Caddie Golf Tours

My two golfing guests, Andy & David, duly arrived from Glasgow this morning at the St. Andrews Links Clubhouse where I was waiting to inform that we were teeing off from on New Course at 10.24am. Plenty of time to enjoy a bacon sandwich, coffee and tea before hitting the astounding New Course. Post bacon sandwich at St. Andrews Links Clubhouse  A wee bit cold with cloud cover and winds from the east that eventually burned off and the second nine was bathed in sunshine that progressively warmer as our round continued, excellent. Par 3 ninth tee & scores are checked while we wait to tee off A Stableford Competition was played today: 1point Bogey, 2 points Par, 3 points Birdie, 4 points eagle. I played rather poorly today and only hit 24 points but David and Andy shot 32 & 31 respectively in tricky windy conditions. Good putting from both...and they lost less golf balls than I!!! Andy and  David in front of the St. Andrews Golf Club After our lunch ...

Two of my golfing friends, Gary & Matt, from the USA have returned to St. Andrews this week and will be staying in the town for the next 4-6 weeks, playing golf on the links most days. Gary & Mark walking past Caddie Pavilion on route to New Course Like returning migratory birds these two golfers have been arriving in St. Andrews at the end of May or beginning of June for the 12 seasons that I have been caddying here at St. Andrews. Matt always travelled with his father, the legendary Jinx who sadly passed away a couple of years ago, for their stay in the town and it is great that he has continued to visit his second home. Gary a retired pilot is involved with the St. Andrews Golf Club and assists with the prestigious top amateur event held on the Old Course at this time called the Links Trophy. Marvelous.

I have just had a look at the Ballot results for tomorrow, Monday 3rd June, and the Chinese golfers have arrived and in big numbers. Old Course 1st fairway getting a trim. I wonder how they managed to secure eight consecutive tee times upon the Old Course from 09.10 - 10.20am? Extraordinary. http://www.standrews.org.uk/Ballot/Ballot-Results?date=03/06/2013 I do hope that they will respect the venerable links and maintain a decent pace of play though recent history tells me it will be a tough gig for the caddies.

The Coffey golfers from Boston, USA, arrived at Edinburgh Airport this afternoon and after picking up their car from the ever reliable Arnold Clark they followed me up the road to St. Andrews, stop at a very sunny Jigger Inn to chat about the golfing week to come over a deserved beer and enjoy the iconic view across the Old Course. Alongside 1st fairway of Old Course at St. Andrews It was then onward and a 5 minute journey to their accommodation at the Fairmont Hotel where Caddie Golf Tours job is done for today. Time to let the couples have some relax time, acclimatise and look forward to their stay in Scotland.  1st tee Eden Course St. Andrews The boys golf tomorrow on the Eden Course here in St. Andrews which will be perfect for their 'warm-up' round before tackling the adjacent Old Course on Monday 27th and New Course on Tuesday. I do hope this lovely change in the weather continues and the Coffey's enjoy a sparkling St. Andrews and Scotland.

I returned to St. Andrews Caddie Pavilion today after my rather full week with my Caddie Golf Tours Operator hat on. The 12 golfers from Chicago had a fantastic time in St. Andrews and I am sure we will see them again, great fun and good golf was had by all. Caddie Pavilion St. Andrews The day job now beckons for the next three weeks with the R&A Golf Club holding their annual Spring Meeting there will be few jobs for the St. Andrews caddies this week but, I do have my R&A golfer over from San Francisco and HK tees off tomorrow morning on the Old Course in what is promising to be a beautiful sunshine day with little wind. Perfect.

This was the second golf match against our yearly Spring visitors from Sweden. These guys have been coming to St. Andrews for over 10 years and the caddies have built up friendships that has resulted in this 'Grand Match' which was won again by the St. Andrews Caddies. A superb day of golf on one of the world's great links courses with friends from Europe. We also had one of the Swedish golfers produce a 'hole-in-one' at the Par3 2nd, wonderful stuff. Clicking on the text above will take you to my G+ page and more photographs taken of the match at Kingsbarns Golf Links.

Sunshine on Caddie Pavilion at Old Course last week. Next week finally brings an improvement to the temperature in Scotland and St. Andrews in particular, at last double figures if not exactly tropical. Looks a wee bit windy on Tuesday with it blowing up to 28mph. Click on the text above to be taken to BBC Weather in St. Andrews for next week.

Finally...my 2013 caddie season on the links of St. Andrews begins tomorrow 28th March at 10.10am with Klaus, from Germany, who I caddied with last July. He has kept in touch via a few emails and informed me in December that he and Marion, his wife, had secured their tee time on the Old Course. The stroll up 18th fairway of the Old Course It will obviously be good to be back out on the great links and as a bonus we will be staying for the weekend to open our holiday home (read caravan), prepare it for the season ahead, play some golf, meet some friends and enjoy life back in the Kingdom of Golf.

Caddie Golf Tours at Machrihanish GC Caddie Golf Tours are heading to Scotland's Mull of Kintyre for a weekend of golf, luxury and good food with the Oystercatchers Golf Society this Friday 15th March. This is our annual Spring Meeting and our thanks must go to The Village at Machrihanish Dunes for their assistance with our luxury accommodation in the Ugadale Cottages, Ugadale Hotel and our tee times. Marvelous.

"Is the Old Course a must play on this tour?"  If this is a one-off trip the answer will probably be a resounding  YES  and serious thought must now be given on how you get a tee time at this historic golf course. I thought it would be a good idea to write a piece about preparing a golf tour to Scotland and St. Andrews in particular.  The iconic Old Course view There are t ens of thousands of golfers from across the World who have a desire to make a pilgrimage to the Home of Golf and advanced  planning is strongly recommended as this will assist in getting you guaranteed tee times  to golf the legendary Scottish Links especially those of the Old Course in St. Andrews, Muirfield, Royal Troon, Turnberry, Carnoustie and Prestwick. Practice putting green Old Course St. Andrews These great golf courses are the ones that generally appear at the top of the 'must golf' list for those who travel to Scotland and are therefore oversubscrib...

Wrapped up after a February round on the Old Course St. Andrews I truly love this time year...sure it is cold and one has to wear the appropriate clothing but it is good to get out on the golf course and swing a club. Golf 2013 is just around the corner with the, hoped for, warmth of a Scottish Spring replacing the brutal cold of January and February.

 Golf on Scotland's East Coast The Clubhouse at Royal Aberdeen GC This wonderfully rich area of classic Scottish links golf is becoming ever more popular with golfers and we are delighted to offer one or two night stays in Aberdeen for those wishing to test themselves on a mix of the historic golf courses at Royal Aberdeen, Murcar and Cruden Bay or the new kid on the block Trump International Golf Links. 18th hole, Trump International Golf Links One Night Trip from £395 / $622 per golfer Day 1:  Arrive in Aberdeen and transfer to golf at Trump International Golf Links Overnight in four star Malmaison Hotel in Aberdeen city centre, two sharing room with breakfast Day 2: Golf at Royal Aberdeen Golf Club Depart Aberdeen 5th green at Murcar Golf Club Two Night Trip from £540 / $850 per golfer Day 1:  Arrive in Aberdeen and transfer to golf at Murcar Golf Club Two night stay at four star Malmaison Hotel in Aberdeen city centre,...

A number of advanced and secured 2013 tee times for golf on the Old Course at St. Andrews have been released and are available to all golfers via Caddie Golf Tours.   Thomas Party 1st tee Old Course, August 2012 We can access dates in April, May, June, July and a couple of days in October of 2013. Now is the time that you have a wee chat with three of your best golfing partners and persuade them that this is the year to fulfill that dream of golfing on the great links at St. Andrews. Caddie Golf Tours will be applying for these Old Course tee times on Wednesday 9th January 2013 and to do so we will require the following information to proceed: name of Lead Golfer names of golfers handicaps of golfers golf club memberships dates available to play Mike Thomas drives from 1st on the Old Course, August 2012 Please do not hesitate to contact me at Caddie Golf Tours via email, G+ or Facebook for more information on how you and your golfing partners can be ...