By Keir Murray BBC Sport at Loch Lomond

US Open winner Angel Cabrera strolls onto the 6th green

What's that old cliche about golf being a good walk spoiled?

If you play at my level then that is often an appropriate way to describe the game.

However, if you are spectating at a course as beautiful as Loch Lomond then the walk becomes a stroll.

The stunning parkland course is playing host to the Barclays Scottish Open for the 12th successive year and the field is arguably the strongest to play in the European Tour this year.

Angel Cabrera, still on a high from last month's US Open win, teed off at 0820 on Thursday morning.

The burly Argentine ambled round the course like a brown bear, showing slight frustration when his putts didn't drop but noticeably taking time to enjoy the views of the loch and the little boats when his playing partners were lining up their shots.

His level-par round of 71 was marked by two birdies and two bogeys, a steady start but one that leaves him six strokes off the leaders in the clubhouse, England's Graeme Storm, the American Phil Mickelson and the Dane Soren Hansen.

Damp weather has left the course soft, so precision with the irons is the name of the game

As we waited at the side of the 6th green for Paul Lawrie's group to arrive, I got chatting to the Lamb family from Kirkintilloch, near Glasgow.

Relaxing on their folding chairs, they described Mickelson's low approach shot to the sixth, which helped him secure one of his five birdies, as "worth the entrance fee alone, a joy to watch".

The Lambs, complete with flask of tea and picnic, are typical of the thousands who follow "the golf" in Scotland.

Dad had taken a day off work to be here, his son and friend were here to cheer on Ian Poulter and Colin Montgomerie.

There is no entrance fee for accompanied children under 16, so for all of the course's undoubted exclusivity, the next generation of golfers are given every encouragement to come along to watch a class field.

Next week, they are all heading up to Carnoustie. "We always go to the Open when it comes to Scotland," says son Sandy.

Denmark's Soren Hansen was an early pace-setter

Golf fans are here in healthy numbers and, if the weather and the performances of Scottish golfers combine favourably, the crowds will be swarming on to the former grounds of the Colquhoun clan come the weekend.

The weather and the fortunes of the home-grown golfers are notoriously hard to predict. Damp weather over the previous weeks has left the course soft, so precision with the irons is the name of the game.

Heavy black clouds have been lurking over Glen Douglas, ready to do their worst should Monty and co fail to shine.

Looking for a break in the mist, I was reminded of the Billy Connolly story, who said that whenever he brought his daughter back to Scotland from America, she would ask, "Daddy, why is the sky here so low?"

It does feel like the clouds are coming down to inspect you, but so far the rain has stayed away.