Some more info... I'm off to go get 18 in before it gets dark! Hope all of this is enlightening.
Tully
The 1915 season at Belleair was inaugurated with a team match, twentytwo a side, captained respectively by Mr. Douglas Smith and Mr. W. R. Stenger, the former team winning by
21 points to 18, on the Nassau system.Mr. C. J. Winton, of the Minikahda
Club, of Minneapolis, had the best medal score, with 47, 47-94. At the close of last year's season,
Donald J. Ross started the reconstruction of the two eighteen holes courses. The work was completed last Fall and reflects great credit upon the architectural skill displayed by the designer.
Belleair is one of the few places in the South where turf greens obtain.
At practically all the other resorts, sand greens are in use. There is a very excellent array of
professional talent in charge of the two courses, consisting of Macdonald Smith, the Metropolitan Open champion; his noted brother, Alex Smith; Carl Anderson and Ernest Anderson.
The American Golfer, February, 1915
SOUTHERN
GREENS
For the larger part practically all the greens of the south -e r n courses a r e
k n o w n as sand greens, in contradistinction to turf greens. The only
resort courses which are composed of the latter are at Belleair and DeLand.
The latter are pronounced exceptionally fine. At Belleair the greens have
as a foundation Bermuda grass, which is treated with humus and on top of
this Italian Rye is sown, making a very fair substitute for the regular
turf greens such as obtain in northern latitudes.
It is somewhat curious to note the different local customs that obtain at
the various courses. At Pinehurst, for instance, the ball must be played
where it lies; there is no lifting and cleaning it from any sand which may
attach to it, nor is any smoothing of the surface allowed. On the other
hand, at Palm Beach, a player is permitted to lift and clean his ball and to
lightly brush the line of h i s putt. There is a v e r y good reason for
this, in that the sand at the latter resort is of a very fine quality and readily
clings to the ball, while, of course, indentations are m o r e easily produced
on the surfaceof the green itself; although, inall fairness, be it
said, there is rarely any occasion to exercise the right
of brushing the line of putt as the greens a r e most carefully looked after.
At Augusta the ball may be lifted on the green and placed on any part
of it, not nearer the hole—which cannot be said to be a good rule.
Sand greens are not all alike. Their speed, and trueness, depend very
largely on the quality and character of the sand used as a dressing; and on
the care bestowed on them in sweeping. For the most part, however, they
are all good, and offer a pleasing change to the orthodox turf greens.
The American Golfer, April, 1915
The second round, on Friday afternoon, was started in a cold, pelting
rain, which soon converted the sand greens into seas of mud, helped a
little, however, later on by the cutting of new holes on isolated corners of
the greens. But at the best it was terribly trying to those who braved
the ordeal. Many preferred to lettheir matches go by default.
The American Golfer, May, 1915
THERE ARE greens and greens—turf
greens and sand greens. A whole multitude of greens, good, bad and
indifferent, in inverse ratio, alack! In northern latitudes—north of the
Mason and Dixon Line—we have the turf greens. To the south, for the
greater part, sand greens are the rule. What are sand greens ? Sand greens
generally are circular patches varying in diameter from 15 to 20 yards, perfectly
level, the base or underneath part being composed usually of clay,
on top of which is superimposed a layer of sand from 1-16 to ½ inch in
depth. On different courses the top layer varies in depth. It may be said,
as a general thing, that the poorer the class of players, the greater is the
depth of sand. Let it be said, at the outset, that at most of these southern
courses. . .we are speaking now of resort courses... the majority of the
players would find extreme difficulty in asserting their right to take part in
an amateur championship. Singularly enough, the higher a
golfer's rating is, nationally considered, the better he is on a really
good green, and the poorer, relatively, on an indifferent one. Indeed, there
comes a stage in the putting conditions when the good putter's advantage
wholly disappears and he finds himself really inferior,according to the depravity
of the situation, so that on a poor green he has
to bow the knee to one who has no pretensions to class on a good putting surface.
On i n f e r i o r greens, whether of turf or sand, many a putt not destined for the hole finds
lodgment therein.They are terrible levellers. . . and altogether opposed to what makes for good golf.
The American Golfer, April, 1916