[Melvyn Morrow]

Andy
According to the Scotsman newspaper

“The weather yesterday was beautiful, and in every way favourable for playing the ancient national game.
There was scarcely any wind, and the heat tempered by light fleecy clouds, which hid the Sun’s face.”

Tommy shot from the Tee was followed up by another with long spoon club then another with the same club. His gutty rolled on to the Green hit the flag pole some 578 yards, 1 foot and 7 inches from the Tee, and dropped into the hole.

Trust that is what you are after.

Melvyn
 

[John Moore II]

Andy
According to the Scotsman newspaper

“The weather yesterday was beautiful, and in every way favourable for playing the ancient national game.
There was scarcely any wind, and the heat tempered by light fleecy clouds, which hid the Sun’s face.”

Tommy shot from the Tee was followed up by another with long spoon club then another with the same club. His gutty rolled on to the Green hit the flag pole some 578 yards, 1 foot and 7 inches from the Tee, and dropped into the hole.

Trust that is what you are after.

Melvyn
 

Thank you for that. Just what I wanted to see. So lets do my little mathematical equation again. Young Tom was one of the longest, hit what I would assume to be a Driver from the tee, and then two spoons. Well, that is equal to a driver and two 3 woods today. So, given my previous numbers, 330 yard drive, and then two 290 yard 3 woods. 330+290+290=910 yards.

910 yard par 6 to start the round. (Of course, the 'par 6' number makes it seem like less than it is) That is how long the hole would have to be today to be equivalent. I'm not sure that I've ever played a course where the first TWO holes added up to 910 yards.

[Mike Hendren]

Also while on the subject, I hear many saying that Tiger has taken Old Tom’s record of the greatest number of clear winning strokes in Majors, but let’s get the story and historical facts right before trying to crown a young pretender, Tiger has never achieved that record at The Open.- If you want to judge the man do so on the competition that he played when the record was originally set, don’t try and water it down by introducing more chances to achieve that gap. Remember the original record was set when there was just ONE major competition in the world. I would have thought that it should have been well beaten by now but no, certainly not in The Open.

In A History of Golf In Britain no less an authority than Bernard Darwin wrote:

A man generally wins a championship by the narrowest possible margin; Tommy for the three years he won the Belt was on an average nine strokes better than the runner-up.  No doubt he had comparatively few competitors, though also no doubt some of them were fine players, but his scores are convincingly eloquent as judged by the par score for Prestwick as it then was.

I share this for two reasons:  1) as further evidence that the concept of par was perhaps in vogue when Young Tom conquered the first at Preswick in three mighty blows;  and 2) to point out that for Mel  to refer to Tiger Woods as a young pretender is as riciculous as to opine that Young Tom was merely a big fish in a small pond.

Personally I would include Young Tom Morris and Tiger Woods in my list of the greatest 10 golfers of all time.  

Melvyn, it's too late for me to continue to research the issue, so I'd appreciate you providing me with a list of Young Tom's toughest competition  (Morris Sr., Park Sr., Ferguson and Strath?) and the size of the fields when he achieved his unbelievable trifecta in 1868 through 1870. Thanks.

Mike

[Kevin Pallier]

Interestingly I came across a couple last night from northern Queensland: Capricorn and Paradise Palms both have long P5 openers.

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