by LEONARD SHAPIRO
IT ’ S OFF TO
IONA ,
LADDIE
Middleburg mayor , Bridge Littleton , has made the annual trip to Scotland for over two decades to compete in the Iona Open
Nearly every second Trowbridge Littleton , left ,
Friday in August for and his son , Bridge , the the past 21 years , Mayor of Middleburg Bridge Littleton , the have played together twice mayor of Middleburg , in the Iona Open , and
Bridge will play in his has become an unofficial citizen
20th this August . of Scotland — specifically , the tiny and historic island of Iona . This windswept 4.5-square-mile island is made up of land , rock and sand , with more than enough grass to feed the cows and sheep , who double as four-legged maintenance workers on the island ’ s unique and challenging 18-hole golf course .
THE JOURNEY TO IONA
Littleton happily makes the trek each summer to compete in the annual Iona Open , a spirited one-day tournament open to all comers — men and women , boys and girls , low handicappers and hideous hackers from all over the world . The event has been around since the early 1960s , and Littleton has participated in 19 of the last 21 tournaments , missing the 2011 event due to surgery for cancerous kidney tumor and the 2020 event , which was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic
“ It ’ s been so meaningful and important in my life ,” said Littleton , a 50-year-old member of Loudoun Golf & Country Club , who has taken his father , Trowbridge , also a longtime Middleburg golfer , to play in several Iona Opens . “ It ’ s the most enjoyable experience you can imagine , for a lot of reasons , especially the people of Iona .”
Getting there may be the hardest part of all . Littleton travels by air , auto and finally ferry , which drops on dry land off the southwest coast of the large island of Mull in the Inner Hebrides — about a mile from the first tee and 140 miles from Edinburgh .
Only permanent residents are permitted to have cars or trucks on the island , which stretches three miles long and 1.5 miles wide . Separated from the Isle of Mull by the Sound of Iona , the island has a year-round population of about 150 . Known as “ The Cradle of Christianity ” in Scotland , Iona draws approximately 130,000 visitors annually .
A VIBRANT HISTORY
Few visitors make their way to the golf course , a 4,600-yard , par-66 layout featuring half a dozen holes that run up and down the spectacular Atlantic Ocean coast . Most tourists are there to experience Iona ’ s vibrant center of Christian worship , a tradition that dates back to St . Columba ’ s arrival in 563 AD .
St . Columba ’ s monastery endured repeated Viking raids but survived until
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