JM, TE, Bob
thanks for that. When he brings together his 'ideal course' Crane seems to be about one thing; when he formulates a system by which to rank ALL courses, about another. Unfortunately, I couldn't find again the long article where he describes his point system (but if I remember, he scores just about every element you can imagine). Here's something related, and self explanatory:
Joshua Crane is one of America's keenest students of golf as a game—from the technique of playing to the rating of golf courses by a point system which he developed and first outlined in GOLF ILLUSTRATED. Mr. Crane recently completed a tour of Scotch courses—with which he is thoroughly familiar—solely for the purpose of rating. The first complete rating—Sunningdale—appeared in the previous issue. In The Field of London recently, Mr. Crane summarized the ratings of fourteen courses abroad as follows:
Muirfield – 86.5
Gleneagles - 84.6
Prince's – 83.8
Troon - 83
St. George's – 82.1
Hoylake – 81.5
Walton Heath -80.5
Sunningdale – 80.1
Turnberry – 79.9
Royal Cinque Ports - 79.1
Prestwick – 78.7
Westward Ho! – 75.3
North Berwick – 72.6
St. Andrews – 71.8
When Mr. Charles Ambrose, of London, discovered St. Andrews at the tail-end of the list be took exception, and told Mr. Crane what he thought of him in a letter to London Golf Illustrated. Mr. Crane saw the Ambrose letter and replied; then Harold Hilton wrote an editorial and Mr. Ambrose an article, and some more letters followed. St. Andrews, of course, has a sentimental halo that the golf world deeply respects and reveres. Somehow—to the sentimentalist at any rate—the footrule seems out of place there. The point involved, however, is that Mr. Crane is solely interested in working out a system by which all golf courses can be rated. This he is conscientiously doing. He is seeking facts for the information of those interested. Instead of publishing Mr. Crane's detailed rating of St. Andrews, as was planned for this issue, we have secured his views of the reception accorded his ratings and other data of interest.—Editor.