Golficity Trip – Round Up

24 June 2019

Shot Scope were delighted to host Mike and Frank Fasano from Golficity to Scotland for their first ever golfing trip to Scotland. The trip took place between 6th – 12th June in St. Andrews and the surrounding area. There will be videos from the trip posted throughout July on Golficity’s YouTube channel – subscribe to make sure you don’t miss them!

The trip kicked off with a round at the newly redesigned Bruntsfield Links Golfing Society with Gavin and Jen. Being situated 10 minutes from Edinburgh airport it was an easy start to the trip, considering the guys were just off the plane! It was safe to say everyone was extremely impressed with the new course layout. The highlight of this course is the fact it is in the city centre of Edinburgh, yet you get the view out across the Firth of Forth from the 10^th tee!

Next up was Lundin Links on Friday morning. It was a brilliant day, where Gavin and David from Shot Scope accompanied Mike and Frank. Lundin is full of tricky holes with a lot of blind shots. There were some brilliant shots, and some not so brilliant ones. However, there was a taste of what was to come with tough bunker shots, putting from off the green and the occasional ball that ended up in the gorse bushes. Both Mike and Frank made birdies, and managed to hit some long drives down wind.

Friday evening…. THE OLD COURSE! Mike and Frank were extremely excited to get a chance to play on the Old Course at St. Andrews – they had played many rounds on the Old Course…. but only on simulators! Friday gave them the chance to play it for real. Unfortunately the rain arrived, but that didn’t put a dampener on the experience. Mike and Frank were in awe at the sheer size of some of the greens and had their fair share of pot bunkers to negotiate on the historic links course.

Saturday offered a different experience for Mike and Frank – the chance to play Hickory Golf at Kingarrock Hickory, just outside St. Andrews. Of course the pair of them turned up in the traditional plus 4’s and flat caps. They looked the part, but could they hit the hickory clubs and balls? A tricky 9 holes awaited them. Not only did they have no Shot Scope to tell them the length of the hole and where any hazards were, but they also had no idea how far they would hit the ball with each club, unlike knowing their distances with Shot Scope. The boys got the hang of it after a few holes and enjoyed the experience of something a little more traditional, with some Scottish ginger beer and shortbread afterwards.

Next on the itinerary, for Saturday afternoon was Ladybank Golf Club. This course boasts tree lined fairways with Scottish heather lurking beneath the trees. Note: you will only try hit a long iron or hybrid out of heather once, then realise it’s a wedge it out back onto the fairway job. Mike and Frank enjoyed the test that Ladybank produced and were great at chipping out onto the fairway from the punishing heather by the end of the round.

Sunday the guys had a morning off and a chance to wander about the town of St. Andrews before heading to Elie Golf House Club about a 30 minute drive from St. Andrews. Elie is what we would describe as a ‘hidden gem’ course, it’s a great course with holes that go right out along the coast line around the 12^th hole. On a clear day it boasts views across the Firth of Forth to some more well-known courses such as Gullane, North Berwick, Archerfield and Muirfield. Mike and Frank were extremely impressed with this ‘hidden gem’ but I think they were particularly intrigued and impressed with the periscope at the starter’s hut, which was salvaged from HMS Exaclibur in 1966.

Monday was a big day. It started off at Crail Golfing Society in the morning, on the traditional Balcomie Links which opened in 1895. This course is a short but testing course, some holes requiring brave tee shots over rocky bays and beaches. Fortunately for Mike, they all suited his shape of ball flight, he could start it left on the land and fade round, keeping it over the land. Whereas Frank had to be really brave and start it over the sea and hope that it drew back. It’s all a matter of how greedy are you going to be, play safe and go left, or be ambitious and take a tiger line…

Monday afternoon took the boys to the lovely Kingsbarns. The weather was as perfect as you could hope for in June in Scotland – blue skies, minimal wind and about 18°C (64°F). As for the golf, it was tough. Playing today with Gavin from Shot Scope and Liam from Visit Fife Golf. Both Mike and Frank had caddies who were invaluable at navigating the huge Kingsbarns greens. The course was tremendous and the guys loved the views. After the round, the clubhouse held the Golficity Podcast which was a truly unbelievable setting to record a podcast. To listen to the guys: Click Here

Last day of golf in Scotland started with 18 holes on the Jubilee Course in St. Andrews. Deemed to have the toughest 5 finishing holes, Mike and Frank were determined to finish strongly. Frank played nicely picking up multiple birdies on the par 5s. Mike holed a huge putt from off the green (30+ yards) and aimed for finishing the last 5 holes in even par. After parring the 14^th, and finding the middle of the green in regulation on 15 he unfortunately 3 putted. However finishing the last 5 in a respectable 3 over par was a good result.

In the afternoon the guys teed it up for their final round on the Torrance course at Fairmont St. Andrews. The wind picked up and it was real test for their last round. Final round meant a final match, this time it was Shot Scope versus Golficity. It was safe to say that after 10 rounds of golf in 6 days Mike and frank were a little drained however they battled well towards the end of the match. End result, Shot Scope win 5&3.

All in all, there was a lot of golf, a lot of laughs and lots of memories made. Keep an eye out for the videos appearing on Golficity’s YouTube Channel. Anyone thinking of a trip to Scotland for golf, be sure to check out Visit Fife Golf.

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