Kansas basketball coach/golf fanatic Roy Williams gives a resounding thumbs-up to his recent vacation to Scotland.
Williams, seven other male golfers plus six of the golfers’ wives returned Sunday from a nine-day trip to Scotland where Williams, KU football coach Terry Allen, Alvamar professional Randy Towner, Williams’ high school basketball coach, and others, played some serious golf.
“We had a great time. Everybody was nice to us. We stayed at nice places, played great courses. The women had their own schedule and own trips. They visited castles and gardens, did things they wanted to do and wouldn’t have had fun doing with us,” Williams said with a grin on Tuesday.
The golfers played 36 holes a day six straight days — three days on Scotland’s East side, three on the West.
Three of the courses — Turnberry, Carnoustie and St. Andrews — are in the British Open’s five-golf course rotation.
Williams’ group played the “newer” St. Andrews course, since the other is being prepped for the upcoming 2000 British Open.
“The new one is ‘only’ 105 years old,” Williams said. “Turnberry was my favorite golf course. That was the site of where (Tom) Watson and (Jack) Nicklaus had that great struggle the last two days years ago.
“Watson shot 65, 65 and Nicklaus shot 65, 66. I had my best round of the trip there (75). We had fantastic weather there. The last three days we had great, great weather — temperature in the 70s with very light winds.”
Carnoustie provided an interesting challenge.
“I never played in conditions like we did there. There were constant winds of 60 mph with gusts 80 to 100,” Williams explained. “Two people (not ones in Williams’ group) were killed right off the surf. They could not get back in.
“We had eight golfers with handicaps of 10 or less and four guys didn’t break 100. I did break 100, but it was the toughest day of golf I’ve tried to play in.”
The highlight of the trip? Towner had a hole-in-one on the 11th hole at Turnberry and shot a 66.
“Randy was sensational,” Williams said.
KU football coach Allen also had a memorable trip. “Terry had some good rounds. He hit some good shots,” Williams said. “Terry won the prize of being the most disciplined, losing the most weight. He ate two meals a day and must have lost 10 to 12 pounds with all the walking.”
Indeed, Allen says the golf junket provided a “wonderful experience.”
“I had my ups and downs, good days and bad days,” Allen said. His best round was 83 (at Turnberry) and worst 101 (at Carnoustie).
“I had one of the funnier experiences,” Allen said of the windy Carnoustie round. “I stood over a putt, lined it up and looked down at the ball. It was gone. It had rolled between my legs.
“We asked Randy Towner, our resident expert, what is the ruling? Randy said in that case, play (in a tournament) would have been suspended with those types of severe conditions.”
Of the golf experience, Allen said: “It’s war out there. There are no trees on the course, but every other potential hazard you might want to have. There are narrow fairways and it’s just very difficult golf. Carnoustie some label as most the difficult course in the world.”
The trip was in conjunction with Williams’ 50th birthday, coming up on Aug. 1.
“Thirty was not a problem; 40 was a real pain; 50 there’s nothing to it,” Williams said. “Plus I’ve got another month and a half to enjoy before that.”