Bob Jones, etc., in SI's 1966 Masters' preview issue

[PThomas]

been meaning to dig this up for awhile now....lots of interesting items in it

the article discussed whether the course should be redesigned because of the size of the fairways, for example.

"even Gary Player thinks the course might well be tightened (largely because of his friend Jack Nicklaus) and he has a sensible suggestion as to how much.  "I just believe in the word fair" he says.  "I don't think  a very long hitter like Nicklaus should have to hit the same narrow area in the fairway that short hitters do.  In other words, if we both hit the ball 10 degrees off line and I have 25 yards of fairway to shoot at, then give Jack 35.  But don't give him 50 or more , which is what he has now at Augusta."

later on, they asked Bob Jones if he thought tightening the course would make the Masters a better tournament.  "This is a members course" said Jones, witha  good deal of vehemence.  "I do not whether it would or not, and I do not care.  We built the course for the enjoyment of our members, and we intend to keep it the way it is."

Clifford Roberts said " We listen to every suggestion and we make improvements, but what we are not willing to do is put in some temporary , unusual set of conditions that do not ordinarily exist.  We do not grow any unusual rough.  We do not narrow the fairways.  We play the course just as it is, and I think it is a great tribute to the course than more often than not the  golfers who are generally recognized as the ablest players are the ones who win the Masters.  We do not  want  a set of conditions that will prevent the best player from making the best score.  We don't have to spend money building bunkers or maintaing them.  We don't have to look at the ugly things year round....When the obvious flukes and unknows begin winning the Masters is when we will begin wondering what is wrong with our golf course."

lots for discussion in the above, methinks....

[Steve_ Shaffer]

Copy the article, underline what you have noted above and send it to Hootie Johnson,Billy Payne, Walter Driver and Fred Ridley.

[John_Cullum]

Copy the article, underline what you have noted above and send it to Hootie Johnson,Billy Payne, Walter Driver and Fred Ridley.

Go ahead and enclose that with your application for practice round tickets

[Tom_Doak]

That would have been the set up for the perfect question at one of Hootie Johnson's Masters press conferences.  But no golf writer would have dared to ask it for fear of never getting back in the gates again.

[Kevin_Reilly]

When the obvious flukes and unknowns begin winning the Masters is when we will begin wondering what is wrong with our golf course.

What year (post 1966) did a fluke/unknown win, opening up the floodgates?  

[Jimmy Muratt]

Paul,

Thanks for posting that....  That's a very interesting read.  It's amazing that the powers that be at Augusta always try to justify the course changes every year and then in the next breath are talking about preserving the "integrity" of the course as Bobby Jones and Clifford Roberts wanted.  

With new chairman Billy Payne now in place, wouldn't his best move be to set-up the course as was the original intent?  How could the membership not support that?  The Masters was fantastic long before they ever grew rough....  I don't think Jones or Roberts would have been opposed to some back tees (on appropriate holes), but they never would have supported the growing of rough, planting new trees all over, and adding/moving bunkers every year.

[JESII]

Interesting what 40 years will do for the perspective of a world class player.

That seems like a good reason to disclude that type of player from a rankings panel per the recent thread.

[Jim Nugent]

What year (post 1966) did a fluke/unknown win, opening up the floodgates?  

And the related (if unanswerable) question:  if ANGC had left the course untouched, would more flukes/unknowns have won?  

Actually, since they control the field pretty tightly, isn't it harder for unknowns to get in the tournament, compared to the other majors?  

[JESII]

This does seem like a good start for a conversation. Do Gary's comments transfer to any of his contemporaries?


Jones seems more daily play focussed while Roberts seems more tournament focussed. This has certainly been the trend of late...to make changes to the course for the sake of protecting par against the best in the world.

[BCrosby]

Paul -

Thanks for posting some of the '66 Masters preview. The '59 Masters preview is also interesting. I don't have it handy, but it includes drawings by George Cobb (he made some some changes to ANGC that year) and Jones talking about how to play the course.

The history of the changes to ANGC after its opening is inseparable from the history of the Bobby Jones - Cliff Roberts relationship. Even when MacK was still alive, they disagreed on things.

Virtually none of that history is recorded. Both were very private men and said little about internal disputes. We'll probably never know for sure who initiated which changes. Certainly Jones initiated some, but he seemed to be merely complicit with others. I suspect, though, that he was pushed hard by Roberts to make more changes than were actually made. But we may never know for sure.

Bob

[Tags:]

Tags: