News:

Welcome to the Golf Club Atlas Discussion Group!

Each user is approved by the Golf Club Atlas editorial staff. For any new inquiries, please contact us.


T_MacWood

The Old course and 1905
« on: July 14, 2005, 06:58:32 PM »
A number of new bunkers and tees were added to the Old course around 1906....the bunkers were designed to replace the whins that had died away. Is there a record of how planned or oversaw this work?
« Last Edit: July 14, 2005, 08:59:56 PM by Tom MacWood »

peter_p

Re:The Old course and 1906
« Reply #1 on: July 14, 2005, 07:22:43 PM »
Hugh Hamilton would have done the work. He took over for Morris about 1902. It was more than the whins dying, because the was the start of the Haskell ball era.

Look for Scott Macpherson's book "The Evolution of the Old Course" due out this fall. it could be one of the best books, at least info wise" about TOC. Ron Whitten's article in the July 2005 Golf Digest seems based on his research.

T_MacWood

Re:The Old course and 1906
« Reply #2 on: July 14, 2005, 08:59:40 PM »
Peter
I'm off by a year, I believe the changes were actually in 1905. Hamilton must have carried out the work, but my impression is that someone else was behind the changes....my guess is John Low.

The changes were very controversial...the pros and cons were debated by just about every big names in golf.
« Last Edit: July 14, 2005, 09:01:34 PM by Tom MacWood »

Geoffrey Childs

Re:The Old course and 1905
« Reply #3 on: July 14, 2005, 10:35:45 PM »
Tom

In "St Andrews and the Open Championship- The Official History" by David Joy with great photos by Iain M Lowe there is discussion of this in the 1905 Chapter (p104)

"After Tom Morreis had at last retired there was much criticism of the course. With the Haskell, a new rubber-cored  "bounding ball" now in use it was feared by the new greenkeeper Hugh Hamilton and the committee that the Old COurse might be vulmerable to the crack professionals. Surely Taylors new course record would go.  Calculations and prophecies of great scores were not to come true, partly because they had lengthened certain tees and created even more pot bunkers around the course. Many of the players criticised the pots' severity and the lack of room to get in and out of them- never mind about swinging a club!  .......

For  all the talk of the revolutionary new ball changing the game, Braid's comfortable win was, in fact, nine shots behind Taylor's score with the gutty in 1900"

Tags:
Tags:

An Error Has Occurred!

Call to undefined function theme_linktree()
Back