The minute that Kevin found out that he really was going to get to go on this trip to London, he started plotting a way for him to make a lifelong dream come true – playing golf at the Old Course at St. Andrews, the birthplace of golf.  And although nothing was certain, he had a plan to attempt it, so after his meetings were finished on Thursday, he rode the subway to King’s Cross Station and bought a ticket to Scotland.  (I love that he texted me pictures of King’s Cross station so that I could show my students. And even though there was not a real Platform 9 3/4, they still thought it was pretty awesome to see platform 9.)

It was a long train ride to Scotland, but he didn’t mind.  And once he arrived in Edinburgh, he hopped on another train that took him to St. Andrews.

He arrived at the golf course around 9:30pm and immediately got in line.  He was the twelfth person in line, with eleven people who had already arrived, and as the night went on, more people got in line behind him.  He had brought his orange blanket from home, borrowed a pillow from his hotel room, wore lots of layers, bought a case of Dr. Pepper, and was set up for an uncomfortable night’s sleep out in the cold and on the concrete.  Luckily, it wasn’t raining or freezing, which it often is in Scotland ;).

The next morning, he was pretty sure he would get a tee time, as the sheet of tee times for the next day had twelve openings, and he was number twelve in line.  When they opened up the clubhouse in the morning, everyone got up and walked over together in their order, the people behind him still desperately hoping to get a nonexistent time slot. 

Right as Kevin was about to get his time assigned, which was going to be in the afternoon, meaning he would miss the last train back to London – beggars can’t be choosers – something happened.  A call from the hotel let them know that the three people for the first tee time of the day were canceling their tee time.  Suddenly, there were openings first thing in the morning, so the guy in charge switched things around, and Kevin found himself grabbing his rental clubs and running for the first tee.  That was why, when I woke up in the morning, my Find My Friends app showed him almost finished playing the course!

The course was spectacular, and everything Kevin dreamed it to be and more.  And the weather was pristine – in the 70’s, which is like a heat wave for Scotland – and even sunny!!  It just so happened to be that Kevin was there on my daddy’s birthday, and I like to think that he was on the other side and pulling strings to make this all come together for Kevin.  I mean, he loved Scotland so much, and he adored Kevin.

Kevin played with with three really nice guys from Sweden, who were great – even if he couldn’t always understand what they were saying – ha ha!

Kevin also hired a caddy, so that it would be the most successful experience it could be. (And it also meant he didn’t have to carry his clubs after getting almost no sleep the night before, saving his energy for play.)  He ended up doing really well, scoring a 79 – especially considering what a difficult course it is.  It truly was an amazing experience and worth the risk of not getting to play.  It was definitely a huge, massive bucket list moment.

When he finished, he hurried to the train station so he could catch his train back to London.

And when he arrived there later that evening, he got some yummy chicken and then some celebratory gelato (but was sadly missing his gelato eating partner, me.).  It was a whirlwind trip, but truly amazing, and it couldn’t have worked out better.  I am so happy for Kevin, that it all came together!