Wednesday Mornings in St Andrews (with Fiona Steel Captain of St Rule Club)

Fiona Steel (00:00)
Well Marion that you mentioned earlier and I set up this golf for people with living with dementia. So we've been running these sessions on a Wednesday with the help of Tony Pinnock of Forget Me Not Golf who's an absolutely inspirational man and it's been quite a fight to get this going. Because we don't have our own course we have to get times from the Links Trust and we get teas and coffees and

take them out and play golf and then they have another tea and coffee at the end of it and a tray bake which is very popular. I would say that every club in the world should do that. They should have a little bit of forget-me-not golf in their life and I know that doesn't change St. Rule but it would change life for a lot of people around the world.

Matt Considine (00:50)
Welcome to the Bag Drop Untold Stories in Golf. I'm your host, Matt Considine here with our co-host, the Professor Slotcha. Good morning, Professor. How are you?

The Professor (00:59)
You know what? I've been all in on, trying to get good sleep over the last couple of years, but some there are some nights where a late night's worth it.

Matt Considine (01:06)
what's cooking?

The Professor (01:07)
if you're a concert going music lover out there, you gotta go see Johnny Blue Skies, aka

Matt Considine (01:12)
Johnny.

The Professor (01:13)
St aka Sturgeil Simpson for those yeah,

Matt Considine (01:15)
yes, Sturgil Simpson. I've I've heard good things.

The Professor (01:18)
it is a must, must go, three hour plus set, no breaks, no talking, just three hours and ten minutes of playing music the entire time.

Matt Considine (01:28)
what time did he come on stage? with a strict bedtime. wh when did this whole s sware get started? Eight o'clock sharp.

The Professor (01:34)
Eight o'clock sharp. Eight o'clock finished at

about eleven, about eleven seven or so. that he finished up.

Matt Considine (01:39)
Even even in my

younger days of concert going, that was always a pet peeve of mine when you're expecting a show to go on at nine on a Tuesday and then the first act goes a little long, the next one, and then you know, the act you were there to see goes on at eleven.

The Professor (01:52)
Well, with Tejranny Blues guys don't gotta worry about that. I think the whole season basically, eight o'clock sharp, he's been doing pretty good at just, starting exactly his plan.

transcendent show, face melting stuff.

Matt Considine (02:02)
I I'm I'm proud of you. I know you and Claire have stepped out you're you're a big sports guy from your upbringing, but you guys have really stepped out into the concert world and going to see more arts, more entertainment. That's live entertainment. That's awesome, man.

The Professor (02:14)
That's gotta s got to support the arts, especially with everything that's going on kinda stealing from them and taken away from them.

Matt Considine (02:19)
I've been enjoying the fall sports lineup, of course. you may n notice my new attire for those joining us on video today.

The Professor (02:24)
Yeah, I'm not liking the hat you got on there. Nah, that's great great

logo, but it doesn't look good on your head.

Matt Considine (02:31)
It

is a great logo. this is one of the oldest ball ball clubs. the Milwaukee Brewers are in the World Series as we speak. I think this one will release while they still have a game. Well, maybe not, 'cause they're up

The Professor (02:40)
What say by the

time this releases that series I love my rays. I mean as a adopted fan, but yeah, that that's that's gonna be over.

Matt Considine (02:48)
I hope this doesn't curse them, but I'm just gonna say hearty congratulations to the world champion, Milwaukee Brewers. They're up 3-0 as we're recording this right now. but friends of the show, Shalina Rice made a friendly wager with me around my guardians and her brewers, whoever got to the world series. And then we're gonna double the s the stakes.

So she sent me this awesome hat with a great logo. And I told her, This isn't a punishment, this is a reward. I'm I'm happy to.

The Professor (03:15)
Is she making you send it back? That's that's the rule you gotta put in place. She bite pays for it, sends it to you, but then it's gotta go back to her.

Matt Considine (03:21)
Good question. I I was r honestly just planning to if they win, box it up and send it to one of my buddies. It's a Cubs fan. Just to really grind their gears. but no, cong congrats to them on their world championship. And in no way I hope that jinx them

Well, Professor, we've gotten a lot of comments about your recent travels and getting back to the home of golf in St. Andrews. You brought back with you some new guests of the podcast, which I'm appreciative of. this allows me to kind of partake in a little bit of your journey. And today we got a really special guest, Captain Fiona Steele of St. Rule in St. Andrews.

The captain is coming on board. This is pretty cool, man. Thanks for inviting her to join us.

The Professor (03:59)
Yeah, I think I mentioned a previous episode, one of the reasons I went over was to get an opportunity to play in an inner club outside of the town match and I got lucky and my name was pulled for the Saint Rule or for the match against Saint Rule over on the Eden course of all places too. Just a just a perfect golf course for a match.

so when it finished up, yeah, it's one of those, you know, we were so inspired by the Scottish golf culture that any opportunity to get to talk to a member of any club, let alone a prominent member, and then add to it, the the ladies' club feature that w they have in Scotland that we don't have quite over here in the United States. So it's like this is just a great opportunity for us to get a chance to ask some questions and learn some stuff.

Matt Considine (04:35)
Yeah, yeah, there's there's a lot here obviously from our own curiosities about Scottish golf culture and and you know what a captain actually does, their roles

The Professor (04:45)
Mm-hmm.

Matt Considine (04:45)
and responsibilities, what club life is like in St. Andrews. so many of us listening are the people that wanna we aspire to say some people just once to go to St. Andrews, which you know, you and I've learned don't ever say once or or bucket list 'cause

There's gonna be plenty of opportunities to go back. But then there's a a a whole nother thing to think about, hey, living there and having it be the heart of your your golf life.

The Professor (05:07)
Yeah, I must I must say after the match, I'm sure maybe we'll get to the scar tissues that are that are permanently there. but I think the one

Matt Considine (05:14)
You're talking about the

match that you you did not win, correct? Okay, just making sure.

The Professor (05:16)
That did did not win, yes.

and then I I but I think the most frustrating part was just sitting down at lunch after the match and just hearing everybody talk about living in the St Andrews. And I'm just like, so jealous. Like I would trade,

Matt Considine (05:27)
Yeah.

The Professor (05:28)
I would lose a hundred straight matches to have a place, you know, in Saint Andrews Andrews or the local area, you know, all the way down to East Lothian.

Matt Considine (05:36)
Hey,

they they they got concert venues there too, pal. You can you can always relocate.

The Professor (05:42)
I don't know if you're a Sam Fender fan, but he's playing the few days before the open next year, the one fifty fifth, right in Edinburgh.

So

Matt Considine (05:48)
All right. All right. We'll

talk. We'll talk. teachings do you have for us today, Professor? Get us going.

The Professor (05:53)
th Johnny Blue Sky's, is in the creative spirit. he's arguably, I mean he's

The best outlaw country musician of the this generation for sure. Now he's turned into, you might argue the best rock band of this generation. So just incredibly creative person. So thinking like the creativity, like what do you do when you're stuck on a problem? You got a creative problem to solve, not just like something that's like, okay, I gotta work through this and it's just like hard work and gotta put into time, but you're in a creative corner where you're like, I d I just don't know how to solve this. What do you have any go-tos that you do to to get into creative mind and you know, problem solve all that?

Matt Considine (06:27)
I I've I have run into this a lot, as an entrepreneur, you know, by definition. That's a creative field. And I find that I need to move. So if I'm stationary, you know, here behind a screen, I I just gotta get out and move. So maybe go for a walk. That's what I used to do in my little Chicago neighborhood. But now with a driveway and a basketball hoop, I get up shots. That's actually my go

The Professor (06:48)
Ooh.

Matt Considine (06:48)
to. Yeah. It it releases something and then my brain works a little bit better.

The Professor (06:52)
Yeah. Well y you stole the fact.

Matt Considine (06:54)
see, I get smarter on these over time.

The Professor (06:57)
So definitely if we're going to specific things you can do, like walking, right? so with studies out there that show you're more creative when you're walking or moving than while sitting. taking a shower actually can do it as well. Just going for a drive, doing exercise. So there you go on the basketball thing, right? so all those things. Another one that's actually handwriting rather than typing.

and that'll

help out significantly in memory too. If you're trying to actually be creative and remember what you're doing, this is why even keeping a notepad by your bed for your dreams when you wake up and you've solved the problem in your dreams. Write it down on a notepad. then it's there for you to look at, but also it actually helps embed it in your memory so you don't need to look at it. but really the the fact of the day, I guess, would be why does this work? The thing is, you need to solve creative problems, you also do you often need your mind to wander. They call this, you know, mind.

Mind wandering or curious mind wandering. And it's those type of activities that you let your mind do that. Brushing your teeth is another one, right? It's these habitualized things that you have driving a car, going for a run, walk, where you're mu you're not actually focused on what you're doing. Basketball, you're just acting in the moment, right? You're just so you're not really thinking analytically. So that just opens up the mind, the sort of drift subconsciously and start to throw connections together that you're not, you know, doing intentionally.

So anything that lets your s mind slip into that. Some for some people it's even video games. I know that's stationary, but the v i idea of playing a video game, that's a little bit mindless and mind wandering can can have that effect

too.

Matt Considine (08:20)
I like that wandering thought. That really resonates with me.

The Professor (08:22)
Yeah, for me it's honestly running in the shower. those two, but running's a well, it's running and the I I

Matt Considine (08:26)
Wait, running in the shower? That sounds dangerous.

The Professor (08:29)
can't tell you the number of times I get like seven minutes into a 30-minute run, and the idea hits, and now it's like, I have to try to remember this so I can write it down when I actually get back. And that's the hard one, because then you like forget it. it's that one that one frustrates me. And I don't take my phone with me, so I can't dictate it.

Matt Considine (08:42)
It it is funny.

well before we get to this week's conversation with Fiona, a word from our new partner on our deep dive, the Great Club series, and that

The Professor (08:52)
So excited.

Matt Considine (08:53)
is Holderness and Bourne. Professor, it's peak fall golf out here in the Midwest. I'm sure it's getting there for you guys down south, which is very literally, I think, the best time of the year for for golf. You know, firm fairways, quieter T-sheets.

That low light starts casting shadows, fall trees and leaves. Well, HB's new fall collection, Swing Up the Coast, is built for exactly these rounds and the ones that we got ahead. So in colors that they pulled from Northern California coastline, Highway One. I picked the Cunningham quarter zip. It's my first of that series in my closet. And let me tell you, man.

I love this thing. It is Merino Cashmere Blend Quarter Zip. It's not something I usually have in the in the closet, but this is one of the warmest items I've ever owned and also the most comfortable. So swinging in this thing is no problem. And my wife said, You look great. And I could wear that out to a dinner date if we can ever get one of those on the calendar. So whether it's a dinner date with your wife or those 40 degree mornings.

go over to hnbgolf.com or your local pro shop. Find our friends from Holderness and Bourne. Thanks to them for supporting today's today's show. All right, Professor, shall we get to it?

The Professor (10:06)
Let's do it.

Matt Considine (10:13)
Captain Fiona Steele, welcome to The Bag Drop.

Fiona Steel (10:16)
Thank you very much, it's a pleasure to be with you.

Matt Considine (10:18)
You warned us in our communication back and forth on scheduling this that you might be a little wind swept from your match today. I can tell by the beautiful bag drop we're chatting with. the the wind doesn't look like it held up. How did the match go? fill us in.

Fiona Steel (10:33)
Yeah we were supposed to be playing a medal on the new course and it was 47 mile an hour wins at half past eight this morning so we had a few ladies just went out for a couple of holes just to blow the cobwebs away but that was it nobody went out in the competition unfortunately that's what happens at the end of October in Scotland

Matt Considine (10:52)
Yeah, i f forty seven miles per hour, just to put that in perspective, this isn't a a fall breeze that we're accustomed to. Yeah, th that is and that's sustained, I imagine, right? Those aren't gusts. That's just what's coming in today.

Fiona Steel (11:05)
Well it was dusty

as well, which makes it really difficult but yeah you couldn't swing properly you'd be blown all over the place the balls would be going all over the place so the new course runs alongside the old course so there were a couple of people out on the old course but they were the only people that were out by nine o'clock this morning which is very unusual for St Andrews usually that all the courses are full and it's busy so

Yeah, we've had a lot of weather this year. It's been hot and sunny quite a lot too, but very windy.

Matt Considine (11:37)
I know you had the the task and and pleasure of playing with my co host here, the professor, in a match recently. Do you think did he need harsher conditions to help his game that day? D do you think there's anything that would have helped him that day, Fiona, or did

Fiona Steel (11:52)
Thank

Matt Considine (11:53)
you size him up on the first T and say, you know, this is a point for the the the good guys?

Fiona Steel (11:58)
Well, we didn't actually play against each other.

I was playing against Hugh, the captain of the new club, and Steve, who's the managing secretary. I think that the matches on the Eden is definitely better if you're higher handicapper, because it's quite a short course. And so if you hit

The Professor (12:16)
Hmm.

Fiona Steel (12:17)
a long ball, you don't get advantage for that. And I mean, I've got a reasonably low handicap, and so I've been given

shots all season so when we play the men it's often quite nice for me to get some shots and just about all the greens you can reach in two so whether it's you going in with half a pitching wedge or going in with a five iron you're both on the green in two so I definitely think the higher handicapper's have a bigger advantage on the Eden so I think they were probably on a hiding to nothing

The Professor (12:47)
Well, I have to say, Fiona, in in our match, I I hadn't thought about that on the Eden. And that explains, you know, we were down, my partner and I, Andy, I think we're down three pretty quickly. and we had fought it back and we got actually the one up walking off of the fifteenth hole. So we went into sixteen, seventeen, eighteen, three of the longer holes on the golf

Fiona Steel (13:06)
you.

The Professor (13:07)
course, you know, part five, long par

Fiona Steel (13:09)
Thank

The Professor (13:09)
four, decent par four.

And we're like, we got this match. We just gotta let's just get in the house, play well. I played one under the rest of the way in, you know, made Birdie on the par five and then

Fiona Steel (13:20)
Thank

The Professor (13:20)
four four. But our playing opponents went net eagle, net

Fiona Steel (13:25)
You

The Professor (13:25)
par net birdie, and just took it to us and swung the match. And you know I think we ended up losing, you know, by a point that that was the deciding match, unfortunately, for for our side.

Fiona Steel (13:35)
Yeah maybe they the wind behind and had lots of shots or something.

The Professor (13:39)
And I and I have to say that that was my first opportunity to get to play in the inner club that wasn't a town match. And I know the town match is an entirely separate sort of thing. Like I don't think it's

Fiona Steel (13:49)
it is.

The Professor (13:50)
emblematic of the inner clubs at all. I must say as an as a international member coming over, I found the inner club matches very

Bonding, I guess, would be may be the word I that I saw. I was surprised, being my first one, just how much time we spent together, with our competitors, in the lunch and all that. Is that normal of what an interclub match looks like in terms of you play, all the matches, get together, spend hours afterwards, just eating, having some drink, reminisce on the match. Is that pretty yeah. Paint a good picture of it?

Fiona Steel (14:20)
It just...

Yeah, I think for a lot of our matches, especially against the other St Andrews clubs, we're lucky we play against all the other clubs in St Andrews. I think we might be the only club that does that. And certainly when we play the R &A or the new club or the St Andrews club or the Thistle club, they're very sociable and we always have a lovely lunch afterwards, wine, whatever. And it is a nice way because often you're playing against someone's husband that you know or

There's a lot of, I was playing against Hugh and Steve and I come across them in inter-club meetings. So it's very, very nice to move away from a meeting room and just chat about normal things on the golf course. So great fun.

Matt Considine (15:05)
Yeah, Kevin was r actually on this show a couple of weeks ago telling us about, you know, that feeling of coming back after your match to the clubhouse and walking in and seeing, you know, the the the points tally and finding out, you know, who

Fiona Steel (15:17)
Yeah.

Matt Considine (15:19)
who who who won, who took the the the points for the day and and how what a what a strong feeling it is of camaraderie and and not enough, at least in the US, we don't play a lot of team golf outside of

maybe a two person member, member, member guest and intra clubs

Fiona Steel (15:33)
Okay.

Matt Considine (15:33)
are trying to gain steam. I I wish there'd be more, but I I'm curious, is there a type of competition or match that that is your favorite or you look forward to more than others?

Fiona Steel (15:44)
Well, have 13 inter-club matches where it's one club against another. We have a couple of triumphs as well. We have a lot of inter-club competitions between the St Andrews clubs where we all put together a team of six. So I love a four-ball better ball. I think that's my favorite format of the game.

And I really enjoy the sociability of all the friendly matches we have. They're supposed to be friendly, those ones. We also have scratch team matches and they're maybe not quite as friendly because you're wanting to win more.

Matt Considine (16:14)
What what is

it about the the scratch matches? We just all take I'm usually a part of the scratch match, Fiona,

Fiona Steel (16:19)
Yeah.

Matt Considine (16:20)
and and everyone tells us you guys just take it too serious.

Fiona Steel (16:23)
Seriously,

yeah, I think so. I think that's why it's just really nice when you're going out there and you're playing with a partner because golf, you do always play with someone else. And I was brought up playing team sports. So I like being part of a team. I enjoy being part of a team. And it's just more fun winning as a team than winning as an individual, I think. So, you know, I like it that way.

The Professor (16:46)
Yeah, that that really resonates with me too, Fiona. that I've always, I don't know, just or maybe I think I've aged especially, now I look far more forward to a team golf match than anything individual. It's something about just sharing that experience, bad or good, with the

Fiona Steel (17:03)
Yeah.

The Professor (17:03)
other person, just adds to it to me. I gotta ask you, you know, Matt raises, you know, your favorite competitions and all that. I gotta ask you in my notes I've got something called the Hercules Trophy. Can you

Fiona Steel (17:14)
Yes, that's

that

The Professor (17:15)
Does that ring a bell?

Fiona Steel (17:16)
it does. That is a competition that's played for all Lady Lady golfers that are members of clubs in St Andrews or that live in St Andrews. And it's a foursums tournament over the Eden course that the prize, the trophy was donated by

Lord Hercules, I'm not sure if that's right, you play at Stableford points, you play around the Eden and it's organised either by the St. Rule Club or the St. Regulus Club and then you have a reception afterwards and have drinks and nibbles and the winning pair get the trophy. So that's a fun tournament.

The Professor (17:52)
And was it last year that you and Mary and Todd won that?

Fiona Steel (17:56)
we did, yes. I didn't know you knew that. Yeah.

The Professor (18:00)
It's just convenient Yeah. Very very humble individual

there. Not not saying that yes, that that is that is the thing we play for and by the way we want it. I gotta I what I was like w one of the

Matt Considine (18:09)
Professor, we

we only brag about ourselves in the US. Nobody does that in Scotland. That it they they have what's called manners.

The Professor (18:12)
Nobody else does that anymore.

Fiona Steel (18:11)
Hahaha

Yeah, was captain this year. Marion was the captain this year.

The Professor (18:16)
That's right. so tell tell to tell us, like in a competition like that,

and yeah, you were vice captain at the time, right? So

Fiona Steel (18:26)
Yeah.

The Professor (18:27)
captain and vice captain go out. How many, you know, help our listeners understand the context. How many pairs are we talking about? You know, how many teams are participating in this? And then what's, you know,

Fiona Steel (18:35)
Hmm.

The Professor (18:37)
is it handicapped, scratch? What's the the format of that?

Fiona Steel (18:41)
It's handicap, it's half the combined handicap. We play it on a Tuesday evening and a Wednesday morning so that everybody's got an opportunity to play. There now I want to see are probably 40, 50 pairs that go out, maybe 60 pairs that compete.

It depends. Last year we had our first ladies join us from the RNA which was really exciting. So that was good. So no, it's a big deal.

The Professor (19:11)
Yeah.

Matt Considine (19:12)
Fiona, I I I'll get to your club life and what it's like, you know, being a member of St. Rule, but I wanted to ask you first about your golf life before being

Fiona Steel (19:22)
you

Matt Considine (19:22)
a member at St. Rule. tell us how you learned the game, who introduced you, and what what what what role did it play in your life before before becoming a member of a club?

Fiona Steel (19:32)
So I probably started when I was about 10. My parents both played golf. My dad was a very good golfer. He was captain of the St. Andrews University team and my mum was a field hockey player so she was very sporty and took up golf around the same time she...

my dad got together. there was four of us in the family, I have two sisters and a brother, and so we were all taught as children and we play on holidays. Mum would make us run and hit and run and hit and run and hit because we all find it quite boring.

Matt Considine (20:08)
A a field hockey version of golf.

I love it.

Fiona Steel (20:10)
like that yes and we'd play in welly boots on a wet course that had cows and sheep and the greens were we'd have electric wires around them to stop them going on it but it was great fun and we always enjoyed it but I was more growing up I was more any kind of ball sports so I played a lot of hockey tennis badminton volleyball and

continued that. went to St Andrews University as well and captained the ladies hockey team and played in the tennis team as well. It wasn't really until I stopped playing hockey in my twenties that I played more golf. so yeah, I've played it ever since and really enjoy it.

Matt Considine (20:46)
And when did w when did you become a member of the of Saint Rule?

Fiona Steel (20:49)
St. Rule I joined about 12 years ago. We bought a flat in St. Andrews and used to come down for weekends and so I joined St. Rule at that point. We only moved to St. Andrews a year ago so it's wonderful. I love it living there. I've been members of other clubs, Aberdeen Ladies as well where I played most of my golf and I'm also a member of the RNA which is a very special place to be a member of.

Matt Considine (21:13)
Yeah.

The Professor (21:14)
Yeah,

baby Fiona, give our listeners a little context of that. I think one of the things a lot of our listeners would be surprised in is that people in St Andrews are members of multiple clubs. And in the United States that's nothing unless you're just collecting memberships because of different golf courses.

Fiona Steel (21:28)
Yeah.

The Professor (21:29)
So

In reality, how's that play out? when you're thinking of playing matches and when you're thinking of where you're splitting your time. Obviously you're a captain of Saint Roll, so right now it's Saint Rule. But

Fiona Steel (21:38)
Yeah.

The Professor (21:39)
overall, just it was if you weren't in a captain position, what's that look like for you on a day to day comps and playing your golf?

Fiona Steel (21:45)
Well, day to day I play probably 90 % of my golf at St. Rule. have something on most Tuesdays throughout the year, 12 months of the year, whether it's something fun over the winter or other competitions. The RNA tends to have monthly medals and then some shotguns and some other fun competitions, but it's not quite... The competitions aren't quite as regular. So I play in the autumn and the spring meeting, our big competitions. I've played in the town match

both the RNA and St. Rule. Obviously the last two years I played for St. Rule but next year I'll go back to playing for the RNA because we need lady members at the RNA or members that are ladies I should say to play in that match so that we get more matches for ladies within that that day. You 922 people playing in that match is the biggest amateur match in the world so it's great fun to be part

The Professor (22:38)
It's

amazing.

Fiona Steel (22:39)
Yeah, you'll know that and then everyone goes around all the different clubs afterwards enjoying hospitality. yes, I think a lot of the ladies are members of both St Regulus and St Rule which are the two ladies clubs and St Rule play on a Tuesday and St Regs on a Thursday, I think was a Thursday and a Saturday.

and the men are members of the New Club and the St Andrews Club and they play golf on different days. So yes, a lot. I think in the States it's very, very expensive to be a member of a club, whereas it's not in Scotland.

The Professor (23:13)
Mm-hmm.

Fiona Steel (23:14)
It costs less probably to join some of the St Andrews Clubs than around on the Old Course.

Matt Considine (23:21)
Yeah, the the the the other piece, the the the cost is drastically different. But I think another piece is with multiple clubs all playing the same courses, it it requires a a level of coordination and you know, I I've referred to it as a symphony of how T sheets and competitions occur. How does that play out f Fiona? Like is it an annual release of a calendar for

for you in the competitions committee at Saint Rule. Do you have to have a lot of back and forth with the other clubs? Is the Lynx Trust? G give us just a little bit of insight to how so much coordination takes place in what is likely a short amount of time.

Fiona Steel (24:03)
Yes, St Andrews is a very unique place because none of the clubs own the courses. The courses are managed by the Lynx Trust on behalf of the town of St Andrews. And so the Lynx Trust do all the managing of the tea sheets. And so we just get given our allocation, which remains pretty much the same from year to year. If we want to have an extra competition, we would have to go to the Lynx Trust to ask the

the Lynx Management Committee would look at it and say yes or no and that's how it works. So generally from one year to another the matches are on the same day, the competitions are on the same day and I know the Lynx Trusts are already looking at 2028 and how they're allocating the tea times there. So yeah it's a massive, massive piece of work by the Lynx Trust to manage all that.

Matt Considine (24:52)
I that sounds that's a tough job. I I run a golf society

Fiona Steel (24:55)
Good.

Matt Considine (24:56)
and manage multiple T sheets. I would be a bit terrified to to run it for nine different clubs or more and then all your visitor play.

Fiona Steel (25:04)
Yeah.

Matt Considine (25:06)
th d I assume they don't accept bribes, correct? I mean there's no captains of the other clubs stepping in there. Yes, I I hope not.

Fiona Steel (25:09)
Yeah, yeah,

The Professor (25:09)
Ha ha ha.

Fiona Steel (25:15)
yeah, no, no, it's all above board. Yeah. Well, and then the old course has got the ballad, which is

The Professor (25:21)
It

Matt Considine (25:21)
Tell us about I I

Fiona Steel (25:22)
different too.

Matt Considine (25:26)
Right, right. so it's twelve years being a member of the club. a lot has changed in the game of golf over twelve years, obviously a huge boom. And I know our listeners mostly think about that from a US perspective, but equal numbers have gone up of local golf and all around the world, including the HOMA golf. And I'm I'm I'm curious, you know, in your your your twelve years, 'cause I think I I have a a f a friend who his his wife was getting into the game

as many, many, many were during COVID and their residents of St. Andrews or just outside St. Andrews. And I think there was an extensive wait list for the ladies' clubs and she really didn't have a community to play with. So the issues that we talk about here, you know, that's that that sounds like you guys might as well. Has that dissipated a little bit?

Fiona Steel (26:09)
Yep, the...

The problem with golf in Fife is getting a links ticket which gives you access to play on the golf courses. So it's that that will have been the problem rather than getting into a ladies club. St. Roll Club is now full but we haven't been full for a few years. So she would have got in in the last five, ten years without any problem. But getting that links ticket which allows you to play golf on all of the eight links trust courses whenever you can get a tee time is

is the golden ticket. So the residents of St Andrews you can get one if you live within the town of St Andrews but if you live out with that you've got a waiting list which has been closed for the last year and a half and it's going to be closed for the next two years and that is the real issue is getting that golden ticket to get access to the golf courses without paying and playing which gets expensive.

The Professor (26:59)
Fiona, I wanna turn to your, you know, your role within Saint Rule. And I want to start with, you know, when you joined twelve years ago in those early years, did you see yourself as an eventual captain? Is that something you desired? Or did you just sort of stumble along and by participating all of a sudden some people started tapping you on the shoulder and saying, Hey, w would you think about doing this?

Fiona Steel (27:19)
Yeah, no, I never saw myself as a future captain. I wasn't living in St Andrews and I just never thought about it. had I was captain of my club in Aberdeen, Aberdeen Ladies Golf Club, nine years ago. So I felt I had kind of been there, done that. And then I got a phone call, which was very much out the blue asking if I would like to be vice captain. yeah, that was I was stunned. So, yes, I mean, a very big honor.

and it's been a great year.

Matt Considine (27:47)
Was that a let me go home, talk to the family and sleep on it response or was it always is it such an honor that you've instantly are I'll figure it out and I'm in?

Fiona Steel (27:58)
No, it was a definite, I think I took the longest of anybody to come back to them and accept it.

The Professor (28:04)
Ha ha.

Fiona Steel (28:04)
I needed to work out, because we were living in Edinburgh at the time and it was about an hour and 20 minutes, an hour and a half commute. How often did I need to be in St Andrews? And certainly living there, I would have struggled a lot had we not moved to St Andrews. Well, I'd have been living in our flat and my husband would have been in Edinburgh.

But no, it's a huge honour and if my point was if I was going to do it, wanted to do it properly so you to put the time in, you have to go to the meetings, you have to do all the work, you can't just hand it on to everybody else to do.

The Professor (28:38)
Well, and early congratulations. I know, being a a captain is a lot of work. And give us some insights to that work that work. You just mentioned you know you want to be able to do it properly. What what in your opinion, having served now as a captain and vice captain of multiple clubs, what does it mean to be a captain properly?

Fiona Steel (28:58)
Well think you have to participate in as many matches as you can. You have to lead your... We have a golf committee that I lead and they do everything. They set up the competitions, they do the draws, they do...

They close the competitions, they sort out prizes, know, everything that you probably have somebody paid for in your club to run. That is what our team of volunteers does. So you've got all of that side of stuff. And the Senorul Club isn't a golf club, which I'm not sure you maybe don't know that it's a ladies club with a golf section.

So we have 10 different sections. we've got there's putting, there's arts and crafts, there's reading book group, there's walking.

Mah Jong, Bridge, all these ones. And so there's a management committee that runs the St. Rule Club. So as golf captain, you also sit on that. You go to catering meetings. You sit on the inter-club liaison committee with captains and secretaries of all the clubs and St. Andrews that meets. So there's all those things too that certainly fill up your days.

But it's interesting and it's been a really, really interesting for me is to find out how golf in St Andrews works because I used to just pitch up, play and go home and that was nice and easy. Whereas now I've got real insight into how all the clubs interact and how it all works.

I think it's how much work everybody puts into it. The number of volunteers within the town of St Andrews outwith the Lynx Trust. How much work goes into managing golf in St Andrews because as you say you've got clubs wanting tee times, you've got the visitors wanting tee times, you've got locals wanting bounce games and everybody has to co-exist in harmony otherwise it doesn't work.

And so being on the inter-club liaison committee, which is working on behalf of the clubs, that has probably, I didn't really understand how that worked before and how much work is done by that committee and by all the volunteers at all the clubs. But in general, it's great. Everyone gets on and it's pretty good.

Matt Considine (31:10)
Fiona, others are often surprised to learn that there are ladies clubs and gentlemen clubs it in the UK, running a ladies' club, in the everyday experience, is there considerations that you know just have to be made

Fiona Steel (31:25)
Well, in St Andrews you've got the St Andrews Club and the new club that are all men, although they do have some social members that are ladies. Then you've got St Rowland and St Regulus that are ladies. And then you've got the RNA, which is the only truly mixed club in St Andrews. And I think being single sex doesn't mean that you have to be separate from the other clubs or from the wider golfing community. It's just the way that you manage the day to day.

of your club, your competitions, your golf. we have a quite, certainly if you get involved in the matches there's a huge number of interaction between the clubs. So, yeah I think for ladies there's a lot of...

identity and heritage behind being a single-sex club. It provides a welcoming environment. This maybe encourages more participation or confidence in people that are beginning or coming to it later in life. A lot of ladies don't start to golf until the children have grown up and are away from home or they're retired so they're older and maybe don't, you know, can't hit the ball as far and so there's not the intimidation factor if they were playing with men all the time.

It just provides a distinctive social community that is slightly different to a mixed club. I'm member of one that's mixed and one that's not and I love both of them.

Matt Considine (32:39)
clubs are clubs for for the members and to go play and they and and how seamlessly th they play together and have these intraclub matches or everything else. I think that's always been something that's resonated with me on my my visits and the welcomingness of

of it. Obviously the accessibility of the golf courses is is a factor. Is there is there something in particular of your history? I know for me golf means so much to me and and sometimes when things either make sense or don't make sense

I I I look back to to those that came before me as members of of my clubs or clubs I am aspiring to to play and be a part of. And I always there's always something instructive or something that tells me a little bit more about their story. Is there anything in particular in the history of St. Rule that that you've always resonated with?

Fiona Steel (33:28)
Well think, we're 130 years old this year so we've been going a long time. We've had some very prestigious members like Angela Banalek. She was a member of St. Rule and we've just, we're doing a bit of redevelopment within the club and we've redesigned what we call the golf room to be called the Angela Banalek room in recognition of all that she did for golf across the world.

And so you think of how she held herself and how she played golf. And that's definitely a big part of behaviour on a golf course. think at Roo we've got lot of ladies that have been members there for many years. And as they decline or aren't able to play.

We try and manage them as well as we can. We've got a 92 year old, we've got a couple that are over 90 actually that play regularly. And it's just fabulous to see them.

Matt Considine (34:20)
Were they out there in

the forty seven mile per hour winds this morning? Or were they

The Professor (34:23)
Yeah.

Matt Considine (34:24)
the knock around group? I

Fiona Steel (34:24)
She was,

yeah, we actually got an email from Audrey quite early on this morning saying she wasn't going to be playing but no, usually if

The Professor (34:33)
Yeah.

Matt Considine (34:33)
Ha ha.

Fiona Steel (34:34)
Audrey's gone we have to go because it, you know, you can't be shamed by her going out because she's fabulous,

Matt Considine (34:40)
Yeah.

Fiona Steel (34:40)
you really, really amazing woman.

Matt Considine (34:42)
That's

wonderful. That th those have become, it used to be Ernie L's and Tiger Woods and the the professional game, but now those are my heroes. Those are the people I aspire to be is if if you're still out there at an advanced age, man, you you must love it and must do something really beneficial for you.

Fiona Steel (34:59)
Definitely, yeah.

Matt Considine (35:02)
I I'm

actually not familiar with Angela Banalek. I was wondering, Fiona, could you t tell us a little bit more about her what was her claim to fame?

Fiona Steel (35:10)
She was one of the greatest amateur golfers of all time. She died maybe three or four years ago. Her husband was Michael Banalick who was the long-term secretary of the RNA. He has a stellar amateur record as well. So between the two of them, multiple Walker Cups or Curtis Cups and Scottish and British Championships, it just...

Yeah, an amazing couple and two of her daughters are members of St. Rolls which is lovely.

Matt Considine (35:39)
Beautiful.

The Professor (35:41)
Fiona, I wanna dive a little bit into one of the things that I think you makes Saint Rules so unique is all the different sub clubs that are within it, right? Around the different things that they do the different activities that they participate in. Now, within the membership, do you see a lot of cross pollination where members are part of a a lot of different groups and then or do you see more they maybe start in one area than like

Are I'm obviously biased towards golf. Do they get pulled into the golf aspect because, they're being surrounded by other members that are playing golf?

Fiona Steel (36:11)
About three quarters of the members are golfers and a lot of the others have been golfers. I think maybe, well, from my point, golf would pull me in and then I would join the other sections and, you know, I've played in the bridge section, I've been to the putting section. I'm looking forward to doing a bit more of that next year when I have more time. But there's a lot of ladies that, you know, do mash on on a Wednesday.

and bridge on a Monday and arts and crafts on a Thursday and golf on a Tuesday and that's their week. They can fill it quite easily with all the different things that are going on. So it's great.

The Professor (36:46)
I ha

I have to ask, is Mahjong taking off in Scotland as much as it is in the United States? Because within the the United States right now, Mahjong is the thing that everybody is picking up, especially within females at clubs.

Fiona Steel (36:59)
Okay, I'm not sure. I don't know quite how many we get to go to Mahjong. I haven't tried that one yet, but maybe that's one thing that I will... I mean, I've played it a couple of times with friends, but just, yeah, I don't really know how to play it, yeah, no, it's great.

The Professor (37:15)
It's bec it is becoming incredibly popular over here. all right, you say you're gonna be you know, stepping down from your captaincy here in a couple weeks. I'm gonna put you on the spot. If there was one decision you could make leaving that, you know, no votes are gonna happen or whatever, what would be the one thing you'd say? Okay, this is I'm going out. I I would like to see this. What what's the one thing you'd pick?

Fiona Steel (37:38)
Well Marion that you mentioned earlier and I set up this golf for people with living with dementia. So we've been running these sessions on a Wednesday with the help of Tony Pinnock of Forget Me Not Golf who's an absolutely inspirational man and it's been quite a fight to get this going. Because we don't have our own course we have to get times from the Links Trust and we get teas and coffees and

take them out and play golf and then they have another tea and coffee at the end of it and a tray bake which is very popular. I would say that every club in the world should do that. They should have a little bit of forget-me-not golf in their life and I know that doesn't change St. Rule but it would change life for a lot of people around the world. Bringing them back into golf, as you said with your basketball you can switch off and your memory you know just takes over and that's what we found with these golfers. Some of them haven't

played three, four, five years and they still know how to swing a club and every one of them comes off with a big smile on their face. It's fabulous. So that's what I would change. I would change that everybody has to do that.

Matt Considine (38:42)
I I've had friends and family who have been impacted by dementia and and I was sent a study on on music, Fiona, that

Fiona Steel (38:54)
Yeah.

Matt Considine (38:54)
music can resurface a lot of that. And I I gotta admit, when I was watching it, I thought about myself. I said someday I don't think it would be music for me, but if someone were to put a golf glove in my hand, would that be something I would recall? I obviously have

Fiona Steel (39:10)
Yeah.

Matt Considine (39:10)
I'm

grateful for a long golf life and have had a lot of experiences with it that are quite deep. I I I don't know, but I I would imagine you you guys have seen that. So like give us that what does that Wednesday take, you know, to to get them to the first T? You said it was difficult. I'd love to hear how you guys

Fiona Steel (39:29)
Yeah,

Matt Considine (39:29)
have actually been able to pull that off.

Fiona Steel (39:30)
well, we've gone through it took us a year actually to get it up and running. And it all started with one of our members who couldn't remember score on the golf course, you know, didn't always turn up. We were having to phone her and arrange everything through her husband. And it just got to the point where we couldn't really enable her to play in competition. So we were talking about how can we help her still play golf?

and then somebody mentioned Forget Me No Golf so we got in touch with Tony Penick and he and Tim Barry came up in February.

this year and spoke to 96 ladies in the new club actually and gave this hugely emotional

The Professor (40:07)
Wow.

Fiona Steel (40:09)
presentation and he spoke about his dad, both his parents had dementia and his dad hadn't spoken for I think it was a year or a year and a half and he was in a care home and he went in one day and handed it on a golf club and he just took it and knew how to hold it and he sat and wouldn't let go of the club and he had to force it out of his hands when he was going home.

who

went in the next day with just a grip and his dad would just sit holding the grip and he I think he muttered a word or something and just went I remember or something you know Tony's got the most powerful stories but we've seen that we've seen that with you know the players come along with their husbands or their wives or their sisters or whoever and you know they're not overly keen to be there and then you take them out you play a few holes

end of it after a few weeks they're giving a wink and saying see you next week and the carers get

Matt Considine (41:00)
Ha ha.

Fiona Steel (41:01)
bit of time off.

which they maybe don't normally during the week, they can go and sit somewhere else, go for a walk, go do some shopping, come back. So we set up, each player has one volunteer and they're kind of in charge of them for the day. And so they go off and some of them play three or four holes in the golf course. Some of them just putt, some of them go to the driving area and then we all come back and sit and have a cup of coffee and a bit of cake, which is great.

So we're going to be tested over the next few weeks

Matt Considine (41:30)
That I you

Fiona Steel (41:31)
with the weather.

Matt Considine (41:33)
Yeah. Keep keep the Wednesdays going. I mean, this is a beautiful thing you guys have have started. Is you mentioned volunteers. Where

Fiona Steel (41:35)
Yeah, it's fabulous. Yeah.

Matt Considine (41:40)
where are those volunteers coming from? Are they coming from your club, other clubs, care centers?

Fiona Steel (41:43)
Yeah,

a lot from St. Rule, we did it through the inter-club group and so we've got volunteers from all the clubs in St. Andrews and at the moment the players have all had some sort of connection to a local club as well. we've got a couple that are members of the St. Andrews club, the new club, the St. Regulus, St. Rule and...

Yeah, they just, we have about 33 volunteers, I think, and we did have 10 players. One's gone into a care home and probably won't be back, unfortunately. Another one is going into a care home this week, but his sister is going to bring him every week because he loves it so much. So, you know, we got these people for a short period because you don't get better from dementia.

The Professor (42:28)
Mm-hmm.

Fiona Steel (42:28)
So, you know,

we're looking to recruit new players to come along and we have another dozen volunteers that have offered their services. So it's been great. It's been a really good across the whole of St Andrew's clubs.

The Professor (42:45)
Fiona, I'm Fiona, this is I guess I'm trying not to get too internally emotional. I'm definitely at that age where I'm having to just, start to think about the mortality of my father and what that means both physically and mentally. and you mentioned, you know, this was a process getting this in place and all that. Could you maybe and I know there's gonna be a lot of our listeners out there that this is gonna resonate with. And I hadn't heard about this until you just shared it with us, you know, through email. And now I'm glad

Fiona Steel (43:06)
Yeah.

The Professor (43:06)
we got to it during this episode. You know, what during what have maybe a lesson or two learned as you you evolve try get this in

the place and had to go through maybe some difficult times in doing that and s some road bumps. you know, help our listeners out that might look to do this at their own club or, you know, within their own communities.

Fiona Steel (43:22)
Yeah, well, think our biggest difficulty is because we have our golf clubs, but we don't have the golf course next to it. So the difficulty is we can't take the players once they've played a few holes back to our club. It's too far to go. You know, they can walk from the Eden or the Balgov is really where it's ideal, which is a small nine hole par three

The Professor (43:43)
Mm-hmm.

Fiona Steel (43:44)
course. So the difficulty has been finding the right place to hold it. And then where do we go for teas and coffees that's not

really noisy and overstimulating for them. So if you have a golf club that has a section that you could just say on a whatever morning this is what we're using you know don't come here and you've got a few holes practice holes a driving range area somewhere just just do it and I can't you know every volunteer loves it we haven't lost one volunteer and this is week 30 is tomorrow and it's been

The Professor (44:16)
Wow.

Fiona Steel (44:16)
we've had good weather.

Every Wednesday even last Wednesday it was raining until they arrived and then the rain stopped and we managed to get out and every single one of the players wanted to go out my husband another of the volunteers husbands they didn't go out but our players with dementia they went out and played three or four holes it was fabulous everybody everybody gets so much from it the volunteers the players the carers even the staff in the restaurant you know notice the difference in

these people are enjoying it. So if you have a golf club that you can do it, even if you're doing it for two people, just do it and it'll grow probably. You won't believe how wonderful it is.

Matt Considine (44:55)
There's there's this theme, Fiona, with all my travels to play golf primarily in in Scotland. And I think golf is viewed as an individual sport by most golfers and it's one of the attractive things to it. But the more I've played and the more I've met people like yourself and clubs like Saint Rule and all the different communities that play it together, I I

I actually feel pretty strongly that at its worst golf is pretty selfish, but at its best it's selfless and it's a collective endeavor and it requires people helping each other. one small way I always feel it is typically the caddy that a lot of American visitors will end up with is a member at one of the clubs and they're very, you know, open to sharing their club with with visitors too. And

We just don't see that, right? That requires some selflessness. It requires, yeah, there might be a tip involved and some payment, but but it also requires giving more of your your time and your yourself. There's no better example than those volunteers who could be out playing nine holes on their own, but instead decide to to give that gift to somebody with dementia. And I I'm just curious from your own perspective with this program, how how has it changed your the the other days?

that you're playing. How have you viewed golf for yourself differently because of a a program like this?

Fiona Steel (46:24)
I think you're just really grateful to go out there and to be able to play. You can add up your score, you can still take part. think for people with dementia, the problem is they can't arrange it for themselves. They've lost that ability. They're a very vulnerable group. And for us, it's very easy. just book a tea time and off we go. And I think it makes you appreciate that much more.

and if you come to Scotland play golf on a Wednesday morning because it will be dry.

Matt Considine (46:54)
The weather will be on your side, apparently.

Fiona Steel (46:55)
The weather on the Wednesday is good.

Yeah.

The Professor (46:58)
Well,

I think you you touched on something brilliant here too. I'm thinking, my own friends that have been going through similar situations with parents with dementia or you know, relatives. And one of the difficult things becomes, you know, I don't know how else to say it, how to fill the space, right? Like, okay, I'm gonna spend some time with them. Well, what are we gonna do in that

Fiona Steel (47:14)
Thank

The Professor (47:15)
time? And you've solved that question with golf because golf takes a while to play, but it's engaging the whole time, it has the health benefits of nature and physical activity.

And it seems like that's what a wonderful solution that is.

Fiona Steel (47:29)
There's a lot of studies going on here about the benefits that golf can bring to people with the social benefits and there's a number of studies. The University of St Andrews are linking up with Tim Barry who's one of the trustees of Forget Me Not Golf and we've got a couple of the students or one student anyway that's going to come and do her dissertation on

on our group, whether they haven't quite worked it out yet, whether it's on what the players get out of it, or the carers, or the volunteers, and what training can bring to you, and all of that. But Tim Barry is doing a huge amount of work on that, and I know the British government are looking at it. And golf seems to be a really good one, because it's mixing the physical with the social aspects, whereas the singing groups are great,

sitting still and you're singing. The golf memories, the football memories, the rugby memories, they're all great but you're not actually doing anything physical. Whereas golf, you're getting them out there and we've seen the improvement in people's mobility because they're coming out and they're making themselves walk and they all started on the putting green on week one, well now half of them are out on the golf course in Bagris.

but often the walk, certainly on the bulk of the walk because it's flatter and shorter. the health studies are showing that golf is a fabulous sport for that reason. So it's great.

Matt Considine (48:50)
Yeah,

no, it really is. well those programs, I w we'll link to some of those resources that you mentioned so people could look at it for themselves. I

Fiona Steel (48:57)
Yeah, was a bit too intense.

Matt Considine (49:00)
we we really will. And it's it's quite inspiring. There's another ailment Fiona, at least in American golf, that unfortunately it hits able bodied, fully capable golfers and it's the pace of play epidemic.

Fiona Steel (49:15)
yeah.

Matt Considine (49:16)
it's it's hit our our country strong and only getting worse, I'm afraid. And I I I feel like it's part of my work with what I do for our golf society is to r really educate people, not you know, not not just be a zealot of, you know, pick up the pace, but but educate people on how to play quickly. because it is, you know, back to my selflessness, the selfless aspect of golf. It's it's thinking about everybody on the course with

Dinners to get to and and things of that nature. so so I'm just curious if if I were to join your regular game, what would I need to do differently to to keep up with the expectation of pace at your club?

Fiona Steel (49:57)
think the biggest difference between golf in Scotland and golf in America is the use of caddy cars, or buggies and caddies. In our competitions we use pull trolleys, push trolleys or carry and we don't use caddies. And I think from my perspective that is much, much quicker because you don't have...

all the interaction about where's the puck going to go, you just stand up and hit it and usually you're better off doing what you think rather than what somebody's trying to tell you, I find. Pace of play is also a problem here, it's got an awful lot worse recently and it's certainly something that our inter-club liaison committee is looking at and how we can bring back the pace of play to a reasonable level. We would expect people to be round, a four ball round in four hours

probably yeah five hour rounds are not acceptable in Scotland no you're looking at

Matt Considine (50:50)
What what

it what what would you say has been the same culprits have probably always been there, right? But w w

Fiona Steel (50:55)
Yeah.

Matt Considine (50:55)
do have you s noticed anything has the committees noticed anything that is new, that that's made this issue more prevalent?

Fiona Steel (51:02)
We try and use the Ready Golf initiatives. If you're ready to go, don't need to wait on the tee. It doesn't need to be the person that shot the lowest score. Just get on and do it. Certainly at St. Roll, we produced a leaflet on Ready Golf and gave people tips on what might speed up rounds. Don't mark your card if you're supposed to be on the tee. Just get on with it. Leave your trolley at the right side of the green. All of that.

But I think part of it is watching the professionals on TV, because they are so slow. And I've scored at quite a few events and gosh, it's like watching paint dry sometimes. But yeah, we need them to speed it up.

Matt Considine (51:38)
Yeah, there there's we're we're in the heart

of yeah, we're we're in the well, our World Series of baseball is is going on right now and they introduced what's called a pitch clock not that long ago. So baseball games have almost been cut in half in terms of time, because the professionals were doing a lot of what professionals should do, which is control every single variable that presents itself to achieve the best result. But if if we don't

I I I was curious if that would be in your list of things that have caused it. I think

Fiona Steel (52:12)
Yeah.

Matt Considine (52:12)
we we know more and more folks are watching professional golf. We know it's on our televisions regularly. And it it's not helpful when you when you see the example

Fiona Steel (52:22)
No.

Matt Considine (52:23)
of what no no one's saying that's not how you play, you know, unfortunately. And it's not. If if i I I would love to see some type of shot clock instrument be

Fiona Steel (52:32)
Thank

you.

Matt Considine (52:32)
imposed

on all levels of professional golf because it it's it's truly nobody thinks they're doing anything wrong and we're out there for six hours and and that just doesn't seem right. That's not good for the the health of the sport.

Fiona Steel (52:44)
No, no. And the young kids are being taught that, you their pre-shot routine and, you know, it's just like, just woke up and hit the ball.

Matt Considine (52:55)
one other question I wanted to to sneak in because we know you got dinner plans and we'll let you get back to normal life in St. Andrews so we all can be jealous of you, Fiona. but I was curious, I the the Saint Rule Trophy. I I gotta admit, I knew about the St. Rule trophy before I knew about the St. Rule Club. What what can you tell us about that event in and is it does it feel elevated compared to to others in town?

Wha w what makes it so special with such a a history?

Fiona Steel (53:27)
Yeah, mean the St. Rule trophy is really what our club's known for. It was first played for in June 1984 and it's the top amateurs all over the world come and now you get Wagga ranking points where it's really elevated. There's been a number of extremely good winners in the past like Anna Stornstam, Katrina Matthew, Melissa Reed.

and it's great because we have two ladies from St. Roll, Janet Winter and Alison Paterson that sort of do the organising for it in conjunction with the Lynx Trust and all the St. Roll ladies are out there in their pink jumpers and we do the scoring, we do the starting, we do the everything and it's a fabulous, fabulous weekend. yeah, new and it's a beautiful trophy of the St. Roll Tower.

that the winner gets.

Matt Considine (54:19)
It is a beautiful trophy. One of the coolest looking trophies maybe

Fiona Steel (54:22)
Yeah.

Matt Considine (54:23)
in the game.

Fiona Steel (54:23)
Yeah.

The Professor (54:25)
Now I've I've already picked up your very humble individual, Fiona, not acknowledging your victory last year and another main a major event. But that has to be very prideful for you all at Saint Roll and you specifically as a captain and vice captain, with that event being ran and just watching that unfold over the week.

Fiona Steel (54:44)
it's incredible. mean, the winner this year scored 18 under par. You know, it's just, you know, that's three rounds, two on the new and one on the old. And, you know, they're all young girls that are going to be superstars one day. And it is, it's just, it's an amazing event to be part of. And I was very, very proud to be able to present, you know, the winner with the trophy.

It's a big deal.

Matt Considine (55:09)
Well, that's one I'll be tuning in for more closely after this chat and just all my visits to to St Andrews now are are because of this show and some of the folks that we've talked to. I just there's more things I have to look forward to, learn from people to meet. Fiona, I maybe l last question or two. For someone who comes to St Andrews maybe once in their life, which you know, I think that's the majority of

of Americans, what would you like them to understand about the people and the clubs who play there every week? Anything is it would that be of anything that of of importance comes to mind or no.

Fiona Steel (55:49)
I

think the members of the clubs come from the whole social divide. It's not just people with money that play in Scotland.

And I think that's why it's such an important game to Scotland because just about anyone can play it. I learned with my old clubs of my parents or grandparents that had been cut down. So if you come to St. Chandriss, go out there. Don't take a caddy. Just go and play. Just go and enjoy it. All the courses are great. But if you can get on, obviously the old, but the new and the Jubilee are fabulous as well. If your handicap's a bit lower,

The Professor (56:23)
Mm-hmm.

Fiona Steel (56:24)
play on the Eden or the Strath.

Go for a walk on the West Sands think of Chariots of Fire. I don't know if you've seen that film and the music. Wander around

The Professor (56:32)
yeah.

Fiona Steel (56:32)
the town, go around the university. The university was founded in 1413. I think the special place, St Andrews is such a special place because you've got golf, you've got the university and you've got the town and all three things are, you know, are...

world beating and they all have to coexist happily and it just makes it a very very interesting place to go so go for a walk around the town see the old university buildings go for a walk on the old course on Sunday if you can't play it because it'll be shut and you can just wander and just enjoy it.

Enjoy the weather.

The Professor (57:05)
Well, I don't

know if we could have scripted that response any better, but also it just burns it just puts more salt in my wound about not living there and having to listen to the conversations of you all after

Fiona Steel (57:15)
Thank

The Professor (57:16)
the the match about the benefits of living there. No

Fiona Steel (57:18)
Yeah.

The Professor (57:19)
gotta find a way.

Matt Considine (57:20)
You know,

at the end the I'm sure s the university, Kevin, has a math department. You can absolutely put the C V

Fiona Steel (57:27)
it does?

Matt Considine (57:28)
in there might be open positions. it does not? See, there it's solved it for you, Professor.

Fiona Steel (57:30)
Yeah, yeah, come. Yeah, it does. No, it does. I didn't ask them my question.

Yeah, no, come. Yeah, spat it out.

The Professor (57:36)
I need to yeah, I need I need to I need to reach out at some point.

Fiona Steel (57:40)
You do. Yeah. Yes. Yeah, no, it's a fabulous place to live.

Matt Considine (57:44)
Well

Fiona Steel (57:45)
Very, very privileged.

Matt Considine (57:49)
Well, Captain Steele, Fiona, thank you for joining us today. It really was lovely to meet you. I hope to do it someday in person when on one of

Fiona Steel (57:55)
Yeah

Matt Considine (57:56)
my travels. Maybe we could share a match, and and and just sharing a little bit about your world. It it's so fascinating to us. And boy, there's still much to learn about this this broad game and and ways that it's been applied to people's lives. But clearly Saint Rule has a long, long history of of doing it for a lot of people.

Fiona Steel (58:15)
It does. Yeah.

Matt Considine (58:15)
who love this game and other games as well I've learned.

Fiona Steel (58:18)
Yeah, it's a great, great club.

Matt Considine (58:21)
And thanks to our listeners for tuning in this week. every week, if you're not yet a subscriber of our show, please do subscribe wherever you're listening. you can also give us a review, like rate, tell us what you thought of our conversation today with Fiona. all the things we discussed and and links will be in our show notes. So you can connect with our guests directly, you can connect with the program. the work they're doing with dementia is is incredible. So we'll have all those links.

In in our show notes. And if you want to connect with the professor and I, those are in there as well. Thanks, of course, to our new partner of the Great Club series on The Bag Drop, and that is Holderness and Bourne. golf spiritual home, clearly Scotland, clearly home of golf in St. Andrews. Well, Professor, this Buckley sweater, the new hundred percent three ply Scottish Cashmere, it's actually spun, dyed, and finished at one of the world's oldest cashmere mills in Scotland,

I think I know just the episode to talk about this one. It's the kind of sweater you'll you'll still be wearing 10 years from now on that cold November windy day or out to dinner that's the standard H B holds across their whole fall and winter line, which you now can find at hbgolf.com, as well as every piece of premium apparel that ends up in your pro shop throughout the year. So thanks to our partners at Holderness and Bourne and thanks

To you again for listening to the show. It's nothing without you. We will look forward to catching you all in the next one.