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Ryan Hillenbrand

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Re: Tons of New Shell’s Wonderful World of Golf Matches Loaded on YouTube
« Reply #25 on: January 30, 2020, 01:33:40 PM »
If you watch the Sanders/Casper match from TCC carefully, you will note that the match started with the players teeing off into the rising sun on Hole #1, and finishing the round into the setting sun on Hole #18 - an example of the technological limitations of filming matches in those days.  With moving cameras around the golf course, it took the entire day to film the match.  It may be my imagination, but over the course of the long day, Doug Sanders' mood seemed to become more "convivial" for lack of a better term, a circumstance that did not endear him to Mr. Casper - particularly as Sanders' care-free late afternoon play resulted in a dramatic comeback.

The Nelson/Littler match from Pine Valley was reportedly filmed over two days, with very long delays between shots, a reason, perhaps for some of the inexplicably poor shots played by Gene Littler.

For those who are interested, there are two books that document the history of the Shell's series: Gene Sarazen and Shell's Wonderful World of Golf, by Al Barkow and Mary Ann Sarazen (Gene's daughter); and My Mulligan to Golf, by Fred Raphael, the show's producer, with Don Wade.   

Both books are pretty light, but entertaining, nonetheless.


Just finished reading the Gene Sarazen book. Very fun. Apparently the Pine Valley match was the first one filmed but wasn't aired first. None of the camera crew was familiar with golf and hadn't captured many of shots landing off the tee or into the greens. They had a local pro come back and replicate shots to film the ball as it landed.


That explains how there were close ups of balls rolling into waste areas and scrub, which I always thought looked oddly orchestrated. Turns out it was


Also enjoyed the copies of letters Gene had corresponding with Bobby Jones. He often commented how much he disliked certain international locales, and that the locals in turn didn't care for Americans. The prose people had back in those days is really refreshing, especially since I don't think Sarazen ever finished 8th grade

Matthew Rose

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Re: Tons of New Shell’s Wonderful World of Golf Matches Loaded on YouTube
« Reply #26 on: February 03, 2020, 08:03:11 AM »
The Nicklaus-Watson match at Pebble Beach has footage of the pre-Nicklaus 5th hole, for anyone curious.
American-Australian. Trackman Course Guy. Fatalistic sports fan. Drummer. Bass player. Father. Cat lover.