Craw's Nest Tassie Consolations

UK Handicap; 2.9 USGA Handicap; 1.8

After the disappointment of not qualifying for the matchplay stage, it was back to normal and trying to play for my handicap instead.
On Wednesday on the Burnside I played awful until I had a good old-fashioned scotch pie inside me which seemed to turn my game around, and I shot 74 to make buffer zone and ensure that my handicap didn't go up.
On Thursday, after a mix-up with the starting times, I eventually played the Championship course, off the back tees, at about 1pm, and played one of the best rounds of my life. A bogey on 2 was follwed by birdies on 3 and 4, and a bogey on 8 meant that I was out in level par. A silly bogey on 10 took me 1 over, but I got it back on 14. Standing on the 17th tee at level par I couldn't believe my luck, but unfortunately I finished bogey bogey, missing a 2 foot putt on the last for a 73.
74 is still my best score on that course by 11 shots, and will probably be my best score for the rest of my living days. With the SSS being 75, a 74 is a rare animal, and effectively means that I have beaten Carnoustie for once, something Sergio Garcia could only dream of in 1999 when he scored 81 and 89.
Having had a disappointing qualifying, it was pleasing to end the week with a lower handicap than when I started, and also to have won some money through my efforts on Thursday. Now I have the momentum it is all about getting cut to 2 - there is still hope left for this season.

The photo is from the 16th tee on the Championship course 'the hardest par 3 in golf' according to Tom Watson, with a rainbow starting from the end of the path and moving up over the hotel at the 18th.