Our first round in the St Andrews part of our trip was at Kingsbarns. It was described to me as being similar to Pebble Beach, and although I’ve never played there, I can see what they mean. The holes have beautiful views of the sea, though we were on the North Sea, with its chilly winds.

The course was built by an American, and my caddie described it as “American-style links,” which I thought was quite apt. Like a proper links course, it lies between the land and the sea, with lots of undulations. But it was more manicured than the other places we played.

Luckily, we had another sunny day, and the wind wasn’t too wicked. Most of us played pretty well, and I had my first (and only) birdie!

Our next round was at Carnoustie. When I shared our itinerary with other golfers, I was often asked why we were playing this notoriously difficult course, so I was getting even more nervous about playing it than usual. But our caddies at Kingsbarns, who saw our game, said we’d be fine. So I was up for the challenge!

Although Carnoustie sits next to the North Sea, there are no ocean views, so it has a very different feel than the other courses we played. Unfortunately, you could still feel that North Sea air, which especially came into play on the last five holes, which are also the toughest.

Again, with the help of our caddies we enjoyed the course. I can see how difficult it would be from the tips, but we managed to get around okay. My caddie was quite chatty and a real student of the game, so he helped me a lot.

It’s time for a note on caddies. Most of us shot lower rounds than we do at home on some of the toughest courses in the world. A lot of that has to do with the guidance of our caddies. (It’s also helped by the style of links golf, which I think is kinder to shorter hitters.)

I was always amazed at how we each got a caddie who was suited to our own style. But now I don’t think this was luck.

My caddie at St Andrews told me caddying was like going on continual first dates, always sizing each other up. So rather than getting the “perfect “ caddy by luck, I think they’re all part psychologists. They figure out what you want from them, and generally try to deliver.

On to the last round – the New Course at St Andrews. Unfortunately, rain was scheduled to move in toward the end of our round, so the senior caddie in the group rushed us a bit to get our round in before the rain hit.

We succeeded in beating the rain, but since it was Sunday and the Old Course was open to anyone to walk, we had to do that! So we walked the Old Course in windswept rain. I’m happy we did it, and also happy I didn’t have to play in those conditions!

This trip has been better than I expected. Given my limited golf abilities, I worried that the courses would be too much for me. But after my initial nerves, I was fine. The courses were beautiful, the caddies were fun and the Scottish people were lovely. We also thought our tour company, Halcyon Golf Travel, did a good job helping us with our itinerary and getting us where we needed to be.

The rest of my foursome heads home tomorrow, but I’ll head to Glasgow where Jim will meet me after a couple nights. I’m happy for this extension. I’m definitely not ready to leave Scotland.