We arrived at St Andrews in the rain after a longer than usual drive due to a detour.

We were staying at the legendary Rusacks hotel, established in 1877 and overlooking the Old Course. I have to admit that Rusacks was a letdown after Marine North Berwick. (Both hotels are now part of the Marine group.) Our rooms were tiny, especially in comparison to the space we had in North Berwick, and there was no golf course view from the common areas except from the restaurants.

But when we met at the Dunvegan for dinner, our mood immediately improved. The pub was recommended by several people, and has been called one of the best hangouts in the world of golf. I can confirm that is true.

The place was packed with golfers, including members of the Royal & Ancient (R&A), the oldest and largest St Andrews golf club. (In Scotland, many clubs share the same courses. So a person could belong to the R&A or another club and play St Andrews.)

Members of the club were in town for their fall meeting. There was a group of South Africans in plaid jackets they had custom made for this trip and men in tuxedos who had come from an R&A meeting. When everyone joined in the chorus of Sweet Caroline, I knew I was in the right place.

We spent the next day touring the small town of St Andrews, home of golf and of the oldest university in the country. It was moving in weekend for students, but the town didn’t seem very crowded. Maybe they were all busy on campus.

We had our first early tee time the next day at Kingsbarns, so we skipped the Dunvegan for a more sedate nightcap at the One Under Bar, another classic golf hangout.