A couple years ago I teed it up on the first hole at Prestwick, hoping to make up for my lousy 95 in 30-40 mph winds 10 years previous, my only score higher than 90 during nearly two weeks in Scotland. It was equally windy, with intermittent squalls of that wonderful rain they have over there that feels like sleet needling into your skin, but I felt confident that my swing was working well enough to face the challenge, having scored 77 on Turnberry the day before in 20 mph winds, which would have been lower had I been putting.
I open with a perfect 4 iron into the best possible position, and arrive to find my ball in a divot. Uh oh, could be one of those days. I try to erase those thoughts from my mind, but in trying to avoid a thinned shot shooting through the green and against the wall, I hit way behind it and leave it in one of the deep bunkers ~50 yards short of the green. I eventually end up with a triple bogey 7. On the short 2nd, I put it into a greenside bunker, take two to get out, and three putt for another triple. Wonderful. After a nice little 4i/7i to the hollow behind the 3rd I nearly flop it in for an eagle but settle for a birdie, and think I may be back on track. That's short lived as I push not one but two balls into the deep gunk right of the hazard on 4 attempting to drive the green, and after finding neither I finish that with an 8 and its all over for me. I limp in with a humbling 102, the first triple digit score this 5 handicap has had in perhaps 20 years.
At North Berwick the next day I go around in 76. Strange game.