Passed on a round at The Old Course.
St. Andrews was the last stop on my 10-day trip through Scotland, and I had pre-arranged several rounds, including a Monday morning round at Crail. I played a wonderful round on the Eden on Sunday with two St. Andrews residents, walked TOC as night fell (passing Payne Stewart and Lee Janzen along the way -- this was in 1999, when the Open Championship was being played at Carnoustie, and many of the players were staying in St. Andrews and taking a hovercraft across the firth to play there), then had a wonderful dinner at the Dunvegan, where I hung out and drank beers with Nick Price, among others.
The next morning, just for kicks, I wandered down to the starter's booth at TOC, and inquired about a single getting on. The only opening (and he was quite gracious, contrary to what I'd heard to expect) was at exactly the time I had scheduled my round at Crail. During my trip, I took seriously the notion of being a "guest" in the country of my forefathers, and took very seriously the notion of keeping appointments and being on schedule. So I kept my appointed tee time at Crail, was paired up with a gentleman pastor from California (lucky me -- he knew the pro at Crail), and the two of us after our round spent hours in the clubhouse afterward, right next to the bay window of the clubhouse that overlooks the course, as my newly found pastor friend worked on a plot for the pro to get him onto Muirfield. Because those two days were so enjoyable, I've never really regretted bypassing TOC.
I haven't been back since.