Scratch the Itch, Catch the Worm

Early morning rounds are my most favourite activity. In particular, taking the first tee time on the Eden Course as spring is starting to arrive, is as good as it gets. The pace of play is as healthy as a champion racehorse, and the satisfaction of finishing your loop before the clock strikes 9:45am brings with it a joy that only true golfing badgers will understand.

Monday morning saw Charlie and I venture out for the 7:20 tee time, on one of these calm, humid mornings we get in St Andrews around this time of year. The low clouds hung to the eastern horizon like a light blanket, covering the seemingly shy sunshine from bathing us in its rays until the 2nd green. When the air is still over links-land, it can sometimes be quite eerie. The relentless winds that barrage the fescue for most of the year vanish, and in their place, a soft silence emerges giving you the impression that something quite special is bound to happen. For both of us, on Monday morning, this golden ticket emerged full of plenteous birdies and even better match-play. 

A birdie and par at the first, followed by a pair of bogeys at the second, we were off to a predictably steady start. Score notwithstanding, the first handful of holes on mornings like these are experiences to savour. The dew lies thick on the ground and makes the fairways look bejeweled and royal. Divots fly up from the saturated, overnight ground with a soft flight, only to be replaced with a thud, a stamp and an sly smile, for they are part of the appeal of mornings like these. 

Steady golf continued until the 6th tee box, where the winter ‘up’ tees offer up the chance of glory. One of us made an eagle. Better luck next time, Charlie.

By the turn, the sun had risen fast and high. We quickly became aware that it is an impossible problem to dress and layer oneself properly for days like this. You stand in your bedroom at a strokes past 6:30am, looking at your closet with disbelief that the temperature gauge reads a stern 1 degree centigrade. You pick out what you think is appropriate clothing, only to find you’re dripping with sweat by the 10th hole. Note to self: be sparse and frugal. 

Winding its way back toward the most inland part of the Links peninsula, the match was in a deadlock of Hogan pars and shared birdies. It came down to the 18th, as all good matches should, and where a 3 iron outdrove a 3 wood, to end in a tie. Neither one of us had the courage to put it away but I think neither of us wanted to. A draw summed it up, really. You’ll find us out there, from 7:00 to 7:30 most sunny Spring mornings if you ever want a game, a match or just a walk. It is after all, the Eden way.