The slight disgruntlement about the surprisingly high price for the short-term rent of three square meters of formerly grassy sandy soil had evaporated relatively quickly. The Moray Golfclub was waiting for me and in the evening I wanted to do a quick round on the inner, the New Course.
I was able to pitch my tent right next to the course today, only a hedge separated the 13th hole of the New Course from my camp for the night. But in order to reach the clubhouse and the beginning of the course, I had to do a 10-minute bike trip, because the street goes around the two courses. I had already played the Old Course some time ago. That was already a very nice links course, but it hadn't stayed in my head as particularly great. In the middle part it was marked by the position lights for the fighter pilots described in the last article; a sight that is undoubtedly original, but does not necessarily decorate the place in my eyes. The New Course, which was only opened in 1979, lies at the beginning and at the end of the round within the old course and is a little shorter overall. Interestingly, the position lights on the New Course are not visible at all.
The course is not particularly inferior to its older brother. The quality of the soil is of course largely identical, the greens are large, of course - as almost everywhere here - fast and true and interestingly onduated. The course is a bit narrower, but never too narrow. You can already sense it: I liked the New Course. If I also take out the calculator and consider that the Old Course costs twice as much during the day (100 pounds to 50 per game) and that the ratio is even worse in the early morning and in the afternoon (70 to 30 pounds), then I can hardly think of a reason why you should play the Old Course. Yes, admittedly: The 18th on the Old Course is not only a quite challenging, but also a high-above-average attractive hole. But otherwise I would always recommend at least a combination ticket if you want to play several rounds. The New Course, was great fun to me. I played it the next day again, this time with a bit more time and daylight, and from the back tees, where some locals also settled in:
It was very exciting for me to realize that my desire to play golf has decreased in recent weeks. On these two rounds, the second of which was clearly one of the better rounds during this journey, I was overcome by a certain tiredness regarding my great passion of the past 10 years. It was hard to ignore the thought of whether golf and I might not benefit from a separation on a trial basis. We could still meet occasionally, exchange views over coffee and just stay friends. You look good, have you raked your bunkers? - Yes, and I also had the 12th green mown, something fresh - really looks good on you... let's see how this tendency develops further.
Apart from the golf courses, Lossiemouth is relatively small. But I found a wonderful bike shop. This is a municipal charity project and the young expert was able to help my two-wheeled buddy very competently and decisively. Surprisingly for me, he chose a repair method for my problem that I couldn't find anywhere on this big Internet and strongly advised me not to follow the path I had taken before. After the gear shift had been reactivated, I asked him about the now almost impossible to ignore problem with the pedals, which led to a further repair of the bottom bracket, which had done its duty in the past climbs, and which was very reasonably priced as well as leading to a much better driving feeling within a short time. This was a very pleasant experience.
Another one was added during the search for a nice café: Directly at the harbour - there seems to be a pattern ;-) - you find a recommendable restaurant with very nice staff.
To this section of my journey I lend the Peter-Lustig-Memory-Overall for special merits in the field of bicycle screwing. For all non-Germans: Peter Lustig was a childhood hero for many of my generation. He hosted a tv show in which he tried to understand and was able to fix and build simply everything.