Dunhill Sunday Notebook

Last updated: 5th October 2009

False start on Saturday

First thing yesterday I travelled south for Kingsbarns, joining a long line of cars heading towards the sea.

There was blue sky, a bright sun and as we passed the Castle course everything looked set for a great day of golf.

It all went wrong as we turned into Kingsbarns and noticed a long queue of cars going in the opposite direction: play had been cancelled, of course.

I hung around the golf course for an hour or two waiting for the traffic to clear and then headed into St Andrew's where golf fans were wandering around trying to find something to fill their time with.

Most ended up in the pubs and once the media centre was closed down I joined them.

(Incidentally, the media centre was closed down because health and safety deemed it unsafe with gusts of 75mph. I have just spoken to the security man who was in attendance and he said it was scary, as the entire structure was being lifted and then dropped with a bang.)

A few beers

It was the pubs closest to the Old Course that proved most popular with the players, the caddies and the fans. The Dunvegan was packed and we were joined at our table by Frank Keener, the amateur partner of England's Mark Foster.

He has been coming over from the States to play the Dunhill every year since it became a pro-am and he was excited by the news that Vivendi will be alternating the Seve Trophy with a new pro-am event at St Nom.

He was keen to add it to his annual tour and I think his wife was equally keen to hit Paris.

At the Jigger Inn, the small pub tucked into the gardens of the Old Course Hotel, there were lots of famous faces enjoying a drink and we sat outside watching fans walk around the 17th green and then have their photograph taken on the Swilken Bridge.

On the way back into town I had a few taken of myself in the classic pose and then another one of me trying to stand up straight in the fierce wind (very difficult).

Beefy loves his golf

Whilst most golfers were taking a break yesterday afternoon, one competitor was determined to make the most of his time in the home of golf.

The three tournament courses might have been closed but the new Castle course wasn't and Ian Botham chose to try it out.

I discovered as much when I popped back to my bed and breakfast in the late afternoon and found his caddie dropping an electric trolley off with my landlady - she can't use it during the Dunhill event, but England's greatest cricket all-rounder had urged her to use it on the "day off".

Apparently Botham liked the new course, but even his enthusiasm could last no more than nine holes - the wind was that tiring.

What the insiders think

Over the last few days I've asked a few people in and around the Tour for their opinions of a few of the newer players to have emerged in 2009.

The people I approached included a couple of coaches, a couple of players and a few officials on the Tour. Here's what they said:

"No surprise that Rafa Cabrera Bello won with a low round - one of the best streak players on Tour."

"One day it will all come good again for Pablo Martin - a really hard worker, he deserves a break."

"Most under-rated driver of the ball on Tour? Carlos Del Moral. If he learns to putt, he'll be good, very good."

"Roope (Kakko) just needs to learn that he has to play some half-shots. He's obsessed with hitting the case off the ball. A little bit of subtlety will reap big rewards. He's learning. Slowly, but he is learning."

"Rhys Davies reminds me of Martin Kaymer when he was on the Challenge Tour. It's the composure and the attitude. Very impressive."

"Everyone thinks (Alvaro) Quiros is just a big hitter. Watch him putt. He's seriously good."

The Links card

I had a wonderful conversation with my landlord this morning.

"Ask me how much I pay to play golf in St Andrew's," he proudly insisted.

"Err, okay, how much do you pay to play golf in St Andrew's?" I said.

"Well, I dinnae play the Old Course or the Castle, but I can play all the others. And you know what? It only costs me £92. What do you think aboot that?!"

"Blimey."

"I make a saving though. The wife plays the Old Course and the Castle, and she's welcome to them, but I dinnae bother. It's not worth it ..."

"How much does she pay, then?" I asked, guessing it might be perhaps double.

"£105," he replied.

"Oh, right ..."

Those are senior rates for what is known as the Links ticket, but the normal rate is about £160 whilst under-16s get to play free.

It's an astonishing deal - surely the best deal in the world of golf, but the only problem is that you must live within the town boundaries.

Andy Brown, who lives in the area and produces the online video website homeofgolf.tv, was telling me that there is a big story in the local press at the moment about a man who bought a farm on the outskirts of town.

He is in dispute with the council: he says he's due a ticket, they say he isn't.

Four girls and a film star

On Friday night I was chatting to a friend in Ma Bells pub when I overheard a girl next to me.

"Hugh Grant is over there," she said.

"Where?" asked another.

"Oh. My. God," said a third.

"What are the girls like that are with him?" asked a fourth.

I turned round to see for myself and then looked at the girls asking the questions who were all curling their lips and apparently unimpressed.

It was at this point I felt like pointing out that they weren't actually looking at Hugh Grant at all, but I didn't want to disappoint them in their disapproval of his choice of friends.

For what it is worth, they weren't the first people to mistake his identity - earlier in the day he walked past me and my first thought was "Griff Rhys Jones".

Entente cordiale

This morning at breakfast I met two French students, one who has just started studying literature at the university and her sister who is visiting for the week.

They didn't know much about golf, or the fact that the tournament is on, but asked lots of questions so I met them this afternoon to walk a few holes and explain the game.

Handily we kept bumping into French players or journalists who I could tell them about or introduce to so I feel I have done my bit for spreading the game.

Not that it really matters according to my new French friend Phillippe.

He was telling me the other night that it will take a long, long time for the game to become big in France.

"I once asked Thomas Levet if a French major winner would launch golf back home. He said, "Vijay Singh has won three majors, but what has happened to the great Fijian golf revolution?' I think he is right."