The Old Course at St. Andrews is the great hallowed
ground of golf, and it was there that George Peper was
playing in 1983 when he hit a slice so hideous that he
never found the ball. But in looking for it, he came
across a for sale sign on a stone town house alongside
the famed 18th hole. Two months later he and his wife,
Libby, became the proud owners of 9A Gibson Place.
Twenty years later, they moved in and settled in the
''Auld Grey Toon,'' in the land of golf, single malt
scotch, haggis, bagpipes, and television licenses, where
the neighbors had accents thicker than a North Sea fog.
When he isn't attempting to break par on the Old Course,
Peper immerses himself in the local golf culture: He
learns the rituals for ordering a drink at the Royal
& Ancient Golf Club (est. 1754), where he becomes
the first American elected to the Club Committee;
endures homesickness (in the form of ''Pre-Masters
Post-Partum Syndrome''); and meets intriguing locals
such as his neighbor Gordon Murray, quite possibly the
only caddie to store his caddie bib in the trunk of a
Mercedes, and Wee Raymond Gatherum, a magnificent
shotmaker whose diminutive stature belies his skills.
Wry, warm, and witty, ''St. Andrews Sojourn'' will
delight anyone who has played -- or dreamed of playing
-- the Old Course. |
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