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Two Courses Down, Five to Go

Reality finally hit me this week. The vacation known as orientation week is over. I actually had to start going to classes,

Me, Hugh Grant, and George Lopez

and I’ve already gotten plenty of reading. Luckily, I only have to take two classes: The Mongols and the West, which is a Mediaeval History course, and an Anthropology course on material culture. Material Culture meets on Wednesday and Thursday, and my class on the Mongols only meets on Thursday, meaning I have a 5 day weekend. Although it sounds pretty amazing, which it is, I have enough reading from those two classes to keep me pretty busy.

I started going to Boxing club on Monday. Since most people are beginners, it is very focused on basic fitness, although we will start going over technique within the next few weeks. I’ve actually made a lot of friends there, including a few people from the US. Joining a club is probably the easiest way to make friends. St. Andrews has some ridiculous amount, over 120 clubs, including everything from knitting to wine tasting, and everything in between. Theres something for everyone.

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The Castle Course

St. Andrews hosted the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship on the Old Course this weekend. I was fortunate enough to see Paddy Harrington, Rory McIlroy, Luke Donald, Lee Westwood, and Ernie Els tee off at the first hole. George Lopez, Hugh Grant, Marcus Allen, and Greg Kinnear were also hitting the links this weekend (it was a Pro-Am). I could have fought through a crowd of girls and moms to get a closer picture of Hugh Grant, but since I’m a guy, I figured I’d pass on that opportunity.

The highlight of my week was buying my membership to the St. Andrews Links Trust. For about $300, I’m able to play all seven courses located in St. Andrews, including the Old Course. Luckily, I was able to get out three times this week. I played the Strathtyrum Course twice, and today, I was fortunate enough to get a tee time for the newly built Castle Course. Located on the ocean overlooking St. Andrews, it was easily the most beautiful course I have ever played. My goal is to get out on the course at least twice a week while I am here, and to play all seven courses at some point. It should be very doable, seeing as my schedule is empty five days out of the week.