Day 329: World’s luckiest father

19/06/2022

This morning started bright and early as we had last-minute Father’s Day presents to wrap while Sir Snooralot was upstairs. This was Liam’s first UK Father’s Day as we missed last year’s and celebrated Australia Father’s Day in the UK instead. Lachnado tested out the presents that Eloise had chosen to make sure that Dad would love them. He had so much fun he even celebrated with a cheeky morning stand.

This morning Dad was woken up by Eloise flying up the stairs “Dad! Dad! Don’t come down stairs Daddy. I’m coming up to wake you up”. After a body slam she managed to pull Dad out of bed, we all headed downstairs to spoil him. Eloise was very excited and forceful with the present unwrapping, making sure that Dad did it quickly.

Eloise was so excited we had to head straight outside for a water fight.

We had a big day planned today, we made sure the car battery was fully charged as petrol is nudging AUS$3.50/ litre. It is about 20% higher than usual/ when we arrived. Something is not right when it is cheaper for the whole family to fly to Rome than drive to the other side of Scotland.

We had almost driven a couple of hours and were in Fife, we were still 15 miles short of St Andrews. You could tell why they call it the “home of golf”, there were already people walking to the Old Course with their clubs.

After getting lucky with a car park we made our way past Dram and Haggis, a great name, to Golf Place. St Andrews has a magical vibe, it was safe to say Super Mum was pumped for a super day, almost as excited as when Liam took her to the Golf World Cup in 2016.

We had made it to St Andrews Old Course, it was looking a bit different than last time. The Old Course is currently closed as they are setting up for the 150th The Open Championship, starting mid-July. Always a beautiful place.

We did not have long to admire the lawn though as we had tickets to the World Golf Museum.

Luckily the museum had plenty of buttons, games and spots to explore for Eloise, she was hooked, no pun intended.

There was even a wee putting green to work on our three-putting. The old-school wooden putter was interesting to use.

After a putting masterclass from Eloise and Lachlan, we kept exploring the museum. There was a world map where you could leave messages from around the world. Australia needed some love.

At the end of the museum there was an arts and crafts room where Eloise enjoyed designing her own golf course and dresses for the Queen.

The boys would not sit still though so headed back in to meet “the Grand Old Man of Golf”.

The R&A World Golf Museum (previously known as the British Golf Museum) is located opposite the clubhouse of the Royal and Ancient Golf Club in St Andrews, Scotland. The R&A owns and operates the museum. The museum, which opened in 1990, documents the history of golf from Medieval times to the present, including the men’s and women’s games, British and international, both professional and amateur. Exhibits include historic equipment, memorabilia and art work, documentation, the history of the Royal and Ancient Golf Club, and the rules and terminology of the game.

After a fabulous time in the museum, we crossed the road to the Old Course first tee block.

We knew the golf course was closed as they were letting it recover for The Open Championships next month, there was a lot of preparation work going on. There were people walking on the course, and dogs, and prams, and bikes. Can we just stroll on the world’s most famous golf course without paying the AUS$475 green fee? It is £98 to play in off-peak season. Reporting things in pounds is a classic move to trick your mind into thinking things are cheaper. James, book your flights!

We reached the famous Swilcan Bridge, no sneaking was required this time.

The Swilcan Bridge, is a small stone bridge in St Andrews Links golf course, Scotland. The bridge spans the Swilcan Burn between the first and eighteenth fairways on the Old Course, and has become an important image in the sport of golf. The bridge had previously been known as the Golfers’ Bridge, and had been known as this for hundreds of years previously. Originally built at least 700 years ago to help shepherds get livestock across… It is customary for champions of golf to publicly show some sort of homage or respect to the structure. A recent display was by Tom Watson in early July 2010 at The Open Championship, when he was photographed kissing the bridge. Also, at the 2005 Open Championship, Jack Nicklaus gave his final farewell to professional golf while standing on the bridge.

It was the perfect place for the kids to burn some energy and it would have been another great spot for Lachlan to take his first steps, he didn’t because he is a meerkat.

After trying to keep up with the kids we were all starving. What better place for lunch than at “one of the best hangouts in the world of Golf”, The Dunvegan. Which of course was showing the final day of the US Open.

The room had been designed specifically for Lachnado, the boy who always looks up.

Aussies were kind of a big deal here…

After some delicious ‘not pasta’ we made our way back up to St Andrews Cathedral. Unfortunately, it was still closed for inspections. Darryl got some good shots of it last September.

We returned to St Mary on the Rock as Lachlan was now old enough to climb with Eloise, who enjoyed it last time.

Remembering how bumpy the pier was last visit, we did not bother making our way down. Although, Lachlan tried his best.

Darryl took to the skies to inspect how the stands were coming along around the Old Course.

Eloise then made her way back towards the Old Course, flying past St Andrews Castle, where our Historic Scotland memberships had begun. Eloise was on the hunt along the Big Bag Trail. A series of artistic golf bag pieces that local schoolchildren had created to be auctioned off for charity.

There was one thing on Eloise’s mind, sandcastles. We had promised she could go to the beach, which was a bit chilly today. They are right, the sand is nicer than Australian beaches, you cannot let them know that though.

We cut back across the Old Course to check out the shops, all the golf shops, there were some cool tartan tops.

Eloise was pleading to get fitted for a set of golf clubs. There was also a miniature bag for all her clubs which was a bit cute.

It had been a fantastic family day. However, we had not just come to St Andrews to spoil Dad on Father’s Day, we had come for an even bigger reason. At the start of the week, there was a summoning of the troops. The golfer we had bumped into on the way into St Andrews was by no mistake, he is one of Liam’s favourite Youtubers, Rick Shiels, and boy did he have a challenge. Rick started his own charity walk, walking 150 miles from Prestwick Golf Club on Tuesday morning, the whole way across Scotland to St Andrews Old Course, to raise money for Prostate Cancer UK. There were segments along his journey where you could meet and walk with him. Funnily enough, on Tuesday night Rick walked almost straight past our house to Cawdre Golf Club. However, we had just got back from Milan and were fully cooked. Plus we thought what better way to walk the Old Course while supporting Rick and a great cause.

Rick Shiels (born 3 July 1986) is a British YouTuber and former professional golfer, best known for his YouTube channel, Rick Shiels Golf. In June 2019, his channel became the biggest golf channel on YouTube... As of January, 2022, he now has over 2 million subscribers.

After donating to Rick, it was back to the car, goodbye pram and hello Osprey Offspring. Eloise discovered that she can shuffle about in the carrier bag now, she is a funny one.

We made our way back to the Old Course first tee with the Fensoms in Kilts official theme song blasting in stereo. This grabbed a lot of attention from the friendly locals who joined in as they passed us. It appears these two are starting to gang up against us. We will have to keep our wits about us.

Lachlan was excited and managed to find the only patch of grass on the whole golf course that you were not allowed on.

The crowds were building when Rick appeared, he had done it, almost.

We all walked around the Old Course in support of Rick and Prostate Cancer UK. It was almost 18:00 by this stage, Eloise was starting to doze off, Lachlan was living his best life.

It was interesting talking to Rick’s team behind the scenes and seeing how big an operation it all was. Hopefully, the kids slip into the video, we will have to wait and see.

Even after meeting Rick during the day he was more than happy to hang around for a chat again in the evening, he must have been exhausted. Congratulations again!

Dad then jogged back to collect the car, while Super Mum and the bambinos enjoyed the last of the Old Course. Sadly by the time, Liam had realised The Open was at St Andrews Old Course a few months ago the ballot for tickets had already closed. In fact, they have recently opened the ballot for the 151st The Open at Royal Liverpool. Unfortunately, it is a month after the 2022/ 2023 Prem season finishes. We will have to think about it.

It was definitely a fall asleep eating chicken nuggets on the way home kind of night. We were surprised she fell asleep, it was so bright on the way home, you could have easily mistaken it as being midday. It was a very green drive home past the fields, trees and glorious mountains. With somewhat infinite sun and water this time of year, Scotland is extremely green.

On that note, it is my responsibility to leave you all with a dad joke:

Happy Father’s Day all in the UK!