Date: June 16, 2007
Author:

Tim Stewart blogs from the UK

This is now my third week in the UK. After a few days of adjusting from the flight over here (didn&apost get any sleep), we were all ready to start playing and practicing in preparation for the St Andrews Links Trophy. I stayed with the secretary of the Championships Department of the R&A, David Moir. That was really good because he took us on a tour through the R&A office where we got to have a look at all the entry forms for the British Open including Tiger&aposs and Ernie&aposs which was pretty cool. In the days leading up to the tournament we got to play a few different courses in the area such as St. Michaels, Lundin Links and St Andrews Bay (Torrance Course). The weather for our entire time in Scotland was perfect and it only rained once. The tournament itself was played on the Jubilee Course on the first day and the Old Course the second day, with the players who made the top 40 cut, playing 36 holes around the Old Course on Sunday. Around the Jubilee I shot a 77, hitting 14 greens and missing only three fairways. Let&aposs just say that I couldn&apost quite get the feel for the greens. The second day, around the Old, I had a 74, again hitting 14 greens and only missing a few fairways, and didn&apost putt that bad either. I just got a little unlucky in a few places; that combined with some tricky pin positions all added up. The tournament itself was won by Llewelyn Mathews from Wales, with Scott Arnold (Cronulla, Australia) finishing second, so at least there was some Aussie success. We managed to have a bit of a look around the area, even getting a look in the Old Course R&A clubhouse where we saw the coveted claret jug. This week we are in Lytham St Annes for the British Amateur which is about 15 minutes south of Blackpool. The tournament starts on Monday June 18 and we have practice rounds on Saturday and Sunday. It is being played at Royal Lytham & St Annes and St Annes Old Links – I can&apost wait! Tim