Trip of a Lifetime (Part One, Chapter Two)

II. A Sign From Above

We arrive at Carnoustie, giddy from lack of sleep but also very excited to actually tee it up for the first time in Scotland. Our first tee time is at 3:45 on the Burnside Course at Carnoustie. We are playing the Championship Course at Carnoustie the next day, but for now we are content with the Burnside, given that we haven't slept, shaved, brushed our teeth, or changed our clothes in 24 hours!

We check in with the starter and go to get our clubs out of the car. Suddenly, the sun comes out, and we hear live bagpipes playing. Apparently it's a little 3pm tradition at Carnoustie. We take it as a good omen, and thoroughly enjoy the Burnside. It's always such a great feeling right after you hit your first tee shot and you are walking down that first fairway, away from the clubhouse. A feeling of freedom, a dream that finally comes true after 40+ years: getting to play golf in Scotland.

After our round, we drive south and check into our rooms at New Hall on the campus of the University of St. Andrews. We clean up and head to the Lounge Bar at the Dunvegan Hotel for dinner. We are lucky enough to find what looks like the last open table in the place. We are sitting at our table that happens to seat 4 when I see a couple enter the Bar and look around for a place to sit. There's nothing open, and they appear to be ready to leave, when I walk up to them and ask them if they want to sit with us. They say sure, thanks a lot. We start talking to them and discover that they are also American. The man asks Roger where we are from, and Roger says Cincinnati. The man says that's funny, I used to live in Cincinnati. Then the man asks Roger where he works, and Roger says Procter & Gamble. The man says that's funny, I also used to work at P&G! The man used to work on Citrus Hill orange juice at Winton Hill, which is the same P&G location where Roger and I used to work. What a small world.