When we arrived at Glasgow airport, we got a bus to Glasgow Central station, I had booked bus tickets online. On the way in, Edward wondered if we would be able to get tickets for that day’s practice rounds. It had to be done online, and the 3G/4G was very flaky (side note, the reception was the worst we’ve encountered in any European country). When we got to the Premier Inn just after midday, we paid £10 to get an early check in and I got on the internet to get tickets - there were plenty available, bought them and they arrived into the ticket app within about 10 minutes. Everything now is apps, I had to get four different ones for this trip. So we packed our backpacks and headed off to the station where we bought train tickets and also some sandwiches to have on the train. The weather was very nice, and we were there for over four hours, wandering around, picking out different golfers, having something to eat, and Edward wanted to see a particular hole which was quite a walk away. On the way back from that, there was a nice fan area, so we had ice creams and a little rest. At this stage, we were heading for the shuttle bus back to the station but we did stop off at the huge merchandise shop just for a look. I did over 20,000 steps!
When we got to Troon station, it quickly became obvious that ScotRail had not considered that very many people would be leaving at the same time and we waited an hour and 20 minutes for a train, in the end they had to send out a special train to try and clear the crowds. It was after 9pm by the time we got back to Glasgow, so our planned meal out didn’t happen. Pizza Hut had closed at 9pm, so it had to be KFC for the two hungry men, I wasn’t hungry. Early enough to bed in preparation for the next day.
Thursday was another early start, the first day of the championship. We told Michael he could decide what we would do and thankfully his plan involved a fair amount of time sitting on grandstands
The weather was not good but we were all kitted out in our wet gear so didn’t care. Last thing we did was to buy merch stuff and then we headed back to Glasgow, no train problems this time. I had found a decent looking Italian restaurant online (Ally, Di Maggios at Royal Exchange Square) where we had a nice relaxing meal to finish off our day. Back to hotel and fairly early to bed as we were all quite tired.Friday we slept on a bit and had a late breakfast. After that I organised the packing and eventually we checked out and headed off for the airport bus. Usual airport routine, check in, through security etc. and on to the plane. After a while the pilot said there was a little mechanical problem. Another 15 minutes or so and he tells us that the plane has been grounded and the flight cancelled. So off we all get and the wait began to see what would happen. The ground handling staff were really very good, very helpful and friendly, with a constantly changing situation. We were all given an Aer Lingus number to rearrange flights. That call took a good hour - two other young men had been offered Belfast so I knew it was an option for us also. Then we had a wait to be assigned hotel rooms, they had made a list of who needed what. Eventually we were given a room at the Marriott, two double beds so Michael was delighted to have a double all to himself, and so excited to have room service! Plus Sky Sports on a big tv so he was a happy boy. Saturday we were up very early as our flight was 8.20 and from then on all went well, in spite of miserable weather back in Ireland - got a bus to Dublin airport from Belfast as our car was there. We had been back and forth with Miss Osc about getting Michael back to Wicklow and in the end she met us at a petrol station near the airport. I had his empty suitcase in the car and had packed all his stuff on top in our suitcase so all we had to do when we got back to our car was transfer his stuff from our case to his. As a final nicety, when I pressed the Help button at the car park and explained about the cancelled flight, he said “ah, you’re only a couple of hours over, you’re grand” and the barrier lifted.
It was such a special occasion and it was a real joy to see Edward and Michael with their heads together, chatting, laughing checking the Open app, following different players as the app updated and generally having a really lovely time together. Michael was great company, no sulky teenager behaviour, and it was a pleasure for us to spend that time with him.
