Jake Knapp's family round at North Berwick was a '12' on a scale of 1 to 10

NORTH BERWICK, Scotland – The Genesis Scottish Open has become the perfect tune-up for players heading to The Open Championship, as well as an ideal introduction to links golf for the uninitiated.

Count Jake Knapp among the links newcomers to fully embrace the ancient style of play. His first trip to Scotland got started with a round at North Berwick’s West Links, one of the world’s most storied links courses and a frequent stop for players arriving for the co-sanctioned Scottish Open.

Rickie Fowler, who regularly sneaks in a moonlight round at North Berwick, told Knapp, “it was a place [he] had to go” during a conversation at last week’s John Deere Classic, and he helped facilitate the round. Knapp teed off Monday at 4 p.m. and played eight holes before a storm paused the round. “We hid for 30, 40 minutes and then jumped back out on No. 12 and played in,” said Knapp, who had never played a true links course before this week.

On a scale of 1 to 10, Knapp said the round was a “12” and it was made even more special playing alongside his father and his caddie with his mother and girlfriend walking with the group.

“My dad and I don’t get to play golf together anymore,” said Knapp, who opened with a 64 Thursday at the Scottish Open and was tied for the early lead. “It was blowing 35 mph on the front nine, straight into the wind the entire time and it was just fun to have a hit-and-giggle round like that. It cleared up on the holes back into the clubhouse and it was just perfect with rainbows in the sky. You couldn’t have asked for a better day.”

North Berwick has become an outlier on the PGA Tour with players regularly playing late-evening rounds, which is rare for the game’s best players.

“Almost zero,” Knapp said when asked how often he’ll play a recreational round during a tournament. “Maybe at [the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am] I could go play Cypress, but I didn’t do it this year. That would be about it.”