EXPERIENCING EDEN

The recent days for us have been trying to work through our family dream list for Scotland.  We enjoyed seeing a life shepherd in action, seen some amazing cities, villages, and hamlets (really small communities of people).  I have worked in the morning and stayed on top of worship and pastoral care responsibilities, and then during the middle part of the day we have ventured out to see what Scotland and God have in store for us.  Thursday, July 17^th, was a true dream come true in so many ways.  We got to experience St. Andrews and the wonder of Eden.

The city of St. Andrews itself is a kind of Eden.  It is lush with stunning views of old buildings, deep and rich history when it comes to academics, architecture, religion, politics, food, and Scottish culture.  It is both busy and bustling and quaint.  It is surprisingly modern and yet really, really ancient.  It feels like something from a movie on the one hand and then on the other it is real, non-fiction, and comes with the smell of the salty sea and views that one would think could only be manufactured by God’s wild imagination.  And yet, one can drive right into the middle of this amazing place, park a car, and wander around. 

 

I am a guy who really enjoys the sport of golf.  I like the game, the way it puts you in a battle with self and with nature.  In the states golf has become in many corners of the land a bit of elitist sport.  It is very, very expensive to play.  Joining a club is out of reach for so many people, and getting a chance to see—let alone play—some of the great courses in the states (Augusta, Pebble Beach, TPC, Pinehurst No. 2, etc.) is either impossible because one has to be invited by a member or impossible because it was way too expensive. 

St. Andrews is the birthplace of golf, and if you like golf even with the least bit of affection you will love St. Andrews.  As one who is pretty into the sport and has been accused of loving it more than Jesus at times (so not true by the way!), St. Andrews is like a holy grail, a city on a hill, a site so holy one wants to take off his shoes (rather than putting on golf shoes) before treading upon the grass as the ground is like that of Moses and the burning bush.  Golf is woven into the quilt of the community, and all of the courses of the city are open, public, and enjoyed by people who love the game and who could really care less about it. 

The Old Course sits as the grandfather of all the others, but the course’s children and grandchildren run just along side of it and create this stunning, expansive landscape that connects a visitor to the game, to sites of the ocean that are truly amazing, and to views of the town that take words out of one’s mouth.  I am sure I tripped over my bottom lip numerous times on Thursday.  The courses are all open for play, but on Sundays they are not because they are for the public to enjoy to walk around, to run their dogs, and to do things such as---not kidding here—dry the laundry on the bushes!  This, of course, doesn’t happen now, but long ago it did, and so they keep that provision as a possibility!  Even in the midst of golf rounds on the Old Course, it is possible to walk across various bridges and through paths to enjoy the scenery.  Many photo opportunities here.

One of our very friendly and welcoming new friends here in Scotland, Eric Fraser, set up the round at the Eden Course for us.  It was a sunny day with a light breeze.  While the boys played, Sarah, Aubrey, and Eric’s wife, Bo (someone who grew up in St. Andrews) went on some site seeing adventure that included the aquarium.  After we teed off, they went on their way.

Our round of golf was glorious, very challenging, and a whole lot of fun.  There were moments were I’d be standing over my shot thinking, “I cannot believe I am playing golf right now at St. Andrews!”  There were many, many times, especially on the front nine where all that separated our course from the Old Course was a little bit of rough and a very small (about 2 feet tall) stone wall.  I couldn’t tell much difference between what we were doing and what they were doing, although the Old Course was very crowded, and we had Eden pretty much all to our selves.  We never really felt rushed. 

I forgot to mention the value of playing Eden: 40 pounds for me, 20 for Will—compared to 165 pounds for each of us on the Old Course! 

We found Eden’s fairways to be pretty expansive along with the greens, but if you got an odd bounce or hit an errant shot—as I did right a few too many times—the rough had a way of humbling you.  Let’s just say there were more than a few shots where I was humbled.  The links course layout is quite unique.  I was prepared for the rolling hills and for the severe difference between the rough and the fairway, but what is hard to describe is how the wind blows and swirls.  One shot it is pushing your ball yards and yards further than you plan and on the next hole, it is like hitting into a brick wall.  The ball just stops, falling far short of where you intend for it to go.  We actually had a most forgiving and fair wind day. 

The traps were not so forgiving and if you got into a deep one, as I did near one of the greens, it can be quite challenging to get on to the putting surface.  The greens ran pretty fast and true.  Another feature of links style greens is that they are very firm because of all the wind, and you have to play shots such as the bump and run, where you hit a ball low with a good bit of over-spin and chase it up towards the flag.  Will is actually getting really good at those.  I chipped and putted pretty well at Eden which made up for some inconsistency off the tee.

I found it safest not to play the driver very much, so I relied on the fairway wood. Eden is not a terribly long course, but what it lacks in length it makes up for in demanding accuracy off the tee.  Again, if you hit it in the high rough about the best you can hope for is a bogey.  Will felt very challenged by the layout compared to the very forgiving North Inch course in Perth.  He had his moments of frustration, but he did a really good job shooting a pretty true 99 from the reds.  I came in around 88 and was pleased at that considering it was my first time out there and I pushed a good many shots.  Eric had a good day and was the ever helpful caddy for us and the most gracious host, telling us all kinds of interesting bits about the course and the town.

One more significant feature about golf in Scotland is that everybody—unless one has a significant medical reason—everybody walks.  Most people use trolleys (golf pull carts) to hold their clubs, and I opted to carry my bag since it is so light.  I like this tradition very much because it keeps golf more of a sport and exercise oriented activity.  I’d love to see more of this back at home. 

After our round, we joined up with the girls at the New Course club house and enjoyed lots of incredible views of the courses.  We ate some food around 3 PM and enjoyed catching up on the events of the day.  There were people in the clubhouse from all over the world, and the buzz in the room was one of joy and leisure.  Following our food, we enjoyed a round on the Himalayas (putt putt style course) just outside.  It only cost us a few pounds, and it was something that even Sarah and Aubrey could do.  It is an 18 hold hilly course designed way back in the 1800s by a Scottish women’s golfing club.  It is really family friendly and a whole lot of fun.  It doesn’t have the windmills and plastic animals like our crazy golf mini courses at home, but it brought a lot of joy and laughter for the group. 

After that event, we went way out to the end of the beach and took a brief and breezy walk on the same sands where the movie Chariots of Fire was filmed years ago.  We did our running impression, and we learned from Bo that the burned in the back ground came from a bale of hay that the movie producers purchased from one of her relatives!  Aubrey made sure to stick her feet in the water, but it was very, very chilly.  It felt good to smell the salty sea air which gave us the feeling of home at Fernandina Beach.  That was nice, and it was so enjoyable to hear Bo and Eric talk about some of their memories of coming to the beach when their own children were little.  They would do so as a Christmas Day tradition after opening presents, and they described the beach being filled with families all out to enjoy the scenery.  They are really looking forward to retiring in St. Andrews in the months ahead.  The stroll was quite cool for us, cool enough to cause me to put on a fleece pull over (in July!).

After our beach time, we drove through the city and to the opposite sound of the area to take a look at the house Bo and Eric are renovating.  Our next stop was to have a spot of tea at the club house for the Castle Course.  It in on a hilly track of land right by the sea, and Eric says that it is one of the most challenging layouts of any course in the area.  It is owned and managed by the trust that oversees all the other courses, and the views from the clubhouse are nothing short of stunning.  We enjoyed scones and tea and watching a few groups come through the 18^th who struggled with the weeds and the wind.  We were glad that we were not them!

That adventure pretty much finished up our day in St. Andrews, and what a day it was.  We headed back to Perth and bid farewell to the Frasers who could not have been better guides and hosts for us.  We were all pretty tired from the day, but we were all very, very happy.  There were many times throughout the day where I found myself thinking about the first Eden as described in Genesis, a garden filled with all kinds of delights, food, flowers, trees, a stream, and God’s own beloved creatures who were placed there to enjoy the goodness and grace of their Creator.  Before human sin enters the story, it is quite an amazing narrative of harmony and coalescence between the Creator and the creation.  I like to think that we got to taste a bit of that harmony between the Creator and the glorious creation called St. Andrews during our time there.  From the people to the places, from the food to the fun, from the golf to the glorious views of the city, we really sensed that by God’s providence we were being given a huge gift, one that will not soon be forgotten.