2003
Back to Fife to stay in a splendid B & B in Crail. We arrived there to be given tea in the back garden with the owners. Then off and out for a meal at the Golf Tavern on the corner.
First round at Elie ( the tennis, the cafe, the periscope still all there) and pretty good scoring. Dave and Gordon both had net 69's, Duncan 71 and Robbo 77. Tea at the cafe then off home to Crail.
Next day, St Andrews New.
It's gone up in the world - new clubhouse for the International visitor, splendid entrance and changing rooms, with Molton brown hand soap and soft fluffy blue and white towels. An alert starter gave us the once over and sent us on our way, complete with stroke savers. Surprisingly Tommo kept his ball above ground with a 73, Duncan a tidy 74, Dave 78 and John 81. Lunch in the clubhouse afterwards attended by polite staff and then off into town for some browsing and shopping.

Round Three at Balcomie, the true home of golf after the tourism of yesterday. Duncan was on home territory and blazed around in 61, hitting solid straight drives and accurate irons into the fast greens. John was next best on 67, with Dave on 75 and Gordon a disastrous 81. He managed to go from hero after 2 rounds to near zero in a Gang of Three (John, Dave and himself) on 225, 222, and 223 respectively. This gave Duncan pretty much a clear run at the title on day 4.
Lastly Leven links and and Duncan' steady play saw him pull further away. With another 61 (!) he finished on 267 with Dave second on 299, Tommo on 306 and Robbo on a Peugeot (309). Taxi!!
Just before the taxis left, we had time for a drink in the bar and a quick presentation.

Duncan 71 74 61 61 = 267
Dave 69 78 75 77 = 299
Gordon 69 73 81 83 = 306
Robbo 77 81 67 84 = 309

2004
Back to the East Neuk
Round 1 - Elie

Robbo 81-15 = 66
Tommo 93-25 = 68
Dave 84-11 = 73
Duncan 91- 17= 74

Robbo and Tommo started off quite well at Elie, with Dave and Duncan not far behind. Some good scoring, despite Tommo's annual 8 (!) at the 14th near the coo field at Suckielea - and suck it did. Dave had an 8 at the long 17th when almost home.

Round 2 - St Andrew's New

Robbo 88 -15 = 73 139
Tommo 98 -25 = 73 141
Dave 93 -11 =82 155
Duncan 98 -17 = 78 152
Tommo and Robbo kept things fairly tidy on the gorsy links, with Duncan and Dave struggling a bit. Robbo came home in an excellent 41. Tommo's back nine was, on the other hand, pretty dire - 53 with two 8's. Robbo took a slender lead into day 3.

Round 3 Rosemount, Blairgowrie

We had planned to play Crail but thick sea fog rolled in and made it impossible. We headed inland for shelter and fairways we could see.

Robbo 92 -15 = 77 216
Tommo 103 - 25 = 78 219
Dave 88 -11 = 77 232
Duncan 87 -17 = 70 222

Into Woody Woodpecker country with fairly high scoring, altho' Duncan did best with 70. Dave, John and Gordon trailed behind on 77, 77 and 78 respectively.

Day 4 Final round at Leven, on the way home.

Robbo had a three shot lead and started well, whereas Tommo stuttered nervously through the first nine and 5,6,7,8 ... could it get any higher? At the turn Robbo was nine shots ahead, gross. However Tommo had handicap advantage and steadied the ship on the back nine. Both players were dead level with three holes left - but neither could do better than level 5' s on the last three (quite tricky) par fours. A generously given putt by Robbo on the last green, reminiscent of J. Nicklaus in the Ryder Cup, meant a tied result on 293, with Duncan ending not far off on 297 and Dave on 301. Back into the clubhouse for some drinks and food and photos before heading back to the town.


2005

The 25th year of the Bears and so finally they make it to Shetland, the home of Tommo's golf. He picked the boys up off the boat after 14 hours from Aberdeen and whisked them north, dropping their gear at the Chalet en route before heading for the Toft- Yell ferry. Penny had the lasagne lunch ready at Hamar and the afternoon was spent touring the grounds at Hamar and then off around the north of the island. We went over to the Wind Dog Cafe in Yell for tea and then headed down on the ferry again to the chalet in Weisdale.

Day 1 Dale, Lerwick

Day One
Dave 89 -12 = 77
Duncan 94 -16 = 78
Robbo 97 - 15 = 82
Tommo 106 - 22 = 84

Some very high scores on a blustery day but it was the thick Dale rough which proved tough. No trees to worry about. Still Tommo had two 9's on the 1st and 5th, and a 12(!) on the 12th, a fairly easy par four. Robbo had a 9 on the third and finished poorly. Dave and Duncan avoided disasters, without scoring all that well.

Day Two Skaw, Whalsay

Dave 95-12 = 83 (+77) = 160
Duncan 102 - 16 = 86 (+78) = 164
John 85 -15 = 70 (+82) = 152
Gordon 101- 22 = 79 (+84) = 163

Some of the highest ever Bears' scoring on the rugged Skaw course. Hardly a soul on the course, which was in excellent condition after the Island Games. Just the Atlantic breezes, the cries and dives of tirricks (arctic terns) and bemused sheep.
Duncan had two 8's and a 9 as well as a lot of putts on the slower greens; Dave had an 11 at Muiddy Loch, going on a hunt for pond life; Tommo had three 7's and two 8's; only Robbo kept it very steady with a 70.

Day 3 Back to Dale, Lerwick

Dave 87 for 247
Duncan 68 for 232
John 82 for 234
Gordon 93 for 256

A remarkable round by Duncan brought him right back into contention, two ahead of Robbo.
The rest of us were pretty dire: Dave started with an 8 and finished with a 9; Robbo had a 52 on the back nine, with a 9 at the par 5 last hole; and Tommo had a 12 on the Par 3 second, a 9 on the fifth and 7, 8, 9 on 13th, 14th and 15th holes. Record high scoring of Ladybank proportions!

Day 4 Skaw, Whalsay

Whalsay beckoned once more. Duncan and John started quite tidily and reached the turn on 42 and 45 respectively. But coming home, Duncan returned another 42 - whereas Robbo scored 52, leaving Duncan the title. Tommo contrived a 12 on the par 3 second and had two 9's and two 8's. Dave struggled with injury on the back nine, posting two 7's and a nine on the last.

It all ended Duncan 68 for 300
John 82 for 316
Dave 87 for 334
Gordon 93 for 349

Playing on home ground was no help to Tommo, although the timing was not good - he had to attend meetings in Unst during the week about the closure of the RAF base on the island.

We rounded off the week with a visit to the south end of the islands - St Ninian's Isle and Sumburgh Head to see the puffins. (Duncan went shopping.)

Dave, John and Duncan headed south that night on the boat to Aberdeen, Duncan sleeping safely tucked up with the trophy.


2006

Pastures new. This year we headed for Edzell in Angus and took a cottage near the town, at Mill of Lethnott. Recently renovated, it was a beautiful eco-house in the woods. Once we got the hang of waste disposal, washing and heating, it proved a fine spot. No mobile phone coverage either!

Rounds played at Edzell, Brechin, Letham Grange and Carnoustie. More to follow...