I can only imagine the look on Donald Trump’s face when he was browsing the net over his morning java, clicked on his “Aberdeen” Google News alerts and saw: “New £100,000 bridge will save Scotland’s red squirrels” I haven’t had multiple run-ins with The Donald like TravelGolf.com’s Chris Baldwin, but I would like to believe he had a spit take, then furiously and repeatedly brushed his comb-over. The planned bridge is specifically designed to allow red squirrels and other wild life to scamper across a major Aberdeenshire bypass safely. There are 120,000 red squirrels in Scotland, and apparently are V.I.P. ...

Does anyone else get the feeling that rewarding Phil Mickelson with a Colonial victory after he blew another tee shot left on the 72nd hole is like buying your daughter a convertible right after she flunked out of college? This behavior cannot be encouraged. If you missed it this afternoon, Mickelson came to the 18th tee tied for the lead with his playing partner Rod Pampling and Tim Clark, who was in the clubhouse. Mickelson blew his drive left into the trees ala Winged Foot. Pampling was straight down the middle. The commentators deemed Mickelson in jail, and said his ...

It was one of finest shots I’ve ever hit. I’m walking Prestwick Golf Club on a cold, rainy October morning with a stroke saver as my only company. There are easier courses to get around solo than Prestwick, that’s for sure. As I stood on the tee of the par-3 5th hole, not only could I not see the flag, I had really no clue which way the hole went. It took me five minutes to figure it out that I would hit east, uphill and blindly between two dunes. The yardage said about 190, but given the wind and ...

MANCHESTER, ENGLAND – I just couldn’t wait before I got back across the pond. I had to order some Burger King here at Manchester Airport. So this England and Wales recap blog before I head home is brought to you by a double cheeseburger from B.K. - What’s with golf clubs in the U.K. charging 20p for little pencils? Yes, it’s not included in the green fee. At one club, I mentioned pencils are generously included in the green fee in the States. “They are???” one bright-eyed member said overhearing me. It’s true. The U.S.A. also has free refills on ...

I’ve finished up my 12-day trek through the golf courses of southwest England and North Wales. I’m knackered, sure, but I’ve picked the right night to be in Manchester before flying home tomorrow. It’s the night of the heavily anticipated Man. U v. Chelsea Champions League Final from Moscow. I watched it tonight from a hotel bar which is filled with Man. U fans. I had originally planned on perhaps heading to the city centre to watch the match. I was in Prague during the World Cup, and watching matches from Wenceslas Square was great fun. I still remember the pandemonium ...

NEFYN, WALES – There is a course out there you have probably never heard of, unless you’re one of those golfers well versed in the many lesser-known gems of the British Isles: Nefyn & District Golf Club. I played it yesterday and was blown away. Not literally. In fact, winds were unusually tame on this exposed peninsula on Wales’ north coast, where in the winter time can see gusts up to 100 miles an hour. But Nefyn will go down as one of the most memorable rounds I ever play. It isn’t your traditional links amongst sandy dunes, but more ...

HARLECH, WALES – I paid a visit to Royal St. David’s in North Wales this afternoon, a lovely 19th century links where the ancient Harlech Castle ruins loom over you at every turn. It was a sight I’d never seen before, playing so closely beneath a ruin straight overhead. The castle is so close in fact, a former Welsh Open champ, Captain Carter in 1922, succeeded in hitting a ball from the course up into the castle and won a 100-1 pound bet - which isn’t exactly chump change given the era he achieved this feat. Personally, I wouldn’t mind ...

PADSTOW, CORNWALL - Unless you are well versed in the countless links gems of the British Isles, or are an avid reader of GolfEurope.com, where architect Tom Doak listed St. Enodoc among his top five “undiscovered” links, you’ve probably never heard much about St. Enodoc. In fact, it’s hard to believe many golfers outside of the U.K. have heard a great deal about any of the courses in England’s rural Southwest. But St. Enodoc, part of England’s Atlantic Links cooperative, has all the makings of a fine, 19th century gem. It has the coastal scenery playing over the “Doom ...

Golf blogger B Tuck here, back again with another popular installment of airport thoughts, where before I officially vacate the time zone, I shed a few notable observations over a cup of Joe. - If you have an Oregon golf or business trip on the horizon - and especially if you’ll be in fashionable Portland - don’t buy any clothes until you get here. Not only is there no sales tax on anything (including food, it feels like I’m back in Europe again where the price you see on the tag and the menu is what’s on the bill), there’s ...

If you’re anything like me, that means 90% of your liquid intake consists of coffee and beer. That said, after two weeks in Oregon, driving everywhere from Bend to Eugene to Bandon and now in Portland, I can’t say I’ve had the same beer or cup of joe twice. They say Oregon is the nation’s capital of microbreweries like Deschutes, Widmere, Steelhead, and plenty others. There is “Terminal Gravity", which sounds more like a Six Flags roller coaster than a beer, but has a tremendous following nonetheless. I even hear there is a “Tuck’s Brewery", as to which I’ll most ...

The Bandon Dunes Resort succeeds mightily in what it’s trying to be: modern, comfortable hotel and resort facilities but golf courses at their most elemental: fast, firm and subject to mother nature on remote, barren coastline. It’s fairways are among the widest I’ve ever seen, and the greens are enormous (in my mind, only the Old Course in St. Andrews’ are bigger). After six rounds in three days, 80-foot putts and Texas wedges from 30 yards off the green seem all too commonplace. But after walking 108 holes on its firm dunes in 72 hours, there was no sweeter sight ...