I was killing a little time with one of my favorite books, Bernardo Darwin's 1910
Golf Courses of the British Isles, reading about the Kent-Sussex links of Sandwich, Prince's, Deal, Littlestone, all favorites, when I ran across the following to my surprise:
"Rye is such a friendly, quiet spot; never in a hurry, and never with the least appearance of being full, save, perhaps, for a short time in the summer when it is infested with artists. [
] It is the ideal place for the golfer who is wearied out with a fortnight's fruitless balloting at St Andrews, which has resulted in his once drawing a time, and that at 12:30."
I'm now even more excited than ever about visiting Rye in September, but stunned to learn that one had to win in the daily ballot to play the Old Course in 1910! I have read that the green fee was quite reasonable in the not too distant past. I just can't imagine there could have been the need for a ballot, over a two week span, in 1910!
Any of you Old Course aficionados have any clues to this situation?
!