre-Bobby Jones era. The three won many championships and at the time were almost considered unbeatable, sort of an earlier version of Palmer, Nicklaus and Player. Braid went on to design many courses around Scotland.


On previous trips to Scotland I had overlooked Elie. It is now on my must play list. The course is probably less than 15 miles from the first tee on the Old Course and should be high on our list of choices for the trip. 


-Old Dan Lux



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The Premise

In the spring of 2012, three Lux men will travel to the birthplace of golf to fulfill a dream...

This site will document the time leading up to our trip, and of course, our trip in all it's glory, 70 short weeks from now.

-Young Dan Lux