Can an occasional visitor to this site from England add a few comments please? I forget who said it, but it was one of the greats (it may have been Jones), which was that the Road Hole was continually in his mind right from the start of his round at TOC. Nothing was decided finally until he had negotiated the hole successfully. That is a tribute in itself.
Many other things might be said to convey the greatness of this hole. Here are just a few. But, of course, many of them are under real threat owing to the modern technology in respect of ball and clubs
1. A completely blind tee shot. I put that down as a plus. Of course, it must not be the norm, but what is wrong with putting some initial uncertainty into the mind of the player. No doubt the pros would like each hole to have a series of reflecting lights marking out the fairway for them, but one must not pander to them!
2. The risk and reward situation with the tee shot. A drive down the right makes the second easier. But, here the technology issue comes in at once. At one time the fairway was quite wide and only narrowed in much closer to Scholar’s bunker. No need, then, for long rough there because the second shot was made so much more difficult coming in from the left with having to aim more directly towards the road. But, the possibility of the high flying, quick stopping approach (made all the more feasible by the length of drives now) means that some players can still attack the flag from the left centre of the fairway (as Tiger Woods did). This has ruined this aspect of the hole. No doubt part of the reason why the authorities narrowed the fairway was to force the use of an iron or 3 wood off the tee so as to make the second that bit longer and make it more difficult to fly it all the way. I find the constant use of irons off tees a sad sight (especially off the first tee at TOC).
3. The traditional problem of whether to play the second shot short and right, hoping to run onto the front edge of the green versus the option to risk all by trying to run up to the flag in its usual position adjacent to the Road bunker (with all the risks that involves). The beauty of that is the possibility of a big turn around in scores on one hole so close to the finish. An additional plus is that until the ball technology issued raised its ugly head, the second shot was not simply one of measuring the yardage and taking the appropriate club, but the much more subtle tactic of playing a low running shot up there. Here again an example of the great variety of possibilities that TOC provided.
4. The incredibly difficult target for the second shot. OK, it’s maybe unfair in one definition of that term. But, (a) why shouldn’t luck play a role (overcoming bad luck is surely one of the qualities one looks for in a champion); (b) why shouldn’t, say, one hole be different from all the rest and pose such a challenge?
5. The subtlety of the borrows around the green. How beautiful visually is the area close to the green and the green itself. Once more variety of choice here appeals. Just a couple of yards one way or the other determines whether a shot from short left around the green should be a putt or a chip and it is a delight (to me anyway) to see the great players puzzling out the right line.
As someone has already stated, the objection from the “par figure” is a red herring. Incidentally, I believe that par for the Road Hole was at one time 5. I’ve seen this in various references. On distances, no doubt many of you will have copies of the famous map of the course stated as surveyed and depicted by Alistair Mackenzie and dated 1924. At that time the course measured 6,572 yards.
Finally, a much better indication of the flavour of the road Hole can be gleaned from the wonderful chapter in Bobby Jones’ “Golf Is My Game” (Chatto and Windus, 1961), pp.120-139, where the story is told of the Amateur Championship of 1930, the first leg of Jones’ Grand Slam. The Road Hole played an important role nearly every day in Jones progress to that championship. Especially moving is his account of the great match with Cyril Tolley (one of the photos of the two players waiting for the crowd to be moved captures the period beautifully). I believe that book was not ghosted, but written by Jones himself. Is there a better book of its kind? I doubt it. Incidentally that chapter gives plenty of references to long driving such as that Tolley drove the 9th (306 yards then); both overdrove the 12th (314 yards). Also, Tolley had a 3 at the 14th (then 527 yards). Both drove to within ten yards of the 18th green. But here there was a very strong wind blowing behind in the cases mentioned. I’m also fascinated by what may be called par “three and a half’s” (see my article in the My opinion” section on Ganton). But, Woods driving the 10th when the wind was not exactly favouring is just ridiculous.
Sorry for this far too lengthy post!