I remember the exact time that it hit me... We had just had a glorious lunch and tour of the Troon clubhouse with our friend WillieB. His hip was acting up and he could not play. He saw us off the first tee and walked back in after our shots into the 2nd. We were playing by ourselves as a twosome, for the first time on this trip to Scotland.

As we finished out our putts on #9 (The Monk) and took the long walk from the 9th green to the 10th (Sandhills) it hit me like a long-awaited epiphany. It is all about the walk That is the Holy Grail of Links golf, the walk!

Walking these wonderful links courses, soaking it all in, living in the moment. Enjoying the company of your friend(s). Breathing-in the fresh air, walking through the dunes, viewing the Sea to the right, or left, thinking about your most important shot—always your next one.

We both striped our drives down the middle of the fairway. We were feeling great, and joking as to how fast we were playing, and how much fun we were having playing the course that would be hosting The Open the following summer. As we approached our tee balls,

Trying to keep up with our Caddies at Prestwick

It is not about “Cart Ball” as Sandy Tatum once put it, talking about golf in America. Carts are often obligatory. No offense to those that need to take a cart, or select to do so for whatever reason, or the course dictates that they must, but that is not the game they play on Links courses in Scotland. Not riding an electric cart, cooler full of beer, radio blasting out Kenny Chesney or Van Halen.

No safari golf, parking the cart on the path and taking three clubs with you to find your ball and hit your next shot, not remembering what the angle that the ball was taking as it went into the rough or gorse.

No. It is about walking a straight line to your next shot, whether you are carrying your bag or it’s on a trolley that you’re pushing. Whether you are chatting it up with your partner(s) or local caddies busting each other’s chops or telling the best jokes that they tell every day. It is one continuous, never interrupted conversation, not thirty-two disrupted, 30-40 second conversations.

I know what you are thinking. It is a very overused term, but I could not really think of any better way to put it. The definition of Holy Grail is “a thing that is eagerly pursued or sought after.” To take that definition a step further, often if not always, there is a quest involved. Something that you are pursuing or trying hard to find.

Many people have authored articles, stories, and books about Links golf. What is the magic behind Links golf? How did it differ from the game that most Americans play? One thing that became clear to me was that playing Links golf is about the walk, and sometimes a walk in the rain!

“I visited four of the great (links) ones—Ballybunion, Prestwick, Royal Dornoch, and Royal Troon. I’ve never had more fun playing golf than I did that week, with a man whose passion for Links golf is second to none” (referring to a fellow Stanford alum Sandy Tatum).

-Tom Watson

On our flight back home from Scotland, I thought about the last round I played with my good friend David at his home club in Columbus. We walked, we carried our bags, we talked, we reminisced, we laughed, we hit golf shots. We were in the moment as we approached our next shot. We collectively lost two golf balls all day. We smiled. We talked about it at the 19th hole over a single malt. We smiled again.

The Fairways and Sheep of Brora

I harkened back to my trip to Bandon the previous spring with Scooter. I walked Pacific Dunes the day before they arrived, with my rickshaw (their brand of trollies) then Scooter and I walked Sheep Ranch the next day. Even if they allowed electric carts, it just wouldn’t be the same. I applaud Mike Keiser, the developer of Bandon, and other subsequent destinations.

He got it right years ago. Everyone called him crazy. “You are building a destination golf resort that will have links courses, and your guests must walk! No electric carts!? That will never fly.”

Oops!

I cheer on clubs that do not allow carts (or buggies as they are called in Scotland) or limit them to those with medical conditions that deem it necessary. Whether they require a caddie, or provide a rickshaw, it is refreshing.

At my club in central-south Missouri, I can only think of three guys—other than the members of the high school and college teams—that walk the course regularly.

I love how the Scots view their Links courses as parks to be enjoyed by everyone. Look at The Old Course in St. Andrews, it is an exceptionally large park that happens to also be a golf course. Most Americans don’t realize this, but it is closed for play on Sundays (except for The Open, Dunhill Links and a few other tournaments), and open to all the public who come out in droves. It is a wonderful site to see. Baby-strollers, elderly couples, and dogs, dogs, dogs.

I remember many, many times running into folks walking the fairways and beaches of the courses we played--Brora, Royal Dornoch, Machrihanish, Cruden Bay (searching for lost golf balls in the towering dunes), and Dunaverty. Links courses welcome it.

There was the time that we saw three Australian Shepards frolicking in the distance as we approached #10, called “Hang Ten,” a par 4 on Machrihanish Dunes, with the beach and surf in the background. Or, as we approached our tee-balls on the green of the par-3 fifteenth at Kingsbarns, called Rocky Ness, an elderly gentleman was walking down the trail, retriever in tow, toward the nature trail off the previous tee.

“Looks like you caught that one pretty well,” he smiled, as he walked down the hill that led up to the green. “What did ye hit?”

“A low five-iron,” I responded, “just not sure if it held the green or went into the back bunker,”

As I petted his dog, we wished them a good walk, and I thought to myself that would never happen in the States.

We found the Holy Grail, that wonderful Monday afternoon at Royal Troon. We dove into the back nine and had the most enjoyable nine holes of golf that I think we’ve ever played together. Grinning with every shot, rooting each other on for our five remaining rounds while in Scotland, walking the grail. After all, it may be spoiled, as John Feinstein put it, depending on how you are playing that day, but on a Links course it is always a good walk.

Say it slowly…it is all about the walk!

See you in the fairways…Old Tam

On a beautiful walk at Machrihanish Dunes