The university end of town is completely dead now. The halls of residence have finally closed for the summer. By contrast the streets surrounding the golf course are humming. Overnight twenty flag poles have appeared. A tournament must be in the offing. Eagle eyed readers will note that the Scots St Andrews flag is probably 40% bigger than the spindly English flag of St George flying next to it. Let's put it down to saintly rivalry.
Men in baseball caps are everywhere.100% of visiting golfers wear baseball caps. These are pulled down hard to stop them blowing away in the wind. Locals tend towards the more practical , if less stylish, woolen bobble hat. Baseball caps provide a useful clue to the nationality of their owners. This morning I'd reckon we're 90% American, 5% Glaswegians and the rest a smattering of Koreans and South Africans. All, without exception, are male and the vast majority in the 45-55 age bracket. Some of the more wily students have stayed on to act as Caddies. Establish the right rapport, pray for a good round, hope the weather is kind and you might get a Pebble Beach sized tip. Two Australian second year medical students hoping to boost their bank accounts are waiting to escort a group of Californians onto the fairway. This is the Californians first time on the sacred turf and they cluster for a group 'hug' before teeing off. The Australians take this in their stride. The youngsters have that easy Australian affability that almost guarantees they'll be well rewarded. They certainly seem to be living the life of their dreams.
Amidst the bustle sudden silence. A local is exercising his centuries old, God given, legal right to walk across the sacred turf of the Old Course. His black labrador accompanies him. They move in a ' I will not be hurried' way. Amid fevered shouts of 'Fore !' he continues slowly and untroubled. Golf comes to a halt. Two of the aforementioned Glaswegian gentlemen , waiting for their turn to tee off, voice the opinion that golf here would be better if the 'Bloody locals' would go away. ' Go away ' isn't quite the way they phrase it but you get the message.
6 comments:
Hari OM
That church is certainly architecturally intresting - manages to produce the sense of the Gothic in entirely modern style. It seems you may have intended to provide a second link... thus buildings geek wouldn't mind a gander at it! YAM xx
At first, I wondered if a random saint had been appointed to golf.
As long as the baseball caps are not Red with a certain slogan on them, a sign of low intelligence.
I always find the links to be interesting and enlightening. I wonder about the Manhattanite’s choice of favorite buildings. Both the article on cats and the French society provided new insights. Thank you.
JoAnn in Maryland
I also found the article about France to be intriguing, although I came away wondering whether the subject's perspective might be too Paris-focused. We've just returned from Marseille, one of the places identified as a dynamic urban center that no longer has any place for the French working class. We were there for a Bruce Springsteen concert, along with more than 61,000 French attendees, and if those around us were not the French working class, I wonder who they were - looked quite familiar to me. As you may have read, Springsteen has been attacking Trump on this current European tour and last night's performance was very political, with his most critical remarks subtitled in French on the big screens. The audience definitely got it and certainly appeared to be in agreement with everything he said not just about the US situation specifically but about the general principles of free speech, due process, treatment of workers, civil rights, loyalty to allies, etc. It was very moving. Marseille itself we always enjoy visiting. I guess it has a New Jersey-type vibe and reputation, but for me (and Bruce?) that's a good thing.
Love live The Boss.
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