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At Dollar I got my one and only hole in one.
In actual fact Dollar was a very hilly course and the 2nd hole was just about vertical as it was the one that took you up and onto the course so it just needed a nine iron. You couldn't see the green as it was at the top of the hill so you just aimed at a marker stick. I remember being convinced I'd had a good shot but no sign of the ball when I arrived at the top. Looked all over the place and just couldn't find it and so gave up and told my partner to just hole out. When he did that was when he found my ball.
As an aside to that Dewar's were offering a bottle of their whisky to anyone that wrote in with proof they had got a home in one with a story of how they did it. I forgot all about that when my boarding house master suddenly appeared saying "McIntyre... my study!". He then showed me a bottle of Dewar's whisky and asked why I was having alcohol sent to me at the boarding house? He was obviously ready to do something nasty to me. When I explained the circumstances he was all smiles but said I'll of course keep this for you and you can get it when school breaks for the holidays.
As to Glenbervie that was a very good inland course just outside Falkirk on the way to Stirling. John Panton was the professional there. As it happened John Panton didn't drink alcohol but he seemed to win any competition where whisky was the prize. They had a great club house with marvelous views. They had a men only room, then a general room for men and women and a very good dining room. I got to a six handicap playing there.
Falkirk was a new course where my father was treasurer for the first few years and then became club captain. It was a good course and also well organised for playing 4, 9 or 18 holes. I remember one time playing a driver on one hole where around 290 yards out there was a kind of rise in the fairway. I'd never once got to that rise and so when the players in front walked over it I figured I was safe in playing. It was the sweetest shot I ever had and it sailed over the ridge and I had to yell "four".
And then psychology came into play when playing the Queens course at St Andrews. As anyone knows who has played around St Andrews the bunkers are quite deep but often long. Well I went into one of these bunkers but just in and on a wee rise in the sand. I was perfectly convinced I could take a 3 wood to it. When setting up for my shot my father rushed over to "protect" my mother who was walking around with us. That of course made me even more determined to show I could do the shot but of course fluffed it. I was quite angry with my father for that I remember.
I also played golf in Kuwait where we played on sand and quite hard sand at that. We had rubber mats for tees to play off and the greens were oiled sand where each hole had a green keeper so that after we walked off they would brush the sand to smooth it off. We used red golf balls to make them easier to find but a golf ball really only lasted a couple of rounds as it was sand blasted to a point where you just couldn't find it.
It was in Kuwait where I got my first full set of clubs. My father was a friend of David Anderson who owned the Tom Morris shop at St Andrews old course at the 18th green. So my set are Tom Morris clubs which I still have. I remember seeing the old work bench where they made the clubs but sadly the bench broke in half. I don't know what they did with it. My father used to sell sets of the clubs to colleagues in Kuwait and when he retired David gave him a full set of clubs and bag as a thank you for all the business he'd brought to him over the years.
I haven't played golf for years now but am considering seeing if there is a driving range somewhere near where I could try to get a bit into shape to try again.
Alastair
In actual fact Dollar was a very hilly course and the 2nd hole was just about vertical as it was the one that took you up and onto the course so it just needed a nine iron. You couldn't see the green as it was at the top of the hill so you just aimed at a marker stick. I remember being convinced I'd had a good shot but no sign of the ball when I arrived at the top. Looked all over the place and just couldn't find it and so gave up and told my partner to just hole out. When he did that was when he found my ball.
As an aside to that Dewar's were offering a bottle of their whisky to anyone that wrote in with proof they had got a home in one with a story of how they did it. I forgot all about that when my boarding house master suddenly appeared saying "McIntyre... my study!". He then showed me a bottle of Dewar's whisky and asked why I was having alcohol sent to me at the boarding house? He was obviously ready to do something nasty to me. When I explained the circumstances he was all smiles but said I'll of course keep this for you and you can get it when school breaks for the holidays.
As to Glenbervie that was a very good inland course just outside Falkirk on the way to Stirling. John Panton was the professional there. As it happened John Panton didn't drink alcohol but he seemed to win any competition where whisky was the prize. They had a great club house with marvelous views. They had a men only room, then a general room for men and women and a very good dining room. I got to a six handicap playing there.
Falkirk was a new course where my father was treasurer for the first few years and then became club captain. It was a good course and also well organised for playing 4, 9 or 18 holes. I remember one time playing a driver on one hole where around 290 yards out there was a kind of rise in the fairway. I'd never once got to that rise and so when the players in front walked over it I figured I was safe in playing. It was the sweetest shot I ever had and it sailed over the ridge and I had to yell "four".
And then psychology came into play when playing the Queens course at St Andrews. As anyone knows who has played around St Andrews the bunkers are quite deep but often long. Well I went into one of these bunkers but just in and on a wee rise in the sand. I was perfectly convinced I could take a 3 wood to it. When setting up for my shot my father rushed over to "protect" my mother who was walking around with us. That of course made me even more determined to show I could do the shot but of course fluffed it. I was quite angry with my father for that I remember.
I also played golf in Kuwait where we played on sand and quite hard sand at that. We had rubber mats for tees to play off and the greens were oiled sand where each hole had a green keeper so that after we walked off they would brush the sand to smooth it off. We used red golf balls to make them easier to find but a golf ball really only lasted a couple of rounds as it was sand blasted to a point where you just couldn't find it.
It was in Kuwait where I got my first full set of clubs. My father was a friend of David Anderson who owned the Tom Morris shop at St Andrews old course at the 18th green. So my set are Tom Morris clubs which I still have. I remember seeing the old work bench where they made the clubs but sadly the bench broke in half. I don't know what they did with it. My father used to sell sets of the clubs to colleagues in Kuwait and when he retired David gave him a full set of clubs and bag as a thank you for all the business he'd brought to him over the years.
I haven't played golf for years now but am considering seeing if there is a driving range somewhere near where I could try to get a bit into shape to try again.
Alastair