God's Gift To Golf

As the Open Championship starts this week on the Old Course, St. Andrews here is the green of the fourth hole on Shiskine Golf Course on the other side of the country on the island of Arran that none of the game's elite will play this week.   It's their eternal loss.   I don't think there is a finer setting in the whole of the golf world.   The fourth is a short par three and the tee sits half way up a rocky crag (see extra shots).    There's a sense of being invited to share in some rare bounty as you line up your shot on high and a deep surge of pride that you have played your part when you plop the ball onto the green.   I don't always do that but today I did (see extra shots) and felt blessed when I sank my long put, straight and sure as a die, for a birdie two.   It seemed heaven descended then and I stood still savouring the moment and the scenery.