I know where I wish to visit next and which golf course I’d like to play. Yes, it’s time to think of hitting the M6 and going north again to Scotland, this time to the Kingdom of Fife and Dumbarnie Links.
Dumbarnie Links, a handful of miles from St Andrews, near Leven, has been open for a whole 14 months so must surely qualify as the UK’s newest links course. It looks like it’s been there for years and last week it played host to the Trust Golf Women’s Scottish Open. The television pictures really did paint a thousand words and it was certainly to the liking of 34-year old American Ryann O’Toole, who won for the first time in her professional career. A co-sanctioned Ladies’ European Tour (LET) and Ladies’ Professional Golf Association (LPGA) event, it was O’Toole’s 228th start as an LPGA Tour player but the first time she had led after 54 holes and only the second time time she’d played in the final group in the final round.

Dumbarnie Links – now added to my bucket list. If this doesn’t whet your appetite I don’t know what will. [Photo: LET]
The intervening years saw her lose her card, fight back and change coaches and it was when she started to work with the uber-talented Jorge Parada in 2014 that she felt she could turn things around. Her final round of 64 on Sunday was as close to flawless as it is possible to be and despite admitting she’d been very nervous on the Saturday evening there was no trace of that the next day. She even stopped to pat a spectating dog on her way to the 72nd tee.
A closing par and a cosy three-shot victory was achieved and then followed a winner’s speech as eloquent as her golf had been elegant. The last decade, the hours spent practising, the grind, the constant travel were all worth it, she said, “for this moment”.

A lifetime of effort led to this moment – and, for Ryann O’Toole, it’s just beginning to sink in. [Tris Jones, LET]
Ah, Carnoustie – often considered the most ferocious, the most unforgiving of all major championship venues. This week it’s the test that faces the women in the AIG Women’s Open, the last of the five majors in the annual female golf calendar. Someone will have gone to bed two nights ago little realising they are about to follow in the footsteps of the greats.
Fair to say, it’s a pretty exclusive club, including Ben Hogan, who won in 1953, his only appearance in the Open, Gary Player who won in 1968 and in 1975 it was Tom Watson winning on his Open debut, beating Jack Newton in the 18-hole play-off. Almost a quarter of a century later, in 1999, Paul Lawrie realised every little Scottish boy’s dream, winning the greatest prize of all on home turf. Padraig Harrington opened the floodgates to Irish major championship success with his extra holes win over Sergio Garcia in 2007 and in 2011 it was the incomparable Yani Tseng who stormed to victory, successfully defending her Women’s Open title procured the previous year at Royal Birkdale. Finally, 2018 saw Francesco Molinari hold off Tiger Woods, amongst others, to etch his name on the oldest trophy in the world, the first Italian to do so.

Yani Tseng won by four shots last time out at Carnoustie. Who will the pipers be celebrating this week? [golfweek.usatoday.com]
And for anxious Mums watching on from California it might just look exactly like the players are on the moon.