Concierge at Old Course Hotel

Hi folks!

We’re still reeling from the excitement of The Royal Highland Show! Equipped with a brolly, a pair of wellies and a Barbour (like everyone else in Edinburgh then ) we set up camp on Sunday in the Food and Drink Hall. In partnership with Food From Fife, Head Chef of our award-winning Road Hole Restaurant, Ross Marshall, much enjoyed his 1 o’clock demo slot, and gave his cheerful audience a true flavour of the Scottish, seasonal menu that features on our iconic fourth floor. Ross will be modest, but we can confirm it was met with praise from all! We also had a chance to have a walk around the rest of the show for a good nose including the mandatory stop in the Herdsman’s Bar! Well done to everyone at the Show for staging such a great event. It is always a major highlight of the calendar – and we were delighted to be a part of it.

Ross’s next foodie adventure is at Taste of Edinburgh. Another chance to wow our Edinburgh-based audience, Ross joins fifteen chefs from other highly acclaimed Scottish restaurants at the festival. He sees it as a chance to give a snapshot of what he and his team have worked hard to create in St Andrews. Ross will be on stage in the Country Kitchen at 7.30pm on Sunday 8th July. If you’re heading along, make sure you pop by our stand and say hello!  They’ll be on stand from Friday right the way through until Sunday … I can assure you they’re always keen for a natter!

An update from our favourite Kohler Waters Spa girls. I am sure I could hear the squeals of excitement from the Spa last week as Victoria and her amazing team of therapists learned that they’ve been shortlisted in two categories for this year’s Good Spa Awards … ‘Best Hotel Spa – National‘ and ‘Good Spa Guide Reader Award – Regional’. The voting is now open and this one is all about YOUR input. So, if you’ve tried and loved our spa, please do pop online and vote for the KWS girls! Vote here!

And finally, hats off to David Scott and all of our colleagues at The Duke’s Golf Club. They have just announced that in 2014, the Club hosts the world’s leading amateur stroke-play championship. Many of the game’s biggest names are previous winners including Rory McIlroy, Sergio Garcia, Carl Pettersson and Scotland’s European Tour star, Stephen Gallacher. David tells me that the event will attract 144 of the very best amateur golfers as the winner has an automatic place in the following year’s Open Championship and, in 2015, The Open is back here in St Andrews on the Old Course. It may be a long way ahead, but pop the date in your diary now: The International European Amateur Championships at The Duke’s from Monday 4th to Saturday 9th August 2014.

Speak soon folks,

Ralph