It’s Happening! St Andrews Old Course Preview

Nish 0:11

Every good story is about the journey. And this is the story of our journey trying to play the top 100 courses in the UK and Ireland in just 10 years. This is the Top 100 in 10 Golf Podcast. Episode 92, The Home of Golf. I can’t quite believe I’ve said those words. However, I’ll start with what I meant to start with, and that is a quote from Bobby Jones about the old course. And he very famously once said, I could take out of my life everything except my experiences at St Andrews, and I’d still have a rich, full life. We’re going to fucking St Andrews, mate, and we’re going to play the old course. And that still right now sounds unbelievable. Recording this, what, five hours after we find out? Yeah, even then.

Chris 1:01

It genuinely does not feel real, does it? And like it’s in two days’ time, so it’s kind of a quick turnaround, and we’re gonna head up to St. Andrews and we’re gonna go play the old course.

Nish 1:10

Last minute train booking accommodation, which we’ll get to in a minute. But oh god, look, this is an episode dedicated to the Home of Golf. But before we do all of that, we’re gonna get excited about it all. Look, I’m gonna ask you, please give us a follow, give us a like, give us a subscribe. Uh we’re up for an award. By the time this goes out, we’ll be on the eve of going to find out if we’re gonna get this award or not. It’s obviously down to you guys, and the more people we can get and they can grow it better. We can end up doing things like playing the old course. Like, it’s still mental. And look, let’s get on to this episode, let’s cover some of the many things we need to talk about with this. It could be a long one, couldn’t it? I mean, yeah, it’s like, okay, let’s do the nitty-gritty. It’s ranked number two.

Chris 1:55

Yeah.

Nish 1:56

It’s the home of golf.

Chris 1:58

The one and only.

Nish 2:00

It

Why St Andrews Old Course Is Golf’s Ultimate Bucket List

Nish 2:00

is fucking St Andrews.

Chris 2:02

They’re all course.

Nish 2:04

It’s it’s the it’s golf town. It’s a course that actually a load of people try to get on, they try and get in the ballot, all this kind of thing, and they just they fail year after year after year.

Chris 2:15

Yeah. Um I mean it’s the it’s the Disneyland of golf, essentially, isn’t it? Like it’s the one everyone wants to come and play.

Nish 2:21

It’s the one course everybody wants to play. Like it’s the it’s the ultimate bucket list course, isn’t it?

Chris 2:27

Absolutely 100%. Like even like above Augusta, St Andrews is definitely at the top of that tree. I would imagine for every single golfer from every single country, yeah, coming to play St Andrews has to be that number one pilgrimage to come and do it. Right number two, but that means absolutely nothing, does it really?

Nish 2:42

I mean, pilgrimage is the word, isn’t it? That is it. Like you are going to yeah, the temple of golf. And that is it. And I I I can’t we’ll be messaging each other today, like you know, we were supposed to find out at four o’clock, so let’s talk about how we got on. So Mark has been on the podcast before. Andrew, who is his friend, who they’re both trying to play top 100 courses, and Andrew has enabled us to get on the ballot, and it’s because of him that we’re there. So he’s Andrew. We call him Saint Andrew now, Sainty. He was already St. Andrew, but he’s he’s a double Saint. And he’s a ledge anyway, so he’s top guys. Um, so we’re looking forward to that anyway. We’ve now decided we’re gonna do two nights, we were gonna do a splash of the dash, really. But we’re like, let’s do it properly.

Chris 3:28

We’re gonna do

Chris’s Childhood Dream of Winning the Open at St Andrews

Chris 3:29

yeah, if we we’re gonna go and play the old course, we don’t really want to do it an in and out, do we? We want to spend a bit of time and soak it in and pissed in the Dunvention and all that kind of but like and people use this term quite loosely, I think, don’t they? In terms of like, it’s a dream come true, but genuinely as a kid, like I wasn’t a kid who like wanted to be a fireman or a pilot. Like, all I wanted to be as a kid is I wanted to be a professional golfer and I wanted to win the open around St. Andrews.

Nish 3:55

St. Andrews.

Chris 3:55

That’s the that’s the only it’s the only dream I ever had as a kid. So I’m getting 50% of it, hopefully, on Thursday, and I’m I’m very, very happy with that. Um but it yeah, for me, it genuinely, genuinely is like standing on that first Tee and standing on that 17th and 18th Tee’s is gonna be an actual, genuine dream come true.

Nish 4:13

It will be.

Chris 4:14

My only dream as a kid fulfilled, done.

The Ballot Result and a Chaotic Two Days of Planning

Nish 4:17

Yeah, I mean look, we’re gonna I’ll I’m gonna give you a little apology about this episode before we start. It’s bad form to usually do that in a podcast because it means it’s giving people a signals about my shit episode. It’s not that we have known that we were in this ballot to find out today, and we’ve known about it for about a week. Yeah, well, we we’d planned to do it a while ago, but we know about it was it was a week, and we’ve had the full range of emotions of like I’ve gonna be like, I’m gonna, I’m thinking, I’m I’m there, I’ve been watching all videos, and I will need that 17th drive over the corner of the hotel. In I’m I’m I’ve I’ve envisaged it, so I’m manifesting. Then I’ve done the whole like, oh shit, don’t watch too many videos because then you’re jinxing it. Yeah, then last night I was like, oh fuck, but if we get on, we can’t do the preview on the train, that’s stupid. So we’ve we’ve got to do it like the night we find out. Fuck. That means I’ve got to prepare. That means I’ve got to make some notes. Oh, right. I better watch some more videos, and then it’s like, what are you doing? Why are you watching too many videos? And then it’s like you’re gonna jinx it, don’t you make notes? It’s like the whole thing, and it’s just all today, and then I’m you know, and then also we’re going up Wednesday, uh sort of mid-afternoon. We’ll get up there about nine o’clock, but like you know, that takes Wednesday out. Yeah, we’re away Thursday, we’re coming back mid-Friday, so it’s like two days you can’t work, so you’ve got to like cram everything in today. Yeah, my god, that was a lack of concentration day today. It was just like I kept messaging Mark, I was like, I can’t take this suspense. This is killing me. Why can’t they do it in the morning? Just do it at like nine o’clock, like get you out of your misery, yeah. Um, and then the fur a new thing is I’ve experienced which is going on to book a train, went off for five minutes, came back, seats had gone, went to rebook, and the price had gone up. Like that never happens, yeah. Like what’s so it everything has just been like the most chaotic. I’m a plan planning type person, so the most chaotic thing. 100 mile an hour today, doesn’t it? Yeah, and it’s like we need accommodation, and then but saying hundreds is fucking expensive to stay in, so there’s that as well. So that is our caveat with this episode. It’s just a load of bullet points that we’re just gonna talk about, and I’m gonna throw it essentially.

Chris 6:27

It’s just gonna be like two giddy children smiling a lot, I think. Constantly saying I can’t believe it’s two very happy men.

Nish 6:35

We are gonna play the old course in 48 hours. We’ll have played the old course and we’ll be getting smashed in St Andrews. Like that just I don’t know. I’m I’m gonna be bankrupt by this time in 48 hours because I’m gonna clean out Emotionally, yeah, just everything. I’m gonna clean out that uh that shop, but that’s a good thing, it’s a charity thing because the links trust will invest all that money back into the we’re giving back to golf ultimately, exactly, yeah, absolutely. Right. Look, look, I think we don’t need to talk about the importance of St Andrews, I don’t think.

Chris 7:10

No, I think everyone, anyone who’s listening to this has a hundred percent understanding of the importance of St. Andrews for golf, right?

Nish 7:18

If you don’t, yeah, I mean, actually, fair enough, if you don’t and you you’re on this podcast and you listen because it’s entertaining, wonderfully um unlikely, but I don’t think that’s likely. So we don’t need some write history, things like that. There are a few things that came up, and I was like, oh, okay, right. And I will bring those out in in preview. I think we should do that, but well, let’s just talk about the course straight away. Yeah, right.

Chris 7:39

So again, I’m just gonna read out bullet points here, but I think but I think like before we talk about the actual course, I feel like we’ve got to talk about like the experience of being on that course. Like, how many times have you played over in your head in the last week standing on that first Tee that massive wide open fairway? Was it 100 yard fairway? Something stupid like that. Yeah, yeah. And then again, coming down 17, playing the road hole, coming down 18, like it’s just cool as fucking wild. It’s completely wild that we’re getting the opportunity to go and do this.

Nish 8:12

It’s just the coolest thing ever, yeah. I think. Like we just before we came on, before we went on air, but before we came on, I said to Chris, I was like, I mean, that’s three courses to round out a challenge like this. The last three we’ll have played by this time in 48 hours will be Swindy Forest, which is both of our number one, yeah, Wentworth, yeah, which was unreal, yeah. And now the old course, fucking St. Andrews, mate. Yeah, like it’s what dreams are made of. Like it’s dreamy golf, isn’t it?

Chris 8:45

Well this challenge, you just kind of I mean, probably more so for me than than you, because you’re in it more regularly than I am in terms of doing the pods and and etc. But I kind of we don’t play for a little while, you know. We might have a couple of months we’ve not played, and you kind of forget about it, and you just kind of move it in and on about life, and then all of a sudden, like we’re playing the fucking old course this week. Like, what where’s that come from? Came out of nowhere. Excitement levels are just like through the roof from nowhere.

Nish 9:08

And this is gonna be a course number 30 as well. It’s like a nice round number, you know, that kind of thing. It’s like there’s so much serendipitous stuff about this.

Chris 9:16

Can we squeeze a few extra episodes in between this and the review and just like hundredth episode? That would be a good one, isn’t it?

Nish 9:23

Episode officially episode number thirty uh number hundred, yeah, could be a good one to I mean, I’m not even thinking that far ahead. Like, just yeah, get like get me out there, like what you’re right, everybody dreams of it, don’t they, as an experience of seen it as well. Like, it’s just we’ve said about uh Wentworth, didn’t we, that Wentworth’s such a well-known golf course gets on Italian every year, yeah. But like everybody who’s a golfer tunes in for the open at St Andrews.

Chris 9:51

So a good example of this is when we were going to Wentworth, I was like chewing Lucy’s ear off. I was like, We’re going to Wentworth, Lucy. Like, like we’re going to Wentworth. This is massive. She’s like, I have no idea what you’re talking about, but good on you. Yeah, I’m sure you’re gonna have a great time. Um, and then today I was like, We’re going to St Andrews. She was like, I know, I just heard, like, so excited for you.

Nish 10:14

She was like, Yeah, she’s well, I uh uh as it happened, it was uh housekeeping stuff. Uh we got to that four hours. I was just like, I was in my kitchen and I was just like, kids were running around like it’s half turns and making racket, and I was like, I’ve just found out I’m gonna play the old course in two days’ time. Like I can’t. What are you talking about? Like, I was like, I can’t deal with what’s going on in the kitchen, just need to go outside for a minute. I’ll top up my washer fluid in my car, I’ll do that. Open the door and Lucy’s there, and she was like, Did he get on? Did he get on? And I was like, I mean, that’s how like yeah, massive it is. It’s not the response I’m I had, but anyway, uh well, yeah, St. Andrews, and I think we’ll touch upon that a little bit more later on. And everybody says just the place is magical, yeah, anyway, and it has a an aura about it. But the course, I mean, one of the things that strikes you when you watch any videos is that the greens they’re massive, they are huge, yeah.

Chris 11:14

And again,

Giant Double Greens and a Rippling Links

Chris 11:14

I’ve walked the course a couple of times, have you? Right, okay, and they are like beyond anything like ginormous, are they? Yeah, that’s kind of like comprehensible as a size of a green for a golfer, like it’s just meant to they’re huge, and obviously they’re all double greens, but even as a single, you know, cut them in half, it’s not fucking massive greens.

Nish 11:33

Um well the double green thing’s interesting, isn’t it? So that they’re almost all they’re all obvious, all double greens, are they? Four single greens are they? And the the the interesting thing that I didn’t know this is with the double greens is the which holes greens they are, they all add up to 18. Yeah, so it’ll be like eight and ten, it’ll be like two and sixteen, all that kind of thing. So that’s how they do it. And I was like, huh, that’s pretty cool.

Chris 11:57

Yeah, I don’t know if that was designed that way or whether it’s just I mean it literally goes out and back, so I guess mathematically, and you’ve got a hole that goes across the end, so I guess that kind of makes sense. Sort of does make sense, doesn’t it?

Nish 12:06

Yeah, and it would do it. So that was yeah, that was agreed, and then you’ve you’ve got a lot of fairways that cross. Yeah, I’m not sure how many exactly. I don’t know. Three or four fairways across. But those that cross, the whole numbers add up to 19 on all of them, which I don’t know why, but you know, maybe maybe Andrew will tell us. But um that’s quite cool stuff. I just didn’t know about it. You know, you just see the first tee-shot, which I did actually watch one, and that was Ian Baker Finch stuck it out of bounds left, left, left, snap hook. I mean, that’s some snap hook, that is, yeah. I think as he was on his back swing, I think his cap flew off, and then they just that put him off. But that’s pro, I mean that’s a long way.

Chris 12:49

I mean, the other thing as well is you kind of stood on that first Tee or you stood on the 18th green, you are right in the middle of the town. Yeah, you’ve got people watching, and you’ve got loads of like people just kicking around, milling around, watching. Yeah.

Nish 13:02

Um yeah, um you know it’s it’s bad enough when there’s members watching when there’s members of the public.

Chris 13:08

I mean, at least they’ve got no kind of like concept of what a good goal shot is, so you just yeah, and they’ve done what you’ve done before as well.

Nish 13:14

So it could be whatever, you know. Um, and then yeah, a few of the things that sort of just crapped or stuck out at me from watching all these videos and jinxing it, and then clearly haven’t jinxed it, is how rippled and undulating the course is. Yeah, I mean that’s like it’s very, very undulating.

Chris 13:30

Yeah, I mean it is very undulated, it’s not like huge undulations, but lots of little dips, and you know, obviously you’ve got um the valley of sin and places like that. You’ve got a lot of that where you’ve got kind of big drop-offs in front of the green and just things that you can’t see when you’re playing your shots. If you’re still in the fairway, you can’t necessarily a big dip in front of the green, but it’s there and it’ll catch you out, yeah. Um, but yeah, I think St Andrews, in terms of like the short game around St Andrews, like the chip and run, like the bump and run like that, those kind of shots, those link shots, those things that shots that you think of as being a link shot are absolutely I mean, I’m sure they were designed and they were created to play around St Andrews, but like yeah, it’s a different it’s a different game. Like you’re not gonna be going flopping shots all over, you need to be in long, long run-outs, and you need to figure out the humps and the hollows and the swales and kind of be creative in there. So that’s yeah, yeah, that’s kind of what it’s all about, isn’t it?

First Tee Nerves: Out of Bounds Left and the Weather Forecast

Nish 14:26

And you know, you add you add to that then just everything, like it’s it’s just so famous, you know. But but what one advice bits of advice that everybody keeps coming out with is stay left. Stay left. And I think that’s a good thing.

Chris 14:36

You’d be really pleased for Noanish when I was at the range last week. I mean, it’s not a push, I mean it’s like a snap slice if that’s a thing. I mean, everything is just blocked, blocked outright for like 30, 40 yards.

Nish 14:51

I know what’s gonna happen on the first team. Are you gonna aim left and hook it absolutely arrow straight left and straight down the I mean that’s I mean, do you know what?

Chris 14:59

Up until now, I wasn’t worried about going out of bounds left on the first. I was like, right, I just want to get something away and try not to push it right. You know, you’ve got loads of fair way to aim. I’m just gonna aim down the middle of the two holes. Now I’m thinking shit. Yeah, I mean that does come into play. Like I didn’t think that was possible to get over to the outer bounds on the left.

Nish 15:15

I didn’t, I didn’t. It was just like every like because they use a be baker finches are studying it’s like, oh, what have I just done? No, this is a question. Come on. What are you gonna hit off the first Tee? Great question. So looking at so let’s talk about weather we inevitably we’ve not even mentioned what the weather’s gonna be doing. So we’re just so excited about getting on.

Chris 15:34

Like considering this is this is the last week before we go to winter match.

Nish 15:38

So winter match proper winter. We’re gonna be playing on the 29th of October. Yeah. And it is 12 to 14 degrees intermittent sun. And bearing in mind we’ve just had two back-to-back storms. Storms, yeah, absolutely. So two days before nine, ten mile an hour breeze, really, I’d say they’d call it 40 degrees, a bit of sunshine.

Chris 15:58

A few gusty, gusty like fucking taking that.

Nish 16:02

I mean, that’s probably better than most people get in summer at St Andrews, to be honest. I think so. I think so. So look, I mean, obviously, wind directioned. Well, I mean, what’s it saying? So there’s the Swilican burn which runs across the front of the green, doesn’t it? On the first, yeah, right.

Chris 16:20

Yeah, walked up there, but like I mean, it is literally like swilican burn green. Is that what it is that right? Is that close, is it? There’s no line it over there just green, and often the pin is tucked in at the front there. So you’ve got like a 30-40 yard of green, but often the pin is just tucked there, just right.

Nish 16:37

Just to give you a little little tester, like that’s where look where you are. Yeah, um, I mean 270 in in dry conditions, 270 to the burn. It’s 270 to the burn. I mean, that’s that’s on the right on the side. You could catch your driver right, that could end up in there, couldn’t it? Yeah, you don’t want to be a driver off there. That’s what I was thinking. So I think just a nice, nice, nice iron, nice pitching which get away. I’ll do my approach shot now and I’ll go driver off the deck second. I mean, to be fair, you could probably let Potter down there, it’s basically just fairway. I don’t think there’s much in between it. Just whack your putter off it. Just I mean, look, you know, famous last words, but I’m hitting my six iron quite well. I think like a six iron, just down, nice and easy, down the middle. We’ll see. Um, yeah, it I mean, everyone says, don’t they? They go like, even if anybody’s like, I’m not nervous on the first Tee, and then they get to the first Tee, they’re like, I don’t know what came over me. Yeah, yeah. That’s like a bit of out-of-body experience. Yeah, I’m gonna be interested to see what the how the starter is as well with us. Because I’ve seen some good videos about that, and seems like they’re they’re they’re they’re well versed in setting you up nicely for the for the day. Yeah, um, I mean the course looks like you’ve got to be pretty strategic, you can’t just grip it and rip it there.

Chris 17:48

I think that’s uh yeah, I think I mean some areas where you can’t. Because most of the time you’ve got two fairways to aim at, right? Yeah. So I think in terms of like, I mean, if you’re right, then you’re probably in trouble. Yeah. If you can keep it to the left, you’re generally okay. Ultimately, then you you’re just in the lap of the gods, whether you can keep it out of the bunkers or not. Because as soon as you go in the bunker, you most of them you kind of out sideways.

Nish 18:09

I mean, I suppose they’ve also had the Alfred Dunhill recently, and they usually cut the rough down for that. So I don’t think there’s gonna be there much that much in terms of rough anyway. Yeah, probably not. I suspect they keep it keeping it. What we’re saying, course record then? Maybe where’s the course record I said? We should have checked that round because on a postcard, yeah, that’s it. Um, but look, look, let’s talk about some of the the the well-known things and the course. So I’m just gonna I’ll reel out a few names here, and as I said, it’s bullet pointed, so you know it’s just a if anything puts up a bit of conversation, great. But Hellbunker, like that’s one that’s yeah, everybody talks about. Is that on 7th or something like that?

Chris 18:42

I think it’s further around than that, is it? It’s the part five coming back in, whatever that is. Oh, yeah, okay.

Swilcan Bridge, Hell Bunker and Hallowed Public Turf

Nish 18:48

Yeah, um the coffin’s bunkers, the road hole bunker, you know, you’ve got the the swilican bridge, and I mean the burn obviously cuts across T shot on 18, green on on one, the very famous bridge. Yeah, everybody’s a V picture, right?

Chris 19:07

Yeah, it must be the most photographed place in golf, right? Obviously, we’re gonna do that, but yeah, kind of thing. But obviously, but you can go and do that without playing actually, because it’s a public walk, it’s a public well, you can walk across it, but yeah, people just I don’t to be fair. I don’t think you can walk across that path, but people just jump over the fence and just always taking pictures of the public and bridge, me being one of them at one point.

Nish 19:24

Isn’t that that in itself, I think, is the cool thing about St Andrews it’s like this hallowed turf, yeah, and it’s not gate kept.

Chris 19:33

No, exactly. It’s there’s closed on Sundays, isn’t it? It’s a public park on Sundays, essentially. Yeah, so you can just walk out on it Sunday.

Nish 19:39

I mean that I I I I love that. There’s there’s just no, it’s almost like you know, and and I suppose that’s a bit of Scottish golf in general, isn’t it? No pretentiousness about it, no pretension there at all. Yeah, um, and then you know, as you kind of go on um through the round, and then you hit the real highlights of these this course, don’t you? You know, the really small green target for 16 with the road behind it, and then you hit 17. The most one of the most famous t-shots ever, right? Yeah, over the hotel, cutting the corner of the hotel. Yeah. I mean, yeah, I said we I need that t-shirt in my life.

The 17th Road Hole: Driving Over the Hotel

Chris 20:14

But I mean, that’s just uh it must be one of the hardest holes in golf art, right? The 17th.

Nish 20:19

It must be one of the most the most daunting.

Chris 20:22

It’s a really tough tee shot, it’s quite a long haul. It’s a tough tee-shot. Driving over a hotel, you can’t see where you’re going, and then when you if you do even if you do hit a good one, you’ve then got to navigate the road hole bunker, the road behind the behind the green, the shot into the green, even if you hit a good one. That’s not easy. Chances are it’s gonna probably end up in the bunker or in the road, like it’s just objectively difficult.

Nish 20:44

That’s a brute, yeah. I mean it it’s got to be surely one of the I mean I’ve put here greatest, but certainly one of the toughest open rotor holes around. Yeah, everything is going against you there. Yeah, like you can’t see your landing spot. Yeah, just pick a line. Some people say aim for the O on the old course sign thing, and it’s like where do you go with it? You know, that kind of thing. Um and then it so the thing with the the with the bit that you cut across, so the the building that you cut across, where is the the O is on, that’s a replica of the old railway sheds that used to line the course. So again, something I didn’t sort of really know about that. You could cross the Swilican Bridge on 18, don’t you? After you think it’s a little bit more than a little, and then you cross it, then yeah. That’s fine. And then eight, you know, you hit 18 the valley of sin.

Chris 21:33

Yeah.

The 18th Hole and the Valley of Sin

Chris 21:33

I mean, how many how many key moments in the open have been on that 17th and 18th hole? Right.

Nish 21:41

And it’s such an innocuous hole.

Chris 21:42

I mean, the 18th is completely.

Nish 21:44

It’s just I mean long even long, you know, pros can just drive it, yeah. Straight on there, but I mean, alright, here’s a question for you then. So you you however you play the 18th and it ends up going whatever, are you gonna chuck a ball down on the valley of sin and try and have a putt from up there? I mean, we’ve got to try and do that.

Chris 22:01

I mean I might not need to niche. Should we just do it?

Nish 22:05

I feel like we should just end up in there and just go outside.

Chris 22:08

But but you’re but you also talk about like an you know nervousness. Playing off that first team, but playing up the 18th is again you back into the village, you’ve got people all the way down the down the side of the 18th, loads of people watching. Like it’s it’s a it’s gotta be a nervy shot coming up there for sure. I mean a little wedge.

Nish 22:22

There’s a place to test your putting, isn’t it? You know, just and if you can nail one there or get one close or play a good shot on 18. I mean, I can’t imagine how satisfied that must feel, but yeah, maybe we will, maybe we’ll find all of this out. Yeah, um, yeah. So I mean, look, it’s it’s essentially it’s a highlights real, isn’t it? But I’d probably say mostly concentrated around the start and the end, but you know, that’s what you really vividly remember. But you know, having watched the video the videos now, you’re like, oh yeah, shit, I remember that. Oh yeah, shit, I remember that as well. Oh, and that, and that. So yeah, I mean I think it’s it’s gonna be busy, isn’t it? Yeah, that’s gonna be it’s gonna be crawling with people.

Chris 22:56

Yeah, I mean it’s it’s October, so maybe it’ll be a little bit quieter, but yeah, I suspect it’s gonna be, yeah, it’s still a pretty busy tourist town, whether whether people are playing golf or not.

Nish 23:04

Yeah, and I just think like it’ll be it’s gonna be strange that because it isn’t one of these you’re secluded in the dune dune dunes, I’m gonna go old American there for a second. Secluded in the dunes kind of thing. Yeah, you’re not you’re just a bit like Gullane, I suppose. You know, it’s just it’s wide open, you can see people, and there’s quite a lot of quite a lot of blind tee-shots.

Chris 23:22

Is there? Yeah, excellent.

Nish 23:23

My favourite,

Playing the Old Course in Reverse: The 12th Hole Secret

Nish 23:24

yeah. Um, and then one other thing about the course that I found fascinating um is that it used to actually be played in reverse, yeah. The old course. Yeah, and you can do that still. They do that now. They started doing the reverse routing. Again, Tiger Woods very famously once said, he goes, Well, my one wish in golf is to play the old course in reverse. Yeah, yeah. I’m pretty sure if he makes a course he RA they’ll they’ll get him doing that. Maybe he has to go in the ballot as well. Fair enough. Um, but that is exemplified most by the 12th hole. Um, and the 12th hole, everyone sort of talks about it, is uh it looks very innocuous from the T, can’t see any bunkers, and that is because the bunkers the way they’re carved into the the fairway, they face the other way.

Chris 24:07

Yeah, that’s right, they were made for made for going the other way around.

Nish 24:10

So we we’ll obviously make sure we turn around at the green at 12 and get a picture from there. Yeah, um the the the bunkers are only visible from there. So I mean that’s all I’ve got on the course. I say all. It’s it’s yeah, it’s a who’s who a golf, isn’t it? Almost on souls for golf.

Chris 24:26

I mean, like you say, those those highlights everyone knows, everyone know um everyone knows them. Um we don’t need to bore people with that, but yeah, just just the experience of going

Old Tom Morris, 1764 and Why Golf Has 18 Holes

Chris 24:35

there.

Nish 24:35

Oh mate, I mean, there’s a few little things I’ve got. This isn’t history per se, these are just like important tidbits that came out because I mean, you know, what do you talk about the history of like the most famous golf course in the whole world and and the home of golf and like the one that everybody wants to play? But old Tom Morris, synonymous with St Andrews, um and just a giant in the game, but he became a keeper of the green uh in 18 whatever, and um he then refined the links into the form that it is now. Yeah, that’s the the main thing about it. Initially, I was like, Oh, you designed it, it was like we couldn’t have done because golfers first mentioned in St Andrews in 1552. There’s some kind of parish council note thing where they’ve like people have a right to like sheep and ale and golf, or something like that. It’s something the three key things that they’re the main things in life, right? Yeah, the main elements. Um, but you know, we’re talking about iconic moments, and like there’s a very famous celebration of Sevy when he went at St Andrews and shaking his fist and all this kind of stuff. You know, um Jack Nicholas like really hunched over in his normal putting out, just you know, knocking the putt in and celebrating, and that was his bowing out, and yeah, just walking in those footsteps. We say it with golf courses anyway. It’s such a magical thing that average Joe can go and walk the same arena and play the same shots that the legends of the game have played, yeah. And every legend of this game has played at that golf course. Absolutely, yeah. There’s no like, oh, I gave the BMW a miss. You know, whatever everybody’s played.

Chris 26:13

Yeah, I mean, was it 30 30 opens it’s hosted?

Nish 26:16

30, yeah. We’re on we’re gonna be so I’m going again in next year. I’m going for the app the the open. Um that’s 155th. So like, what’s that, a fifth? Roughly, yeah. A fifth of all opens championships have been held at St Andrews. Yeah. Fuck, that’s pretty mental, actually, isn’t it? That’s pretty wild. Yeah, that’s a lot. And we’re gonna go play it. Uh the RA was set up there, and obviously they became the custodians of the rules of golf. Now, one thing that was interesting was old Tom Morris, we’re talking about him and you know, designer and all this kind of thing, but he developed many practices in make golf course maintenance that are still going today, and one of them is sanding the greens. That was his thing. He desired he devised that, and we still do it now, uh, which is great. Uh, two more factoids, and then we’ll we’ll we’ll talk about St. Andrews, then, mate, because uh we need to talk about golf town. You’ve been, you need to get me excited about it. But um, in 1764, the RA decided to reduce St. Andrews from 18 holes, from 22 holes down to 18. And that’s when golf became 18 and 10. That’s when it became 18, and it was enshrined in golf law that a golf course was 18 holes. Which is mental, isn’t it?

Chris 27:28

But I mean, also just like the context of that 1764. Like 1764. At that point, Mozart was eight and he was doing a tour of the UK. That is crazy, isn’t it? That’s such a fucking like how like it’s such a long time ago.

Nish 27:47

Yeah, yeah, when they said that golf is gonna be 18 holes and that’s it stuck since. Yeah, that’s mind-boggling. It is mind-boggling, that really is. And you know, uh yeah, and it’s gone down to 18, so you know, it’s been played in its golf form, isn’t it? You know, it’s not like it’s just people just using the golf proper, right? Really, yeah, realistically. It’s unfathomable like how it I can’t actually for a podcast host, it’s the worst thing in the world, but I can’t find the words to describe actually how I’m feeling right now inside. Like it’s it’s weird, it’s probably just a bit of gas, but it I’m I’m I’m at the real pinch me stage. Like, I almost I’m not gonna believe it till we we’re there.

Chris 28:37

And I I think to some extent we’ve become a little bit accustomed to kind of doing these things right, and everything we played Bantamuth, like this is incredible, but like this is like even you were excited at Wentworth, yes, yeah. This is like a whole nother level, isn’t it? Like it’s a whole nother level of just the reality check of what we’re doing, you know.

Nish 28:56

And you look at that, you go it’s ranked number two. Like, we’ve not played anything in the top ten yet, yeah, yeah. Like the closest we’ve got is is Carnoustie at 13. Yeah. I mean, this is there’s one down from the ultimate in the rankings like number two. Like I was updating the website, I was going next up, the old course St. Andrew is ranked two. I’ve just put an exclamation mark on it because really it’s ranked one, though, isn’t it?

unknown 29:18

Really?

Is the Old Course Overrated? The Beatles Argument

Chris 29:19

I mean it’s an interesting one, isn’t it? Because people do people dislate the old course, don’t they? That’s the debate. But yeah, I I think it’s a little bit like people who slate the Beatles. So like they listen to it and go, Oh, it’s just like really simple songs or as well. Ringo just doing yeah, exactly. But I think you you have to put the context around it, like you can’t just look at it as a set of 18 holes and go, ah, there’s another there’s another 18 holes down at Wentworth or whatever that’s better than that. Yeah, like it’s just you can’t remove the history and everything else that goes with it, and like the fact that that’s effectively where the game was properly invented and popularised and popularised, yeah. And you know, it’s fucking simple. That’s what it is, but you can’t you can’t take you can’t take that out and just go around the 18 holes and go, oh, objectively, I wasn’t really sure about those 18 holes. Like, you’ve got a bit of a bit of a bit of a knob if I’m honest. To put it out there, to to to not come away from that and go, that was an incredible experience. Like if you’re if you’re coming off the back of that and going, hmm, actually, I didn’t think the golf course was that great. I don’t think you’re going there for the right reasons.

Nish 30:29

Yeah, are you going there to try and bag it out a little bit? I think you’re probably contrary and I think you are a little bit. Yeah, I think you are a little bit. That is a bit knobby, isn’t it, really? I think so. Like, because like it’s which golf course has made us feel like this? Exactly. Like nowhere, nowhere, right? Like if we were like going up to play the new course, yeah. We’re like, yeah, go to St Andrews, great. Nice, be a nice little trip. Yeah. Oh, lovely. Oh, how how quaint we played the new course, but which is still 18 something, you know. But it’s like what is it? The new actually that’s the thing about new course. The new course is the oldest new course in the world, but anyway, um, I digress. But yeah, it it’s like it’s oh you know, it’s not it’s like going, oh, we’ve got to play Wembley for the FA Cup final. Yeah, like oh, it’s better, it wouldn’t be better in the Midlands because it’s in the middle of the country, but you’re like, Is that Wembley?

Chris 31:14

Yeah, exactly. Like that’s the thing. I just you know if you start unpicking everything and taking all the history and everything that goes around it, then I just think you’re kind of missing the point.

Nish 31:23

Yeah, you you can’t detach things, can you? That’s the you sh well you can’t. You can’t take what that course is and what that track is. No, like you you can’t go, oh I’m playing Wimbledon, but you know what grass is a bit shit to play on because it doesn’t bounce properly and whatever. I’d rather a hard court. You’re like, no, it’s Wimbledon, like it’s all the history, the tradition, the yeah, but also you have to wear white, all that kind of stuff, like but also it’s a bit different, isn’t it?

Chris 31:46

And we’ve said this before, but like you go to Wimbledon, and you know it’s Wimbledon, great, it’s got all that stuff around it, but ultimately it is just a tennis court, the same as every other tennis court, right? It’s the same dimensions, it’s the same shape, yeah, it’s got the same net, it’s got the same turf underneath it. But like you, you know, you go in to play the old course, and you just know each one of those little holes, and you know each little nook and cranny, and you know each bunker, and you know what the names are, and you know what happened on all those holes and all those open championships. Like, there’s just so much it’s not adjust a golf course, it’s not just a golf course, like it isn’t golf courses are just the first team, they are unique, it’s not like a football pitch or a tennis court, which is just it’s just a pitch, right? And it’s the same anywhere you go, might have a different stadium around it, a bit of history around it, but ultimately it’s just the same pitch. And people who don’t play golf would probably argue that the same is true of

Tiger’s Bunker-Free Open and the Old Course vs Augusta

Chris 32:38

golf.

Nish 32:38

It’s 18 holes as a flag, it’s a team. Well, exactly, yeah, but it’s it’s not though, is it? It’s yeah, it’s it’s I mean, yeah, do we do we kiss the turf before we I mean it’s just it’s that hallowed, isn’t it? I think it will be, yeah. Yeah, it’s a little yeah, crazy. I mean, you know, you talk about famous things. One of the the last thing I’ve got about famous things happening there, Chris, before we we get into the whole you know, maybe fully about other people bagging it out and all that kind of stuff. But Tiger Woods very famously in 2000 won the open, and he missed there’s 140 bunkers, I think, around St Andrews, and for all four rounds, he didn’t go in a single one. Yeah, that’s crazy. And like when you look at it. Yeah, yeah. I could do the opposite. Like, what do you get for like your one round going all of them? Yeah, uh well, I tried that kind of stuff if I’m honest, but um, yeah, it it’s it just uh there are the those sorts of things and moments are like etched in golfing folklore, yeah. And I think that’s what you know it is a little it is it’s it’s not at the same level, I don’t think, and I’m sorry to to the Americans out there, but it just isn’t. But you know, that’s what people have about Augusta, don’t they? Like you know all these moments that have happened, yeah. And you know, you know, when when I’m trying to think of famous moments like Augusta now, but you know, whatever, like you know, just you you you you know those and they burnt any memory. Yeah, the most recent would have been Rory’s Amazing Shot, right? But um because it’s there every single year it’s ever present.

Chris 34:08

Yeah, and like I like I said earlier, I think pretty much every golfer in the world would put the old course at St. Andrews above Augusta on their bucket list.

Nish 34:20

I think so. I think what Augusta probably has is just that I mean, how the hell do you get on Augusta? Well you know what I mean? It’s so difficult, yeah. Um you know it’s interesting because a lot a lot of the people when they bag it out, they you know they talk about it, they go, it’s not a particularly difficult course, etc. etc. etc. Yeah. Right.

Chris 34:37

Well, you know But in the 1500s it probably didn’t need to be that difficult a course because you were playing with with Hickory Hickory at that point, but yeah, yeah, yeah.

Nish 34:46

Exactly, you know, and you also you sort of think about it and you go, Well, define difficult if the wind kicks up there. Well, exactly, yeah. You’re telling me that’s an easy golf course, like it ain’t, you know, because there’s no protection from it. Yeah, so it’s how you how you find it, and you know, are you in control here game? Are you in controller game?

Chris 35:04

I I imagine most golf courses are relatively simple, but also kind of like going back to my Beatles analogy, like all the music that came after that, right, was because of the Beatles, yeah. And that’s exactly the same for golf courses, right? Every other golf course in the world that’s been built has probably picked some something from St Andrews and taken it and developed it into something different, right? Correct, yeah. But without St Andrews, you don’t have Augusta, you don’t have all these places.

Nish 35:27

I yeah, you’re right. Well, that’s the thing, you’re right. With with again, you I mean your beat St. Andrews is bob on, isn’t it? Because people people just go, Oh, yeah, well, it’s just a couple of guys that played a very, very simple guitarist, somebody very, very simple bass line, yeah, and just somebody just rhythmically just slapping it. But that music didn’t exist exactly, yeah, until the Beatles came along and they designed that, and then now people have evolved it. You can’t just go, Oh well, uh listen to that compared to the Arctic monkeys, you’re like, Well, yeah, and that’s totally, but they don’t come about until this happens, exactly. Yeah, you know, and it it’s I mean, actually, to be fair, there’s a reason why the old course has probably got fingerprints all over the uh core golf courses in the world because Tom Morris he got about a bit, he did a bit, yeah, yeah. He definitely got about a bit, and he designed quite a few golf courses, so there’s a lot of inspiration there, and we’ve played quite a few holes like Wallasey famously. You know, there’s like four holes there or whatever, and they’ve got plaques up, and yeah, it you know that name is just ever present, isn’t it? In in golfing folklore, and I suppose what you’re talking about people talk about a golden generation when there’s like this the braids and colts and um uh I’ve forgotten who the other great uh Mackenzie’s and people like that are, yeah. But you know, who’s come along since really? You know, you’ve got Tom Doak, obviously, now is becoming getting into that kind of level, but he’s not it’s not he’s not as prolific. No, because the golf courses are made, the land’s not there anymore, whatever. So you’re almost like their position in the pantheon of this is a great little in the pantheon of golf architects, like his position is cemented, like it’s not gonna be like we’re gonna in another hundred years everyone’s forgotten about old Tom Morris. It’s like nah, it’s not gonna happen that no, which is that’s what makes this what’s gonna happen to us in 48 hours, that’s what makes it that that’s got us this like excited. Like my blah blah my heart’s pounding out my chest still. I’m not gonna sleep for the next two days at the beginning. Yeah, damn right visualising that shot off the first, all right. I thought we were getting on it in St. Andrews, but anyway, uh well look we’ll talk about we’ve gotten to St.

Golf Town: Jigger Inn, Dunvegan and the Himalayas Putting Green

Nish 37:37

Andrews, so let’s let’s talk about it. So um I’ve only got three bullet points for the setting as such, because I want you to to sell it to me. But you’ve been to St Andrews before. I have, yeah, a few times, and everybody’s like the magic of St. Andrews isn’t just the golf course, it’s St Andrews itself. So, what do they mean when they say that?

Chris 37:57

I mean, it really is one of those places that uh lives and breathes golf, so there’s like so many of just like golf shops kicking around, and obviously the old course first Tee is just right in the middle of the town, right? So it’s it is literally just embedded in the you know the actual construction of the place, like it’s just there, right front and centre. Yeah, um I believe uh old Tom Morris’s shop still exists.

Nish 38:22

Yeah, he had this shop.

Chris 38:23

That was where he was, but whatever.

Nish 38:26

It must have yeah, it must have they all they all dabbled in a bit of hickory club manufacture and making golf balls and stuff.

Chris 38:32

Yeah, there’s lots of kind of oldy worldly little little golf shops and stuff set up, but I mean it’s also just a very beautiful place. It’s a very beautiful town. It’s got really it’s really nice in terms of like its architecture and it’s you know, lots of nice little cafe cultures and stuff. It’s just a really, really, really lovely place. Nice, but every time I go, I’m like, ah, I wish I lived here. Like, maybe I should just move here.

Nish 38:55

Uh so I’ve got a surprise for you, Chris. Okay. I have picked up the enrolment forms for St Andrews University. Okay, yeah. We’re just gonna need to hand deliver them tomorrow. And then we’re in they said we’re in. What we’re gonna study? Yeah, I have no idea, mate. Golf course architecture? Perfect. Let’s do that. We know what we’re talking about. We use the word pantheon. Um, but I mean it’s that’s amazing, isn’t it? You know, you’re a student there. I mean, obviously, it’s not as simple as just going, I’m a student, I’m gonna turn up and play whatever. Like, there’s obviously still hoops we’re finding out you need to jump through to get in and get on to actually play. But the fact that you’ve got the accessibility for that, yeah. Well, that’s a good perk of being a being a student. Yeah, it’s not easy. It’s not bad, is it? It’s not bad. So tell us about some of the famous places to go apres-Golf in St Andrews.

Chris 39:40

Yeah, it’s obviously got the the Jigger Inn, which is one of the one of the most famous places. And that’s along the 18th Fairway, that’s along the 17th. 17th Fairway, right. Okay. Yes, it’s yeah, it’s just off the right hand side of the 17th. So if you if you if you if you slice one in a little bit right, you’ll end up in the Jigger Inn down there. Right. Lovely. So yeah, that’s that’s obviously a bit of an institution in terms of St Andrews and golf. Uh you’re right next to the fairway there. Um you’ve then got uh what’s it called? The the Dunvegan?

Nish 40:08

Yeah, Dunvegan. Dunvegan, definitely well, the Dunvegan, we’re hitting it at the right time as well. On the 1st of November, the Dunvegan’s closing for a few months while they’re referring to. Oh, right, okay. They’re obviously trying to get it ready for the open. Yeah, yeah. Um, but yeah, so actually, uh how wonderful that it’s worked out that we can go in there and it’s as it as it was.

Chris 40:27

Stupidly that I’ve never been in, so I’ve been to St. Andrews, what, three or four times, and I’ve never actually gone in any of those places. Yeah. No, I haven’t. I’ve never done it. I don’t know why. I’ve always been there with like family and stuff, so I’ve never I’ve never like I’ve obviously done the golf bit as in. I’ve kind of stood around the 18th and stood around the first and stuff and gone, I want to go and play that. They just get in the way, yeah. Doing the kind of A pre golf.

Nish 40:48

Now I know where you wanted to stay for two nights. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Absolutely, yeah. Um there’s me going, oh yeah, it’s difficult, isn’t it? We finished late, we don’t want to come back to that. Right. Actually, Chris just wants to go out drinking in St Andrews. Absolutely, that’d be great. Yeah, well, I mean it’s new for me as well, so it’s like we’re just gonna we’re gonna be like, we’re like we’ll get a map out, yeah. We’ll be well proper touristy, yeah, yeah. Like, hello, are we in the Dun Vegan? Are we in the Dun Vegan? Yeah, we’ll we’ll we’ll give it all of that. Yeah, um, yeah. I mean, and anything else you know about, and then you’ve got the the hotel just on the 18th screen as well. Yeah, um Rusacks or something.

Chris 41:22

Yeah, it’s good good food and stuff in there as well, I believe.

Nish 41:25

Um just yeah, everything is yeah, it’s mad, isn’t it? Yeah, so the stinks of a little uh post-round pub crawl up. Oh yes. What time’s our back train back on Friday? Yeah, uh wise. Uh we’ve missed our train. Uh yeah, I mean look, the the i everybody said it’s the greatest place for April Golf. Yeah. Um St. Andrews, because it’s just you know, it was in a good mood, and you know, people got their bag tags up and stuff in the Dunvegan and that’s what we’ve got to go and see that. Yeah. Um, and then they have some iconic shops as well. So I think the old course official shop is off the 18th fairway.

Chris 42:05

Yeah, I mean it’s all quite touristy, as you know, it’s gonna set up for the Americans and be all over making it. Yeah, you’ll love it. You’ll love it. You’ll have a great time.

Nish 42:12

I’m all over that. One thing I have heard is that when you get your bag tag, is that there’s a QR code on there, and then you can scan that in and you can take it into the uh the old course um shop, yeah, and they’ll engrave it for you for free. Oh nice, I gather. So that’s I mean, I don’t know, we’ll find out. We might not get a bag tag, I don’t know what’s going on, but um they’ve got that. That’s like one thing I feel like we should you know try and do. But then there’s a Travis Matthews shop as well, and then um Tiger Woods and do I want to say Ricky Fowler? No, is it Jordan Speith? No, who would Tiger Woods be hanging around with? Two American golfers, yeah. No, no, drugs. Um, two American golfers, well, uh Tiger Woods plus a another American golfer owner bar in St. Andrews as well.

Jim 43:04

Right, okay.

Nish 43:04

I’ll have to do some research on that. Um would have been good before the podcast, but sure. Probably would have been good, yeah, yeah. I’ll just uh wait, mate. I didn’t want to jinx it, you know, and that works, so we’re in, we’re in. Um and obviously you know our tea time is like 11:40, I think, as well. Which is a great tee time, right?

Chris 43:21

A wonderful tee time. Good morning to go and use the facilities and like Drink it any better. Are we gonna go and do like the Himalayas putting? Are we gonna do that before?

Nish 43:30

And that’s my final that’s this is my final bulletin. Yeah, um, yeah. For for people that don’t know about this, so um on the right hand side to the right hand side of the first Tee is out of bounds. It’s a white picket fence. Yeah. And behind that white picket fence, there is what can only be described as moguls if you go skiing, right? It is the most wacky, crazy golfy 18 hole. That’s the same terrain, right? That’s the same terrain you’re playing around. That is what it’s like. Which is crazy, right? Um, and it’s it’s it was devised, it’s home to the St. Andrew. Think it’s called the St Andrew’s Ladies Putting Club or something like that. And um, so they manage it, they do they do full-on tournaments and all this kind of stuff. It’s very serious, you know. Uh, and it’s you know, so it’s right by the it’s so you see it. Um, and it’s it’s those that putting green or that area as they call the Himalayas. Now, I’m Indian, so I should actually use the proper pronunciation, which is Himalayas, but um like I would love to go and have a little putt on that. I think we should like we should try and do that, I think. I think so. I think we should. It looks like the thing to do, doesn’t it?

Chris 44:47

And get ourselves used to we’re putting we’re gonna be there for a for a full day and a couple of days out of the side. We need to go and submerge ourselves in it.

Nish 44:54

I feel like I’ve I’ve flicked a switch here, Chris. I feel like you’re you’re into the full tourist experience of courses now.

Chris 45:01

It’s literally the only time this is ever gonna happen in my entire life.

Nish 45:04

I’m gonna savour it.

Chris 45:04

I’m gonna get meta glasses, I’m gonna order them on like a quick like to get them for delivered tomorrow so they can I can pick them up what it is. I’m gonna be there with my make St. Andrew’s Great again hat and everything.

Nish 45:15

Oh god. I mean, look, we’re ultra giddy about this thing, it’s just gonna be the most amazing day, and actually the golf is totally irrelevant, I think. And actually, uh that for me first when you say the golf is totally irrelevant, well, in terms of um you you’re not that is not a place where I’m like, I want to score well, I just want to experience all the right things. So, like I say, if if I some something miraculous happens and I’m like I drop it to within two feet after two shots on 18, yeah, I’ve got a ball in my pocket, I’m gonna play something from the valley of sin because I want to do that, I’m never gonna get to do this again. Yeah, like it that feels like the most once-in-a-lifetime round ever to me. Yeah, and um I’d almost happily somebody just go, like, that’s a two-shot penalty, but yeah, whatever. Like, I don’t care, it really doesn’t matter to me. I think the only time on the golf where he probably matters, there’s the two shots that I I want to no pressure on myself, but there’s two shots I really want to get right, I would say. One is the first Tee. Yeah. Like has to be. And that’s not for the sake of like, oh, don’t want to embarrass myself the first Tee. It’s not even that. It’s like just I feel like the satisfaction you will get from hitting that first Tee shot right, you’re just gonna like, oh yeah, I’m I’m here now and like I’ve done it. So there’s that, and then 17, that drive over the corner.

Chris 46:38

Like that is they’re the two things I think that’s my objection is I want to come off those three holes being one of a par. So I want two pars and a bogey. So that is par the first, par the eighteenth, or maybe maybe par the left. 17th and 18th, is that what you’re doing? Bogey 17, birdie 18. That’s what I meant. That’s what I’m aiming for. And keep that’ll keep your level par for the rest of the rest of the rest of the yeah. And then the rest of it can do whatever it wants. Do you know what? I think that’s a good side bet, you know. Could yeah, it’s a good point. It’d be a great side better.

Nish 47:07

Can you can

The Signature Holes Challenge and the Side Bet

Nish 47:08

you keep it to level par for those three holes? Like the three the most famous. I think one over. I think one over because okay, right, fair enough. Let’s go. Can you keep it as who gets closest to one over on those three holes? Okay. That’s a good side bet. Because it’s been so last minute we’re not even able to speak to Jim to find out about a side bet. Signature hole. We’ve got to identify ourselves, but we’re gonna go with uh 17. It’s gotta be 17, I think, hasn’t it really? But 17.

Chris 47:35

I think we should do all three. I think first 17, 18. That’s a special or signature holes. I think that’s just do it. Throw the signature hole man. Throw the structure out the window and we do we do all three.

Nish 47:46

If there’s a place that deserves it, it is this. Um okay. Well, let’s do so. We’ll do alright, but that that can be our signature holes challenge, then we’ll call it. Yeah. The lowest, what, net score? Are we doing or we do it gross? Gross. Let’s do gross. Do gross the lowest gross score on the signature hole challenge wins the the St Andrews Old Course Signature Holes Challenge. Yeah. What should we say is our side bet then? We should have talked about this before we came. We should have talked about it, shouldn’t we?

Chris 48:12

Should we do something bunker based? I feel like that feels relevant. Yeah, bunker based or I mean should we okay.

Nish 48:21

I feel like we leave it to oh no, I don’t even know actually here. Uh I’ll tell you what, uh I don’t know. What would be yeah, maybe bunker base. I mean, it doesn’t it doesn’t feel like a heavy bunker place, though, does it?

Chris 48:34

O on the on the hotel sign at the end.

Nish 48:36

Hey, that’s a good one. Who can get closest to the ideal line on the 70? Yeah, mate. Oh, that’s beautiful. That is a beautiful side better. I think that’s a good one. Because we’ll be able to get the shock tracer on it and everything. Right, brilliant. Yeah, done. Right, who needs a gym? Screw you. You were gonna say 18 anyway, Jim. I’m pretty sure about it. But um, yeah, just well look, Chris. I mean, you know, cheers to that. I mean, what a what a day we’ve got in prospect. Let’s do it properly. Let’s do it properly. What a day we’ve got in prospect. Because my glass is plastic. I know, wasted. Don’t trust you with a glass glass. Um well look, we’re gonna sign off now on this rambling episode, and we will obviously keep you abreast on our socials about what’s going on, and then we’ll we’ll somehow pull ourselves down from heaven and go, right, let’s do a review about this.

Chris 49:32

Yeah, but I mean, this is one of those moments, isn’t it, that if for some reason that we couldn’t do it anymore? Challenge after after this week. Fucking hell, Chris, what’s gonna happen? Well, no, but like you’d be pretty happy, right? But no, but you think about what we’ve done so far, what we’ve achieved so far, like we’ve done St Andrews, we’ve done Wentworth, we’ve done Carnoustie, we’ve done Swinley Forest, like we’ve been to some pretty awesome places already.

Nish 49:55

Yeah, yeah, we we’ve I mean, yeah, amazing. I don’t want to tell you about my last couple of months of of golf because it’s uh like being unreal. But yeah, it it just this just covers this feels like such a we’ve we’ve kind of really made some strides this year, I think, in terms of like reach, in terms of like places we’ve been invited on and things like that. And uh, you know, teaser alert, some of the courses we are playing next year are unreal, like they are so good, yeah. So we’ll we’ll they’re under wrap. Well, if you follow us on Instagram, I mean they probably aren’t under wraps, but you know, they’re sort of under wraps at the minute, but to to reach the end of our golfing playing year to hit 30 courses, 30% of the way, all that kind of stuff. 31 for you, Chris. Yeah, and to do that at the old course, yeah, it’s just beautiful, yeah. Absolutely beautiful. It is like you know, people can try the whole plan to do a hundredth there or whatever. Like, we don’t even know if we’re gonna hit 100 because there’s some fucking hard courses to get on. Yeah, but like you don’t say no to the old course at any time.

Chris 51:11

Yeah, I you know, when we first we first started doing this, we did say like when are we gonna like when do we strategically do the old course? And the answer to that was whenever you get the opportunity to do it.

Nish 51:21

If the opportunity on it now, you do it, yeah, absolutely. Well, having now found out how difficult some things are, like it’s like, yeah, we just gotta do it, whatever. So yeah, yeah, we will um we’ll report back, we’ll give you our our um review. Uh we don’t need to do a review, we’ll just tell you how that how we did and and what we thought of it. And I think we’re gonna be fan girls, aren’t we? We’re not gonna be fanboys, are we when we get there? But uh the Beatles again. Uh yeah, I think so. Uh before we leave, we touched upon this whole you know, yin and yang, marmighty bit about the old course. Some people get a bit humbug about it, they sort of yeah, great experience, not a great course, whatever. Yeah, um, I’m gonna leave you with a quote from our mate, Alistair MacKenzie, MacKenzie chap from the first year that we were doing this, and um as I’ve played more golf courses and I’ve played more golf because he’s designed than other people have designed, I really appreciate his golf architecture. Like they are fun courses, they’re hard courses, but you will never get bored if you’re the member of a MacKenzie golf course or club ever. But he said, about people who complain about the old course, he said they have not the brains enough, or have not played it long enough to appreciate its many virtues. And I think that sums the old course up, doesn’t it? I think it does. The grand old lady of golf. Yep. Until next time on the top 100 in 10 golf podcast.