Caddie Golf Tours

All systems go for the various team members of the Oystercatcher Golf Society...a rag bag of enthusiastic (so-so) golfers that put as much energy into the "socialising society" aspect of meeting twice a year as they do the golf. 2012's first outing begins this coming weekend and the omens are for fair weather, no rain, at the historic links of  www. northberwickgolfclub .com  . Two rounds of classic Scottish links golf has been booked to play, Saturday and Sunday, on the Championship links that is used for Final Qualifying when the Open Championship is held on the great Muirfield links only 5 minutes up the road. A wonderful pedigree and a golf course that I, along with most Scottish golfers, place in their Top 5 golf courses in Scotland. The added bonus this year will be the accommodation that Caddie Golf Tours have managed to secure for the group, and a massive thanks goes to the delightful owner of the 5 Star   www. northberwickgolflodge .co.uk/  , Emma...

A beautiful day here at Home of Golf, Scotland, so the question is golf practice or golf?!? Dilemma!

A new golf club is in the latter stages of being established in St. Andrews, the Home of Golf. The 'St Andrews Caddies Golf Club' will officially launch on the 27th February 2012 proving that Auld Grey Toon and its legendary Caddies do not stand still and are intent on bucking the trend for doom & gloom in the golf industry. The web site is near completion, the Facebook page is up and running but no news on a G+ page as yet. I will be having a wee word in their ear! St Andrews Caddies Golf Club - HomeThe St Andrews Caddies Golf Club accepts golfers from all over the world and holds various golfing events and social gatherings throughout the golfing calender

The wonderfully luxurious Roxburghe Hotel & Golf Course has kindly joined forces with Caddie Golf Tours allowing us to bring our clients the opportunity to stay, play and relax in this beautiful country retreat based 80 minutes south of Edinburgh. The Roxburghe was home for the Scottish Senior Open Championship for 5 years and is set in the stunning grounds of the estate. Please contact Caddie Golf Tours for preferential rates for golf and accommodation at the hotel. The Roxburghe Estate - Roxburghe Country House Hotel and Floors Castle The Roxburghe estate is owned by the Duke and Duchess of Roxburghe. The land incorporates agriculture, let houses, farm land, sporting pursuits as well as the site of Floors Castle and the Roxburghe...

From the beginning of January 2012 the Old Course Ballot tee times have been printed 48 hours before play and, in a good move, the St. Andrews Links Trust have announced today that any tee times not allocated via the Ballot will be made available to golfers who contact their Reception (+44 (0)1334 466 666). These tee times will be on a first come first served basis and any available slots still to be filled can be accessed on the day by talking to the Old Course Starter in person. Now, before we bring out the band and set off the firework display, it should be pointed out that the only time of the year tee time slots are not fully taken up on the Old Course is during the low season, November-March, and the Links Trust will run this as a wee experiment until the end of this March. There is no reason for it not to work and it should prove popular as long as you recognise that you will be playing off 'astroturf' mats to protect the fairways. Overall a good move for tho...

The first 2012 golf outing for the OysterCatcher Golf Society will be held over the last weekend in February and the members will be residing in the wonderfully indulgent North Berwick Golf Lodge, www.northberwickgolflodge.co.uk , situated about a 25 minute drive south of Edinburgh. The golfers are booked on the historic West Links at North Berwick over the first couple of days. Two tee times have been arranged for Saturday 25th at 13.09 & 13.18pm and Sunday at 12.33 & 12.42pm. If I may suggest, the second round will allow the participants an opportunity to 'right' the shots lost the previous day. 'Perfection' the Par4 14th green North Berwick West Links The golf course was founded in 1832 and golf has been played over this links ever since. It is regulary used as a Final Qualifying venue when the Open Championship is held at Muirfield and will be again when the Open is played there in 2013. More details and history can be found at http://www.northber...

The first 2012 golf outing for the OysterCatcher Golf Society will be held over the last weekend in February and the members will be residing in the wonderfully indulgent North Berwick Golf Lodge, www.northberwickgolflodge.co.uk   The OysterCatcher 2012 Spring Competition will be played over a selection of the East Coast's best golf links: North Berwick West, Gullane 1&2, Dunbar and perhaps Craigielaw. Tee times are being actively pursued and should not present any problems at this time of year. Let the discussions begin about where we play. I will put out a wee thought to my fellow OysterCatcher Golf Society members that we may have to be physically prepared for what the Scottish golfing Gods will throw our way weather wise...it is February after all!     

This is the Visit Scotland video that will be shown in the cinema, a wee bit longer.

Some fantastic images from the new 2012 TV advert from Visit Scotland.

Exclusive Offer April Golf 2012  Kingsbarns and Fairmont St. Andrews Monday - Wednesday April 2012 Two nights accommodation Fairmont St. Andrews Full Scottish Breakfast each morning 18 holes of Golf at Kingsbarns Golf Links 18 holes of Golf at The Torrance Course From  £349  per golfer based on double occupancy Kingsbarns Golf Links, Par3 15th Exclusive Offer October Golf 2012  Kingsbarns and Fairmont St. Andrews Monday - Wednesday October 2012 Two nights accommodation Fairmont St. Andrews Full Scottish Breakfast each morning 18 holes of Golf at Kingsbarns Golf Links  18 holes of Golf on The Torrance Course  From  £369   per golfer based on double occupancy The Torrance Course, 18th green and fairway Please contact Caddie Golf Tours for availability of the above two offers Kingsbarns Golf Links and The Torrance Course both are used as Open qualifying venues when the Championship...

The St. Andrews Links Trust will be making changes to the operation of the Local Ballot (lottery) that will be used by golfers to attain an Old Course tee time during 2012. The alteration will entail the tee times being drawn two days ahead of the day the golfers wish to play. Behind 17th Road hole green Old Course St.Andrews Approximately 50% of the tee times from Monday-Saturday (the Old Course is closed on a Sunday) are distributed by applying via the Local Ballot, when in St. Andrews, and not in possession of a pre-booked date and time. The change will occur from Saturday, 7th January 2012, when the Ballot will be drawn for golf to be played two days later on Monday, 9th January. This procedure will continue throughout 2012. More information can be found using the following link:  http://www.standrews.org.uk/News/Latest-News/The-Old-Course-Ballot-changes-to-48-hours-ahead-in.aspx

A limited amount of Tee Times for golf on the Old Course at St. Andrews have become available for 2012 season.  The dates are in late April, mid-late May, 18th green Old Course, St Andrews 1/2 dozen through late June and a few spread across July. Please contact Caddie Golf Tours via my web site www.caddiegolftours.com for specific dates and include t he name of the Lead Golfer plus  the Names and Numbers of the golfers in party.  The tee times for the Old Course are much sought after and there are a finite number being released so why not contact your fellow golfers this weekend and we can begin the process of arranging your trip to St. Andrews. 

The Caddie Golf Tours web site has had an overhaul and is now up and running on the Internet. After typing in www.caddiegolftours.com you may have to 'refresh' your page to replace the older site with the new model. Please have a look and leave or post comments about the appearance and content of the site. Cheers, John. 

One of my golfing clients, Todd, keeps in regular touch with a short list of 'Thoughts of the Week'. The following was included recently and I thought I would share... Two Wolves One evening an old Cherokee told his grandson about a great battle that goes on inside people. He said, "My son, the battle is between the Two Wolves inside us all: One is Evil and it is made up of anger, jealousy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority and ego. The Other is Good with joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion and faith within." The young grandson thought about this for a minute or so, and the n asked his grandfather, "Which wolf wins?" The wise old Cherokee replied, "The one you feed."

A wonderful  result for the golfing Boynes last Saturday as we managed a round on the Old Course, St Andrews, courtesy of two golfers from France who kindly let us be matched up with them. I had checked the Ballot tee time listing the previous evening and noticed that there was a couple of two balls at 11.30 & 11.50am. So why not go check with the Old Course Starter and see if we could tag onto one of them? LB on par5 5th fairway, Old Course  The weather, as can be seen from the photographs, was simply fantastic for a November day with no need to get wrapped up in too many layers of clothing. The par3 11th tee and 'The Admirals Bench ' The infamous 'Shell Bunker' being re-built  A few areas of the Old Course are roped off as Ground Under Repair, but this does not hinder your enjoyment of golfing on the historic links, and the course is closed every Monday through to the middle of December for annual maintenance work by the greenkeepers. Shell Bunke...

Friday 28th October, I completed my final caddy round of the 2011 golf season on the historic Balcomie Links based 10 miles south of St. Andrews at the delightful fishing village of Crail. What a wonderful golf course this is, it has been far too long since I was last upon it.   The par4 5th on Balcomie Links, Crail The Mullen Party from Germany have been coming to St. Andrews for the last couple of years around this time and after golf on the Jubilee, Old and New courses at the St Andrews Links the lead golfer invited three of the caddies up to Crail for their final round in Scotland. The weather had been kind all week and it remained so which was an excellent bonus.   Swilcan Bridge, Old Course The Old Course was closed to visitors on Friday as the R&A Golf Club had their end of season shotgun competition and they rarely take caddies during this event, so an invitation to Crail's Balcomie Links for our last 18 holes of the golf season was w...

The R&A have completed their revision of the rules of golf in conjunction with the USGA for the next four years. The following Q&A has been lifted from the R&A web site :http://www.randa.org/ David Rickman, The R&A’s Director of Rules and Equipment Standards, discusses the changes The Rules of golf, like the wider game itself, are constantly evolving. For the Rules of Golf 2012-15, a total of 101 proposed changes were considered. These ranged from the very minor - improved grammar or changes to cross-references - to some that would have resulted in fundamental changes to the way the game is played. David Rickman, The R&A’s Director of Rules and Equipment Standards, talks through some of the key changes and others that were considered but ultimately did not make the cut. Q. What in your view are the big changes for 2012-15? A. The two changes I would highlight are the Rules concerning smoothing sand or soil in a hazard and the ball moving after the player h...

The following news was announced on the official web site of the R&A last week: The Open Championship returns to St Andrews in 2015. The Open will return to the Home of Golf in 2015 when the 144th Championship is played at St Andrews from 16-19 July. It will be the 29th time that golf’s oldest Major has been held over the Old Course. Africa’s Louis Oosthuizen won by seven shots with a 16-under par total of 272 when The Open was last held at St Andrews in 2010.   The R&A’s Chief Executive Peter Dawson said: “We are delighted to announce that The Open will be returning to St Andrews and the historic Old Course in 2015. St Andrews has proved time and again that it is perfectly equipped to host The Open and I am certain we will yet again see a worthy winner lift the Claret Jug. Players, spectators and officials alike will welcome a return to the game’s spiritual home and I fully expect that we will witness another thrilling Championship.” Euan Loudon, Chief Executive o...

A few pics taken from the final practice day of the Dunhill Links Championship at a very sunny and delightfully warm Old Course, St Andrews.  Rory attending to media duties World No1 Luke Donald on the range 2011 Open Champion  Darren Clarke  Spanish golfer Alvaro Quiros on 16th green Old Course Alvaro Quiros on 17th Road hole green  The iconic view of the Old Course, St Andrews The weather is set fair, sunny and warm over the next few days for the Dunhill Links Championship. It is being played over the Old, Carnoustie and Kingsbarns and with such a strong field of the world's golfers in attendance we should be treated to some great links golf. Hopefully see some of you out there on the links.

I took this photograph of the resting place of a third drive from the 1st tee of the Old Course, the first and second drives went sailing Out of Bounds on the right...heading towards the West Sands beach here at St. Andrews. I was passing the Rangers golf buggy at the time and heard the crash as it hit his cart. Al and I thought the golf ball had a richochet onto the fairway but we could not see it, so we reversed the buggy to see if the ball was underneath. No luck. Then as Alisdair positioned the golf cart back onto Granny Clarks Wynd I 'found' the unfortunate golfer's third drive lodged between the windscreen wiper and window of the Ranger's buggy. We subsequently found out, as the golfer approached us, that he had failed to call his 'third' drive as a provisional ball so even though his golf ball was in 'play', he had to play where his fourth drive finished, the middle of the fairway. By my calculations the unfortunate golfer wa...