"Tom, I find the stories that Shelley recounts of the scores that some members of the past made amazing. I know we've talked about this before, but it nevertheless astounds me. 15-20 strokes on single holes!"
David:
Stories like that emanate from the numerous instances at PV that are generally called "The Pine Valley Others." There is a reason for that which is pretty unique to the way Pine Valley is (or was). The golfers, even the very good golfers, who had that kind of thing happen to them probably could have reduced the damage to some significant extent if they had only considered the use of the unplayable rule or at least considered that it is sometimes not a good idea in certain circumstances on that particular golf course to try to get too aggressive with recovery shots!
Some of the oddest and most unusual recovery shots I've ever seen in my life have happened at Pine Valley. I remember one in particular from my old friend John Ott where he thought about his situation for a minute or two in Hells Half Acre on #7 and then took out his putter and played his shot to another spot about three feet away and considered that recovery shot to have been a total success which in fact it was compared to some of the other things that might have happened to him if he tried to do more or something else!!