St Andrews Christmas light switch on 2006

NONE GOLF - But interesting !

Today, after months of planning, we switched on the xmas lights in St Andrews. I managed to call on the services of good friend and Soap Star Joyce Falconer from River City along with onscreen hubby 'Raymond' (Paul Samson) who is a native of the town

I took a few pictures of the day that can be seen HERE


PRESS RELEASE
SWITCH ON TO CHRISTMAS
ST ANDREWS was filled with festive cheer on Saturday as the town's Christmas lights were switched on.
The honour of flicking the switch was given to the young winners of a local primary schools poster competition.Jordan Wilson, Megan Smith, Eirean Fletcher and Emma Shearer turned on the Christmas lights with the aid of Santa Claus and River City actors Joyce Falconer and Paul Samson, who play Roisin and Raymond.
Hundreds of people turned out for the event, which was organised by St Andrews Merchants' Association and Paul Marshall of Fife Council, and marked the beginning of the St Andrews Festival

Kind Regards

Steve Cooke

MD St Andrews Golf Vacations www.scotlandgolftouring.com
134 South Street.
St Andrews.
Fife
Scotland
Telephone +44 1337 858888

Rotary Club of St Andrews Kilrymont Golf event 2006 at Kingsbarns Golf Links

St Andrews Golf Vacations were involved with the organising of this event for the 2nd year running Charity is a large part of what we do, having raised over £5000 earlier this year at Gleneagles.

THE ROTARY CLUB OF ST ANDREWS KILRYMONT organised another very successful Charity Golf Day played over KINGSBARNS GOLF LINKS on Monday, 30 October, 2006.

This was the fifth running of the event and once again, the day was blessed with glorious sunshine and a challenging westerly wind to test the 86 golfers taking part.

23 Rotary Clubs from 8 Districts were represented this year. Rotarians travelled from as far afield as Bridgnorth in the south, Fraserborough to the north and Kirkbudbright in the west.

They were competing in teams for The Chesterhills Claret Jug and, individually, for The Kilrymont Vase. The Chesterhill Claret Jug is played for between teams representing North of Scotland, South of Scotland and England on a match play format and the North of Scotland, ably lead by Martin Foster (RC of Ellon), comfortably retained the trophy with 18 points.

Shaughn Gibson (RC of Amble & Warkworth) off a handicap of 4 won The Kilrymont Vase with 41 Stableford points.

Stephen Burnett (RC of Ellon) off 12 was runner up with 37 points, beating Alastair Morgan (RC of Stonehaven) off 7 with the better last three holes.

Fourth was Richard Wailes (RC of Amble & Warkworth) off 15, again with 37 points.

Prizes were won by Shaughn Gibson and Alan Dorrian (RC of Langholm) for the longest drives at the 18th and Jack Redhead for being nearest the hole at the 8th.

This year the event attracted several corporate sponsors including

ST ANDREWS GOLF VACATIONS
ROLLO, DAVIDSON & McFARLANE
DAVID DONALDSON
J&E SHEPHERD
FAIRMONT ST ANDREWS HOTEL
DUNVEGAN HOTEL PILMOUR GUEST HOUSE
LITTLEFORD ESTATES
IAIN MACFARLANE LOWE
STUART NIVEN & SON
THE BARBERS POLE
IRVINE ENGINEERING
KINKELL BRAES CARAVAN PARK
UBS
The event has raised around £3,500 and The Rotary Club Of St Andrews Kilrymont are very grateful for the generous support from all the golfers, Kingsbarns Links and sponsors in making the event such a successful fund raising day and, in particular, for our main beneficiaries this year, namely;

The Mary Slessor Foundation The Family Room in the new St Andrews Hospital – this is an on going project over the next 3 years

Rotary Foundation - The Rotary Club of St Andrews Kilrymont’s Charity Fund

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St Andrews Golf Vacations - St Andrews University Honouring Golf Legends

We were delighted to attend St Andrews University who were Honouring Golf Legends, Nick Faldo, Peter Thompson and Peter Alliss. Laura Davies was also honoured but was unable to attend

We managed to get a few photographs of the event and even managed to also meet Bruce Forsyth who is no mean golfer himself !


PRESS RELEASE
Four of the biggest names in world golf have been awarded degrees by Scotland's oldest university, St Andrews University to mark the beginning of the 134th Open Championship.

Players Nick Faldo, Laura Davies and Peter Thomson have been honoured by St Andrews University, along with BBC commentator Peter Alliss. The golfers joined several other stars of the sport to be honoured by the university, including Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player, Colin Montgomerie and Seve Ballesteros.

Peter Alliss was one of Britain's leading professionals but is now best known as a broadcaster for ABC in the US and the BBC in Europe.

Nick Faldo won 30 times on the European Tour, six times on the USPGA Tour and has six majors to his name while Laura Davies was the first woman ever to win all three major golfing tournaments in one year during the 1980s.

Peter Thomson, an Australian, is regarded as one of the world's best links golfers.


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Do Golf Course managers clone T-shirts? exclusive

While looking back to the sunny fairways of Gleneagles where we held our Charity event a couple of weeks ago I noticed something odd about Barrie Liddell (Golf Manager Scotscraig - Open Qualifying Course) and Colin McLeods (Carnousties Golf manager - British Open venue 2007) dress sense




Even the trousers match, rumour has it they used to work together too, the mind boggles!

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Gleneagles Charity Golf Day news and thanks you's

At the end of the day the Charity Golf day, wasn't really about Golf, it was created to raise funds for a project I am 100% behind and support, the Baghdad Orphanage

Around £5000 was raised and will help Ahmad Rustam get the first 5 innocent child victims into the Orphanage within the month of July



If you want to enter one of our events please do not hesitate to email us so that we can send you details of future events

You may find Riverbends Blog eye-opening, its holds no punches and makes disturbing reading - More here




The prizegiving began - trophies sponsored by 'The Barber's Pole' were presented to the winners with prizes

3rd Prize - went to my good friend and fellow teammate Richard Mitusch - Points 37 Carnoustie Story, signed by author Donald Ford - sponsored by Colin Mcleod, Carnoustie Golf Links

2nd Prize - Brian Brodie 38 points - Wine Sponsored by Syd Littleford

1st Prize - John Clarke 38 points (won on countback) - who won a day of golf for 2 sponsored kindly by Sheelagh at the Old Course experience

Nearest the pin - 3 ft on the 10th Won by Colin Hynd 4 ball on Dukes Championship Golf Course St Andrews sponsored by Jason Schellenberg Old Course Hotel Golf Manager

Longest drive on the 14th won by David McKean- 4 ball on Scotscraig sponsored by Barry Liddlle Golfing Secretary Scotscraig Golf Club

Winning team was (gulp) St Andrews Golf Vacations - 83 Points - best 2 stableford scores per hole- 4 Ball on Gleneagles

Joyce Falconer, after serving Clootie dumplins and whisky and posing for fo'ti's ! did a little bit of squeezybox entertainment with some good old fashioned Scottish humour thrown in for good measure !

We had an auction after this with some outstanding items donated including a stay in a 4 star hotel in France with 3 rounds of golf, wine, clothing and much more...

All in all a very enjoyable day was had by all

It wouldn't seem right not to mention a few 'thank you's' to the people who made this event possible in the first place.




Alan Pryke - Created a webpage and site for the event and project, for making a meal and getting his friends to pay £500 for it ! For making us VIP Tickets for the event, making posters and brochures. Alan is one of the unsung hero's in life who do things without looking for any thanks, but sometimes is nice to receive a thank you !

Gwen Brock/ Kedren Turner - Gleneagles - For helping us put the finishing touches to the event and answering dozens of emails !

Joyce Falconer - For being a wonderful person and a role model. Helping on the 10th tee and first class act in the Gleneagles Suite !

Arlene Cooke - Helped over the months promote the event and raise funds, helped Joyce on the 10th tee with our Daughter Leigh (aged 5) Very lucky to have her as my wife

Arthur Murray - Grahams dad, helped set up 'Book in' at the Dormay Suite and kept things running on the 1st tee

Dollar Thrifty - Ex Thrifty Paul Mylett helped us get major Sponsorship of the Golf event - Scott Toward Rosemary Duffy for helping make the day a success

Frances Connelly - For getting us a couple of teams and promoting the event

John O'Mahoney - For getting us a couple of wonderful Auction prizes that raised well over £500

And to all the other sponsors of the event.........

and most of all the players, and the customers/ Staff of the Barbers Pole St Andrews

The companies aim is to make golf 'more affordable' and bring the 'fun' aspect back into life I believe we achieved this, and raised some much needed funds for those that are much less fortunate than ourselves

As irony would have it, the event was held exactly a year to the day since George Bush and Tony Blair and other G8 Members met at the same venue

Regards
Steve Cooke MD
www.golfgroups.org

Tiger Woods showing off !

Shotts Golf Club Charity golf day

Another Charity Golf event we took part in was at Shotts Golf Club
Shotts is pretty much invetween Edinburgh and Glasgow just off the M8 Motorway

Rangers and Scotland great Tam Forsyth and Paul Mylett from Thrifty vehicle renatal, were myself and Graham Murrays playing partners for the day

A splendid time was had by all in good company, and most important of all, money was raised for a good cause


To see a full 18 hole guide of Shotts Golf Club please CLICK HERE

Robin Williams illustrates the Scotsman and the invention of golf. Warning - lots of language and may offend - But highly funny !

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Why create a Golf Touring Company at all ?

The intention of this blog is to show you a little more about Golf in Scotland, an insight into the Golf Tourism Business, golf course, accommodations and Charity Golf events amongst other things

Why St Andrews? why Scotland? why promote this place at all?

Many people look at St Andrews in various ways, I'll explain to you what St Andrews means to me

In the late 70's, as a Golf enthusiast, my parents used to enjoys holidays/ vacations in various parts of Scotland.

We went to Tain once, where my good friend Iain Mcleod has since won plaudits worldwide for his fine work, and even won Greenkeeper of the Year a few years ago

Another place we visited 3-4 times was Blairgowrie, home of one of the most peaceful golf courses I know, and the highlight of the week was always a round on Rosemount.

There was also a little hidden beauty there called the 'Wee Course' , a must play if you want to play a wonderful 9 hole course, and at that time they built the 'Landsdown course' another 18 hole gem

However, we seemed to more often than not stay in St Andrews, mainly at the several self catering/ renting places in town
I bought a junior weekly pass to play the Eden, New and Jubilee 'unlimited' and always had enough to get onto the sacred turf of the 'Old Course' at the end of the week

St Andrews was a place I fell in love with from day 1

Joining the RAF in 1983, made my posting choice obvious, RAF Leuchars, which is 6 miles away from St Andrews and over the Eden Estuary. Chances for cheap golf on the Links and membership of St Andrews !
Most of my time in the RAF was spent at Leuchars

After 12 years service, in 1995, I left the RAF (thanks to Margaret Thatchers 'option for change' streamlining of the forces)

It was then I created the Barbers Pole, which gives away a 'free nip of whisky' with every haircut!
The shop raises an incredible amount for Charity through various events and fundraising
My long term staff - Jo, Marie, Christina and Allison deserve special mention

In 1996 I was invited to become an executive of St Andrews Merchants Association

In 2004 St Andrews Golf Vacations was thought up, catering for all types of Golfer, offering affordable Golf Tours, and the Golf experience of a lifetime

In 2005 we visited all major Golf Courses and Accommodations and had our first group of customers through

2006 was a proud moment, after a wee adventure in the Tamil areas of Sri Lanka helping Tsunami Victims I was invited to join St Andrews Kilrymont Rotary Club

that's enough about me, now onto a little what we hope to achieve with this blog

We'll be playing a lot of the local Courses and doing online Golf Course Guides (this job sucks!)with pictures in the next few weeks

Starting off at the world famous Carnoustie Golf Links which is home to 3 golf courses, not forgetting the small fact that it home to the British Open in 2007

Thanks must go to Colin McLeod for arranging for myself and Graham Murray to play the courses and do online guides, including one early Sunday morning when we took over the 18th fairway and recreated some famous Golf moments !

Anyone who is interested in playing at Carnoustie Golf Links please contact us,
You may know a group of golfers who may want to book an event?
have transportation arranged
accommodation and everything else that is required

2006 alone has seen us welcome guests who have had 30th, 40th birthdays, a Silver wedding anniversary, and all tend to choose a meal from one of the worlds best Indian/ Bangladeshi restaurants - The Balaka of St Andrews

I'll be personally visiting the Royal and Ancient St Andrews and the newly refurbished Old Course Hotel and will give the latest updates from both

Many thanks for taking time to read this, and if you are planning a trip to Scotland, please get in touch !

Kind regards
Steve Cooke MD
St Andrews Golf Vacations
http://www.golfgroups.org

Golf Course architecture and design

While no two courses are alike, many can be classified into one of the following broad categories:
Links courses: the most traditional type of golf course, of which some century-old examples have survived in the British isles. Located in coastal areas, on sandy soil, often amid dunes, with few artificial water hazards and few if any trees. Traditional links courses, such as The Old Course at St. Andrews, are built on "land reclaimed from the sea," land that was once underwater. Parkland courses: typical inland courses, often resembling traditional British parks, with lawn-like fairways and many trees. Heathland – a more open, less-manicured inland course often featuring gorse and heather and typically less wooded than “parkland” courses. Examples include Woodhall Spa in England and Gleneagles in Scotland. Desert courses: a rather recent invention, popular in Australia, parts of the USA and in the Middle East.

Desert courses require heavy irrigation for maintenance of the turf, leading to concerns about the ecological consequences of excessive water consumption. A desert course also violates the widely accepted principle of golf course architecture that an aesthetically pleasing course should require minimal alteration of the existing landscape. Nevertheless, many players enjoy the unique experience of playing golf in the desert. Sand courses: instead of a heavily irrigated 'green', the players play on sand. Snow courses: another rather recent invention; golf being played on snow, typically with an orange colored or another brightly colored ball.

Can be played in Arctic or subarctic regions during winter. In the United States design varies widely, with courses such as the entirely artificial Shadow Creek in Las Vegas, where a course complete with waterfalls was created in the desert, and on the other end of the spectrum, Rustic Canyon outside of Los Angeles, which was created with a minimal amount of earth moving resulting in an affordable daily green fee and a more natural golfing experience.

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Golf - What is Team play

Team Play
A foursome (defined in Rule 29) is played between two teams of two players each, in which each team has only one ball and players alternate playing it. For example, if players A and B form a team, A tees off on the first hole, B will play the second shot, A the third, and so on until the hole is finished. On the second hole, B will tee off (regardless who played the last putt on the first hole), then A plays the second shot, and so on. Foursomes can be played as match play or stroke play.
A four-ball (Rules 30 and 31) is also played between two teams of two players each, but every player plays his own ball and the lower score on each hole is counted. Four-balls can be played as match play or stroke play.
There are also popular unofficial variations on team play. In a scramble, or ambrose, each player in a team tees off on each hole, and the players decide which shot was best. Every player then plays his second shot from that spot, and the procedure is repeated until the hole is finished.
In a greensome both players tee off, and then pick the best shot as in a scramble. The player who did not shoot the best first shot plays the second shot. The play then alternates as in a foursome.

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What is a Golf Handicap

Handicap systems
A handicap is a numerical measure of an amateur golfer's ability. It can be used to calculate a so-called "net" score from the number of strokes actually played, thus allowing players of different proficiency to play against each other on equal terms. Handicaps are administrated by golf clubs or national golf associations.
Handicap systems are not used in professional golf. Professional golfers typically score several strokes below par for a round.

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Golf rules and other regulations

Golf rules and other regulations


The rules of golf are internationally standardised and are jointly governed by the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews (R&A), which was founded 1754 and the United States Golf Association (USGA). By agreement with the R&A, USGA jurisdiction on the enforcement and interpretation of the rules is limited to the United States and Mexico. Because the rules of golf continue to evolve, amended versions of the rule book are usually published and made effective in a four-year cycle.

The underlying principle of the rules is fairness. As declared on the back cover of the official rule book: "play the ball as it lies", "play the course as you find it", and "if you can't do either, do what is fair". Some rules state that:
every player is entitled and obliged to play the ball from the position where it has come to rest after a stroke, unless a rule allows or demands otherwise (Rule 13-1) a player must not accept assistance in making a stroke (Rule 14-2) the condition of the ground or other parts of the course may not be altered to gain an advantage, except in some cases defined in the rules a ball may only be replaced by another if it is destroyed, lost, or unplayable, and a penalty is incurred in the latter cases The Decisions on the Rules of Golf are based on formal case decisions by the R&A and USGA and are published regularly.

The etiquette of golf, although not formally equivalent to the rules, are included in the publications on golf rules and are considered binding for every player. They cover matters such as safety, fairness, easiness and pace of play, and players' obligation to contribute to the care of the course.

There are strict regulations regarding the amateur status of golfers. Essentially, everybody who has ever taught or played golf for money (or even accepted a trophy of more than a modest monetary value) is not considered an amateur and must not participate in amateur competitions.

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Golf or Gowf as its known in some Scottish Circles

Golf (gowf in Scots) is a game where individual players or teams hit a ball into a hole using various clubs, and is one of the few ball games that does not use a fixed standard playing area. It is defined in the Rules of Golf as "playing a ball with a club from the teeing ground into the hole by a stroke or successive strokes in accordance with the Rules."

Golf originated in Scotland and has been played for several centuries in the British Isles. The oldest known course in the world is The Old Links at Musselburgh. Golf has been played on Musselburgh Links since 1672. Although often viewed as an elite pastime, golf is increasingly popular and continues to attract ever more players around the world.

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The Royal and Ancient Golf Club

The Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews is one of the oldest golf clubs in the world. It is based in St Andrews, Fife, Scotland, regarded as the worldwide "Home of Golf". Formerly it was also one of the governing authorities of the game, but in 2004 this role was handed over to a newly formed group of companies collectively known as The R&A.
The organisation was founded in 1754 as the Society of St Andrews Golfers, a local golf club playing at St Andrews Links but quickly grew in importance. In 1834 King William IV became its patron and the club became known under its present name. In 1897 the Society codified the rules of golf, and was gradually over the next 30 years invited to take control of the running of golf tournaments at other courses.

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Scoring in Golf - How to Score

The two basic forms of playing golf are match play and stroke play.
In match play, two players (or two teams) play every hole as a separate contest against each other. The party with the lower score wins that hole, or if the scores of both players or teams are equal the hole is "halved" (drawn). The game is won by the party that wins more holes than the other. In the case that one team or player has taken a lead that cannot be overcome in the number of holes remaining to be played, the match is deemed to be won by the party in the lead, and the remainder of the holes are not played. For example, if one party already has a lead of six holes, and only five holes remain to be played on the course, the match is over. At any given point, if the lead is equal to the number of holes remaining, the match is said to be "dormie", and is continued until the leader increases the lead by one hole, thereby winning the match, or until the match ends in a tie. In some cases, a match may be continued past the predetermined number of holes until one side takes a one-hole lead, and thereupon immediately wins by one hole.

In stroke play, every player (or team) counts the number of shots taken for the whole round or tournament to produce the total score, and the player with the lowest score wins. A variant of stroke play is Stableford scoring, where a number of points (two for the target score) are given for each hole, and the fewer shots taken, the more points obtained, so the aim is to have as many points as possible. Another variant of stroke play, the Modified Stableford method, awards points on each hole in relation to par and then adds the points over a round; for more details on this method, see the article on The INTERNATIONAL, a tournament that uses Modified Stableford scoring.

There are many variations of these basic principles, some of which are explicitly described in the "Rules of Golf" and are therefore regarded "official". "Official" forms of play are, among others, foursome and four-ball games.

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How to Play a game of Golf

Every game of golf is based on playing a number of holes in a given order. A round typically consists of 18 holes that are played in the order determined by the course layout. On a nine-hole course, a standard round consists of two successive nine-hole rounds. A hole of golf consists of hitting a ball from a tee on the teeing ground (a marked area designated for the first shot of a hole), and, once the ball comes to rest, striking it again, and repeating this process until the ball at last comes to rest in the cup. Once the ball is on the green (an area of finely cut grass) the ball is usually putted (hit along the ground) into the hole. The aim of holing the ball in as few strokes as possible may be impeded by various obstructions, such as bunkers and water hazards.

Players walk (or in some countries, often drive in motorized electric carts) over the course, either singly or in groups of two, three, or four, sometimes accompanied by caddies who carry and manage the players' equipment and give them advice. Each player plays a ball from the tee to the hole, except that in the mode of play called foursomes, two teams of two players compete, and the members of each team alternate shots using only one ball, until the ball is holed out. In all modes of play, when individual players have all brought a ball into play, the player whose ball is the farthest from the hole is next to play. In some team events, a player who is farthest from the hole may ask his or her partner who may be closer to the hole to play first. When all players of a group have completed the hole, the player or team with the best score on that hole has the honor, that is, the right to play first on the next tee.

Each player acts as marker for one other player in the group, that is, he or she records the score on a score card. In stroke play (see below), the score consists of the number of strokes played plus any penalty strokes incurred. Penalty strokes are not actually strokes but penalty points that are added to the score for violations of rules or for making use of relief procedures in certain situations.

If one wishes to play on a golf course, one has to pay a certain fee. There are two different fees: the range fee, which is for the driving range; and the green fee, which allows play on the golf course itself. The green fee may vary from the equivalent of a few U.S. dollars for communal courses in many countries up to that of several hundred dollars for elite private clubs..

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The R and A - The Royal and Ancient

The R&A - The Royal and Ancient



The R&A is the ruling authority of golf everywhere except the United States and Mexico where this responsibility rests with the United States Golf Association (USGA). It works in collaboration with national amateur and professional golf organisations in more than one hundred and ten countries. It also attempts to spread the game to new countries.
The R&A cooperates with the USGA in producing and regularly revising the "Rules of Golf", and the two bodies have issued the rules jointly since 1952. They also collaborate on the corresponding exegetic work, the "Decisions on the Rules of Golf". The R&A is also involved in formulating technical specifications for golfing equipment. The R&A organises several important competitions including "The Open Championship" (known in North America as the "British Open"), and the British Amateur Championship, as well as women's, junior and senior championships and the Walker Cup team event.


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What and who is St Andrews

Named after Saint Andrew the Apostle, the Royal Burgh of St Andrews is a town on the east coast of Fife, Scotland, and the home of golf. It has a population of about 18 000, and stands on the North Sea coast between Edinburgh and Dundee. It is home to Scotland's oldest university, the University of St Andrews.
The town has acquired the name of "the Mecca of Golf", partly because the Royal and Ancient Golf Club, founded in 1754, exercises legislative authority over the game, and partly because of its beautiful links (St Andrews Links)(acquired by the town in 1894). Visitors travel to St Andrews in great numbers for several courses ranked amongst the finest in the world, as well as for the sandy beaches.
St Andrews from the top of St Rule’s TowerThe Martyrs Memorial, erected to the honour of Patrick Hamilton, George Wishart, and other martyrs of the Reformation epoch, stands at the west end of the Scores on a cliff overlooking the sea.

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