Scotland on my Mind by Dan King Monday, July 15th

I didn't play golf at all today, though I did walk a golf course in the evening (more on that later). Today I dropped Mark Koenig off at Glasgow airport and headed toward Lytham & St. Annes to watch the Open. I figured I'd take a day or two to get down there. I had a few choices of places to stop and finally went with Southerness, along the Solway Coast below Dumfries. It is close to 2 hours out of my way on the road to Britain, but many people asked me to check out this course. James Finegan, in his book, Blasted Heaths and Blessed Greens, thought very highly of Southerness.

A note on Finegan's book. The book came out not long after we started organizing this trip. We went with many of his recommendations. Almost constantly his opinion was spot-on. Toward the end of my trip, I started feeling like I needed to check out courses other than the ones he recommended, but Finegan's book is too good. He catches all the great links courses of Scotland. In planning a links tour of Scotland, his book is the best for a getting a feel of the various courses.

I got to Southerness around 6 in the evening, after spending some of the afternoon sightseeing around Dumfries. Dumfries is along the River Nith and were the Scottish poet Robert Burns lived for much of his life. He died and was buried there, 200 years ago this year.

I couldn't play Southerness in the evening, there was a medal tournament in process. However, the pro did say I could go out and walk a bit of the course and he also gave me advise on where to stay. I checked into the Cavens House, just up the road in Kirkbean and went back to walk the course.

Southerness runs along the Mersehead Sands on the northern shore of the Solway Firth. There are views of Britain to the south with Maryport being the larger city. To the west you can make out the Isle of Man, and not far beyond the shores of Northern Ireland. The course raps around some grazing land in the middle and then heads out to the sand dunes bordering the Mersehead Sands. Around the 10th hole, I thought I saw a trail over the dunes, through the natural grasses, heather and gorse. It seemed to only be about 300 yards to the top of the dunes. I got about 150 yards out on the trail when it ended, but I was close so continued on. I did a bit of zigzagging to avoid the heavier gorse, and almost reached the destination, when I landed hip deep into a hidden burn. My memory flashed to an article I read in one of the golf magazines about Tom Weiskopf almost losing his life while working on Loch Lomond. Lucky for me, all I lost was my right shoe and my dignity. The walk back to my car, covered in muck was embarrassing. Sure enough, as I got to the clubhouse, the pro came out to make fun of my stupid Americanism. The lengths I go to in order to bring you a story. I threw away the extra shoe and the pants (did they smell terrible) and hurried back to the Cavens House for a warm shower. The rest of the course can wait until tomorrow.

Since I don't really have golf to report, I'll take this space to tell you about some of my book purchases in Scotland. My van has become a traveling library, with books taking up most of the room of the van. I think I'll probably have to ship them home, since they will probably put me over the baggage weight limit.

Victory: The Story of the 1995 Ryder Cup, by Dermot Gilleece, Jock Howard, Graham Spiers, and Alex Spinks
Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1996

Bought these two books early on in my trip. Hell's Golfer is the story of a golfer who rides his motorcycle across the west coast, playing golf along the way. A fun read. Victory in the story of the 1995 Ryder Cup from the European view point. Not as interesting as I had hoped.

A great read. I read this book in one sitting. I figured with the Open in Britain this year, reading about Cotton was appropriate.

A beautiful, if slightly expensive reprint of a very important golf book. I bought this one from Mr. Archie Baird in Gullane. One of only 500 reprints done, mine is numbered 320. Only problem with this book is it weighs in at about 10 pounds.

A well done book on the history of Royal Aberdeen, an important club in golf history.

St. Andrews Golf Links: The First 600 Years, by Tom Jarrett
Mainstream Publishing, 1995

I bought these two books at a book store in Dornoch. The Price book is a wonderful book telling the history of golf courses in Scotland. The book by Jarrett I had autographed by the author while in St. Andrews. It's a good read before playing the Old Course, giving history of the holes and many of the more important bunkers.

The Scots School Dictionary
published by Chambers, 1996

Bought these two books at a book store in downtown St. Andrews. The humorous stories book is mostly stories I have read elsewhere. The Scots Dictionary has come in handy on my reports back.

The Crail Golfing Society 1936-1986, by John Macdonald
St. Andrews University Press, 1986

Wonderfully done club history. I bought this two volume set, in a beautiful burgundy slip cover from Graeme Lennie, the pro at Balcomie. This was the last of these books available.

A very small book, more like a pamphlet, about Machrihanish. Sold for £1.00 at the clubhouse there.

The American Golfer, edited by Charles Price
Aisla Inc., 1987

The Art of Golf, by Sir W. G. Simpson, Bart.
Aisla Inc., 1992

Bought these books at a used book store in the old part of St. Andrews on Union Street. The prices were much better than anything I'd seen in the states for the same books. While some of the Collection of Golf series published by Aisla Inc. are difficult to come by in the States, they seem to have an abundance of them here in Scotland. The F.G. Tait book I read while sitting out on the rocks on the beach at St. Andrews. Very good book.

Darwin on the Green, by Bernard Darwin
Souvenir Press, 1986

Found these two books in a used book store in Dumfries for £5.00 each. Couldn't resist buying them. Talk to you tomorrow.

Dan King

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