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No Laying Up’s original travel series exploring the history and beauty of golf around the world.

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Welcome back to Tourist Sauce, presented by Callaway Golf. This season we're headed to Ireland, where the first stops are the Doolin Pitch & Putt and Doonbeg. Let's go launch 'em.

In Tourist Sauce Season 4, the No Laying Up crew takes their average golf game across the pond to experience the dunes, wind, and 'craic' on the West Coast of Ireland. They are joined by Author Tom Coyne, the authority on Irish Golf.

Episode 1: Doolin Pitch & Putt And Doonbeg

The next stop for the NLU travel series is the Carolinas, where the boys will try to outlast each other to become the Season Five champion.

Episode 1 of Tourist Sauce is presented by Original Penguin.

We're back in the United States for another domestic Tourist Sauce season that visits the low country of South Carolina and the sand hills of North Carolina with plenty of jollyness in between!

TRAILER: Tourist Sauce Season Five, "The Carolinas"

Neil is pushing in all his remaining chips in a rematch against Soly at the revamped Pinehurst No. 4. We also take a tour of the new Pinehurst Brewing Company and are joined by NLU Young Hitters Justin Hueber and Lauren Coughlin.

Tourist Sauce (Carolinas): Episode 7, Pinehurst No. 4

It's a divide and conquer episode, as the boys leave Pinehurst Resort to see what else is in the area. Randy and Neil check out Pine Needles, Soly and Tron head over to Mid Pines and D.J. and Hueber get the backstory on Southern Pines.

Tourist Sauce (Carolinas): Episode 8, Pine Needles, Mid Pines, And Southern Pines

We're back for another season of Tourist Sauce, presented by Callaway Golf, and this time we're headed to the Emerald Isle. Season Four features some of the most stunning golf we've ever played and it debuts Tuesday, October 1, with special guests Tom Coyne and Chad Coleman.

TRAILER: Season Four (Featuring Tom Coyne)

It’s Championship Day. Soly vs. Tron. The Battle of the C-Suite. You’re going to see a lot of TPC Harding Park over the next decade of professional golf, including at the 2020 PGA Championship.

 to get the full experience and see the comments!

Welcome back to Tourist Sauce, the No Laying Up travel series. After successful campaigns in Australia and Scotland, the boys piled in an RV for Season 3 to explore golf up and down the California coast.

Episode 9: Harding Park

We’re down to the semifinals and it’s Tron vs. D.J. at the house that Tiger built. Welcome to the George Thomas-designed Stanford GC, where our tour guide is men’s head golf coach Conrad Ray.

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Episode 8: Stanford

The crew continues up the coast to Santa Cruz to play Dr. MacKenzie’s Pasatiempo.

Subscribe and comment to win a weekly prize from Callaway Golf (Recent prizes include Epic Flash Driver, Stroke Lab Putter, Callaway Apex Irons, and OGIO golf luggage).

Episode 7: Pasatiempo

The boys stick around Monterey for another day and head on over to Pacific Grove Municipal to play the “Poor Man’s Pebble Beach.”

Episode 6: Pacific Grove

While the PGA Tour was playing on MPCC’s Shore Course, the guys got onto the Dunes course and learned a bit about its history and how to play in the rain from local Alan Shipnuck. 

Episode 5: Monterey Peninsula CC with Alan Shipnuck

, No Laying Up rolls into Sandpiper Golf Course near Santa Barbara. It was among the most scenic courses of the trip, and we were lucky to have hometown friend 

 (guitar/vocals for Iration) to show us around.

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Episode 4: Sandpiper GC with Micah Pueschel

The No Laying Up RV’s rolls on to Ojai Valley Inn

, a George Thomas design in the foothills outside Los Angeles. Qualifying rolls on as the boys take on a short, quirky venue unlike anything else they’d see on the trip.

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Episode 3: Ojai Valley Inn

, No Laying Up Rolls into Rustic Canyon, a course that’s unquestionably the best golfing deal in L.A., which we finally got to see for ourselves in the form of a $20 twilight rate. Round 1 of “qualifying” for this season’s tournament takes place at the revered Gil Hanse/Geoff Shackelford gem, where we’re joined by 

, a friend of the podcast and actor on NCIS.

Episode 2: Rustic Canyon with Brian Dietzen

, presented by Callaway Golf. We’re packing all five NLU members into an RV and sending them on the road to find hidden gems and famous favorites. The first stop is the rundown driving range at Westlake GC near Thousand Oaks, California, where we find energetic swing guru George Gankas.

Episode 1: Westlake GC with George Gankas

As mentioned in the episode, Royal Dornoch rolls all the best elements of Scottish golf into one package. It’s generally rugged yet the playing surfaces are refined, located seaside yet offers some elevation change, features world class bunkering, boasts magnificent scale while simultaneously possessing some quirk, etc. From an off-course standpoint, the club is welcoming, the town is remote, yet accessible and the weather is unpredictable. Checks all the boxes.

From a hole-by-hole perspective, the 1st hole provides a warm handshake to start the round. As evidenced by DJ’s escapades, the 2nd ramps up the stakes and demands accuracy. The stretch from the 2nd through 6th is as good as it gets in golf. The 3rd plays downhill, doglegging left to a wide fairway that feeds into four brutal fairway bunkers on the right side and then to a massive green. This is really where the scale hits you. The 4th is relatively straightaway and an easier drive than the previous hole but features a more difficult approach. And then the 5th is among my favorites in all of Scotland. Playing only 350 yards downhill, you can hit whatever you want off the tee and try to play to whatever yardage suits best. However, there are tradeoffs to any route you take and the approach is intimidating, even from 75 yards, with three deep bunkers fronting a deep, narrow green and a drop-off along the right. Distance control is essential. And then the 6th is the devilish par three featured prominently in the episode. Soly also wrote a 

The 5th and 6th greens (Note: some of these pictures in this writeup were taken in September on a return trip to Dornoch)

While I’m undecided on whether I like the new cliff-side 7th (will reserve judgment until it’s open for play) I fervently think it’ll make the 8th a better hole, as it’ll ensure that only a great drive gets down the slope.

The aforementioned slope cutting across the 8th fairway

The ninth is a relatively straightforward par five that highlights one of the strengths of the course – slightly elevated greens that make accuracy that much more integral (and chipping that much tougher in the event of a missed green.) And then there are places like the backside of 10 green (pictured below) that will feed a miscalculation or over-aggressive shot 20-30 yards off.

The 11th is a long four featuring a rumpled fairway and gorse guarding the entire right side and two well-placed bunkers on either side of the green. The 12th (dogleg left par five through the dunescape) and 13th (175 yard par 3 with a small green and trouble everywhere) are a stern mid-round test.

You arrive at the 14th weary from the stretch you’ve just played, yet need to keep it dialed in because you’ve got a 440 yard dogleg left in front of you that demands a drive down the uncomfortable left side a to secure a good look at the green. The farther right, the more you’re blocked out by swales abutting the right fairway and a drastically elevated, shallow green that repels anything coming in from the right. Brilliant hole, one of the best I’ve ever played.

Here’s a look at the Book of Yardage for the 14th

The 15th offers a respite with a short par four featuring a mound blocking the green. A good drive leaves a short pitch into an ample green. The 16th is wide and plays longer than the 401 yards on the card (this is where I blew it right off the tee and Soly got into trouble on the approach.)

Chocolate drops between 16 green and 17 tee.

No. 17 is another stunner: a downhill, dogleg-left par 4 that drops off abruptly about 200 yards off the tee (similar to No. 8) and then plays back up to an elevated green that looks far scarier from the fairway than it is. Next time I play here I’m going to lay back off the tee on the upper fairway for a look at the green on the approach, rather than going down the slope and having a blind shot in.

Upper fairway on No. 17 during a subsequent trip

Finally, the 18th is an absolute brute. 456 yards slightly uphill to a massive green fronted by crazy swales. A rewarding finish, no doubt. Dornoch has a magical quality about it, and the course somehow exceeds its colossal reputation.

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sz-A0a49-4s

WHAT SHOULD I DO BEFORE PLAYING THIS COURSE?:

 Put your phone away (or put it on airplane mode if you’re gonna take pics) and enjoy the splendor of the place. Also pack your waterproofs, because the weather can change quickly.

 Despite the mix-up with the haggis toasties the offerings are on point. The view is exceptional, as the grille sits on the second floor with a commanding look over the 1st tee, 18th green and the club’s other course, the Struie.

, which is just about my favorite hotel in the world. I was blown away. Best water pressure of anywhere we stayed on the trip, comfortable beds, and the perfect lounge and restaurant. The service was exceptional. I went back three months later and paid rack rate for a couple nights. The hotel sits about 30 steps from the first tee and not much farther from the town. Perfect.

In Season 2 of Tourist Sauce, a golf travel series from No Laying Up, the guys head to the Home of Golf for 12 unforgettable rounds of golf, and a lot in between.

Episode 12: Royal Dornoch

Brora is a special course, and the place I’d most want to play everyday in Scotland. There aren’t a ton of individual holes that stick out (unlike Dornoch or Berwick), rather it’s consistently solid throughout. The course is truly more than the sum of its parts, and that’s even before considering the graciousness of the professional, Malcolm Murray, and the pastoral setting.

Soly’s writeup from the round of his (*alleged) ace

 is probably a better resource for a hole-by-hole and photography, as the light he enjoyed that day was as good as any I’ve seen in Scotland.

Opted to do a photo essay and some high-level thoughts about the course here. While you may look at the pictures below and think that the course is rustic or even in shitty condition, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. As mentioned in the episode, the greens were as good as any we putted on the trip. The links land that James Braid found here features some of the gnarliest natural fairway rumples and rolls I’ve ever seen. Lastly, the routing is refreshing in that it’s an out and back affair that doesn’t feel like one, as there are a few twists along the way, namely nos. 6, 13, and 16. Lastly, massive props to Malcolm, for personally creating one of the better yardage books I’ve used. Tons of usable info – distinctly opposite from that down the road in Dornoch.

 Brora architect James Braid, who designed over 200 courses across the British Isles and Europe, also won five Open Championships and was the only guy to successfully defend his Open title until Padraig Harrington.

 Put on your walking shoes and mentally prepare for one of the most pleasant walks on the planet. Everything about the place puts you at ease.

 Clubhouse is pretty basic and I did not eat there on either visit, owing partly to the quick pace of play (well under four hours) and partly to the proximity to Dornoch. Make sure to visit the pro shop for some merchandise – in a country with relatively crappy logos and merch, Brora punches well above its weight.

Offseason (Nov-Feb) £40; Mar £45; Apr £55; May-Oct £80 for 18, £99 for all day, £225 for unlimited weekly ticket.

, about a 25 minute drive south of Brora. A few good options up in Brora if you’re looking to get away.

Episode 11: Brora

Nairn doesn’t knock your socks off at first glance, and that’s what I like about it. Charm, flaws, nuance and superb conditioning are all tied together by an enviable location hard against the Firth of Moray.

Of all the courses Soly played during his ‘summer of love’ in ’17, Nairn is the one I understood the least (

). There are two reasons for this: flat courses are tougher to explain, and (somewhat relatedly) charm and nuance are even tougher to explain. Flat courses are typically defined and punctuated by loads of bunkers, and the exercise of navigating the minefield can be rewarding if you’re on your game. Nairn definitely falls in that category as it requires some real decision making, but it also doesn’t kick you in the teeth if you’re a little bit off or the wind is up. That you can make birdies and eagles enhances the experience and adds to the charm. The convivial membership, exquisite views and the club’s keen sense of history create a real mystique.

Pictured clockwise from top: No. 18, No. 17, No. 16 green, No. 2 tee, No. 1

The first seven holes (with the exception of No. 3) run away from the clubhouse along the coast and are most representative of the course. The burns that run across Nos. 2, 3 and 16 provide a buffer from the main clubhouse area. No. 4 is covered at length in the episode and counted among the best par threes of the trip. In the aerials above you’ll notice both the plethora plethora of bunkers (both sand and grass), but make note of the width of the fairways, the wispyness of the rough and how far many of the bunkers are set back from the greens – many are more visually imposing than they are penal.No. 4 is covered at length in the episode and counted among the best par threes of the trip. I felt the real treat of the front nine was No. 8. The hole plays 350 yards to a convex green and is the type of hole you play for the first time and then realize immediately afterward that there was a hell of a lot more going on than you realized standing on the tee. The picture below on the left was taken during our trip in July and shows the fairways, which were more burned out and crusty than any others we played in Scotland. The picture on the right (also of No. 8) was taken on a return trip in October and shows a course that greened up in certain spots and completely died in others. Many of the spots that died were replaced by mud when the rains came in September. The price to be paid for a magical summer.

An important note to keep in mind for the back nine at Nairn: We’re used to 36-hole days, but we’re not used to driving between rounds and staying at a different location each night. Our itinerary yielded incredible variety and truly felt like an adventure, but certainly took its toll. By the time we reached Nairn we were pretty beaten down and tired. This manifested itself on the back nine and we simply didn’t film enough. I wish we had a complete highlight package from Soly’s epic collapse. The next best thing is a look at the scorecard from that day (which also shows how we score Tilt.) Truly spectacular stuff:

The front nine sits between the back nine and the coast, yet the views don’t subside. The routing uses subtle angles to make the most of the treeless landscape and hint at the coast at regular intervals (on nos. 10, 13, 14, 15 & 17.) The inward half also provides more variety than the outward, starting with an easy par five in No. 10, an easy par three (albeit without wind) in No. 11), and a gnarly long par four in No. 12. The course then takes an unexpected turn (literally 90 degrees) up the a hill for No. 13, the aptly named crown. I was conflicted on this hole, as it sticks out like a sore thumb on an otherwise flat course, but it features a cool green and makes possible No. 14, which is a long par three that heads straight back down the hill toward the firth. Two imposing bunkers sit well short of the green and mess with your eye, and a severe slope that runs between two penal bunkers and chocolate drop mounds for anyone offline (see: Soly below). Again, the par threes at Nairn are ridiculous.

You then walk back to the 15th tee to play a 300-yard par four that once again plays directly out toward the firth. Another great hole that yielded an eagle, a birdie, a par and a bogey in our group. The rumpled fairway short of the green makes possible all manner of bounces, and provided for a spectacular juxtaposition between the lusher low points and the burned out ridges:

Nos. 16 through 18 are more standard fare but provide a challenging finish. We were certainly ready for the 19th hole and our tour of the archive room.

Simply put, Nairn is a club in the best sense of the word. Light on the bullshit and the exclusivity, and heavy on the competition and social spirit. In planning the return trip to Scotland with Zac Blair and Guido Dan in October there were courses with better pedigrees to go visit, but I insisted on us including Nairn on the itinerary because it represents the best of Scottish golf. We’d played Boat of Garten that morning and drove up for a late lunch and an ensuing round. We walked into the clubhouse and I was greeted like an old friend by Sharpie, Sean and Findlay. What must’ve been most of the club was present in the bar watching the Ryder Cup on the heels of competing for an inter-club trophy.

 featured a stout cast of characters on both teams and set the stage for Matt Kuchar’s longstanding tradition of getting boat-raced in international competitions. He went 0-3 over the course of the two-day event.

 Block off four hours after the round and make sure you have a designated driver.

 Great food, great bar, great hospitality, great members. Any questions?

Range from £110 to £160 April through September and then £50.00 November through March.

We stayed in Elgin the night prior but there are some really cool hotels/inns just down the street from the club, namely the 

. Next time I look forward to establishing a home base at Nairn for a couple days.

Episode 10: Nairn

I was prepared, perhaps even eager, to not like Castle Stuart. Ours was a trip to the home of the game to play the classics, and a modern resort like Castle Stuart did not fit neatly into that designation. After all, why come to Scotland and play something called a “modern links” when scores of real links exist? These courses often offer spectacular views and superb conditioning but lack the fundamental substance and character that comes from trying to approximate a classic with a modern spin. Details get missed, quirk is brushed aside and the routes of play are “Americanized.” A run-up area is either flat or over-engineered. Balance is elusive when conjuring something out of flat farmland.

Conversely, the three Gil Hanse courses I’d played previously (Boston Golf Club, Streamsong Black & Pinehurst’s Cradle) were nuanced, non-formulaic and befit the surroundings, providing hope for more of the same. DJ, our in-house Hanse aficionado, possessed a rare optimism that morning, which helped replace my skepticism with openness. And Soly assured us that CS (coincidentally he and Castle Stuart share initials) would blow our minds. He’d 

When we arrived the “resort” style amenities were all unapologetically present – swift service, a great practice area, thoughtful food offerings – and after a few days of more sparse offerings it was nice to get a taste of home. But in a preview of what was to come on the course, everything was thoughtful and restrained, plainly suggesting that the golf was the star of the show. The details and nuance we encountered on the course were refreshing. It was plainly evident that Gil and the owner of the course, Mark Parsinen, had dedicated the time and effort to get things right. On a return trip to Scotland a few months later I had a chance to see Parsinen’s first effort, Kingsbarns, a Kyle Phillips design down in Fife between St Andrews and Crail. While it’s a fine routing that garners near-universal acclaim, Kingsbarns lacks the ripples and rumples and run-up areas of Castle Stuart. The player is often asked to fly the ball to the green. It feels more like an imitation of Scottish golf rather than the real thing. While I hesitate to psychoanalyze Parsinen’s intent, I imagine he learned a great deal at Kingsbarns and put those takeaways into practice at Castle Stuart with Hanse.

Like Kingsbarns, Castle Stuart takes the less-obvious routing, which weaves back and forth from the coast to cliffs above to offer flourishes and views throughout the round (10 & 11 hugging the coast in the picture above and 18 on the cliffside to the left.) For that reason it doesn’t run out of gas and most holes feel water-adjacent. And the aforementioned details that are so often missing are present in spades. Bumps, bulges, run-offs and knolls abound, and are accentuated by exceptional conditioning – burnt out fairways with perfect greens that were smooth and dense but not overly green. We played armed with the confidence that we could use the slopes as intended and that the ball would react properly on the ground. The thump of an iron on the fairway was an auditory pleasure unlike anywhere else we played. Not surprisingly, the par fives here were better than those we played anywhere else on the trip (a nod to the advances in ball and metal-wood technology that classic links courses never envisioned.)

Most of the front nine is pictured below, with the first three holes along the Firth to the left of the screen. No. 4 darts diagonally and then Nos. 5 through 9 wiggle back toward the clubhouse. The opening trio of tee shots provide an unsettling look for those who guard against a right miss and No. 1 was the most difficult opener of the entire trip. No. 2 eases you back in; a par five offering a reasonable look at birdie.

No. 3, pictured below, is a triumph of the human spirit and captures everything this course got right. Playing around 300 yards slightly downhill to a point, the temptation to go for it is too strong to pass up. And the litany of bad outcomes is just as strong. A well-executed tee shot leaves an easy putt from on or just short of the deep green. Three bunkers and flowing gorgeous stacked sod faces dot the fairway at varying points and demand accuracy for anyone laying up and leaving a dreaded fifty-yard bunker shot for inaccurate tee shots. Long grass abuts the entirety of the right side. And for those who go for it but miss left, even by the slightest margin, tiny lips abut the left side and demand a nipped wedge from a tight lie to a narrow green backed immediately by the Firth (see: the Mickelson video below). One of the most brilliant holes I’ve ever played.

The stretch from No. 4 through No. 8 is solid and features a variety of holes. No. 9 is a cut above the rest – a 350ish par four that often plays downwind and features a sizable shelf down the right on which to land a driver. We had a windless day, so the hole was an exercise in strategy, as explained below in the caption.

The fairway slopes sharply right-to-left and shots funneled left are faced with a steep, blind approach to a green fronted by a severe false-front. The slope also forces you into being very decisive with club-selection off the tee, as anything too short leaves you hitting to the narrowest ledge on the right, but anything too far may flirt with the death bunker on the left. But at no point does the hole feel unfair because if you muck up the drive you can use the generous landing area right of the green to funnel down to the green.

Nos. 10 and 11 (pictured below) are among the most scenic holes I’ve ever played, though the memory is somewhat marred by the nightmarish display that Randy exposed us to on the green.

12 is an exhilarating uphill par five summed up succinctly by the yardage book: “Hitch up your kilt and get your drive in play. Then have some fun.” No. 13 (the featured image at the top of this page and the background on my desktop) isn’t featured prominently in the video because A) it’s a 420-yard uphill ball-buster and B) the view out toward the Kessock Bridge connecting Inverness and the Highlands was jaw-dropping and we simply enjoyed the moment. The contours short of that green, and the way they interact with the angles offered up by the sharp dogleg are the defining characteristic of Castle Stuart that stick with me above all else five months later. It’s not hard to imagine Hanse jamming out on the dozer, enjoying the view and honing the hell out of his craft.

The stretch from 14 (green pictured below) through 16 offers more of the same thoughtfulness. Despite being the holes farthest from the water, the staggered cliffs guarantee world-class views interspersed between large dunes. No. 17 is a thrilling par three that terrifies me to think about on a windy day with a decent round going.

The finishing hole offers up a blind-ish tee shot that begs you to use the gradual slope that bends down to a massive green and feels forever away, but is surprisingly approachable with a long iron or wood. This hole is a friendlier version of No. 18 at Streamsong Black.

 In 2011, after a 15 year run at Loch Lomond, the Scottish Open was played at Castle Stuart for the first time. The event was shortened to 54 holes due to flooding, landslides and wind. 

 Get there early. The breakfast sandos are delightful and it was the best clubhouse coffee we had in Scotland.

 Perfect blend of Scotland and America. Service is quick, coffee is fresh and strong, views are unbeatable, and the menu is delicious, fast and simple. The clubhouse is a distinctive Art Deco structure, think Royal Birkdale, but aligned vertically.

May-Oct: £210 per round, £275 for 36 holes. Apr & Nov: £155 per round, £210 for 36 holes.

The property offers on-site accommodations in the form of three cottages/lodges. Part of the beauty of Castle Stuart is in the location. It’s right next to the Inverness airport (and you can fly in from London or Amsterdam, among other destinations) and a convenient day trip to a host of other courses along the Moray Firth. We stayed in Elgin the night prior and drove to Dornoch after our day at Castle Stuart and Nairn. Parsinen achieved his stated goal of providing a high-end resort option to build critical mass for the Highlands region to be viewed as a true destination instead of three or four courses to add on to a larger itinerary.

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