The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1909-08-10
THE FIRST TOM MORRIS
MEMORIAL COMPETITION

history of golf that has received more
widespread publicity through the news
papers of the United States than the
fact that the Western Golf Association
had promulgated special rules to gov
ern this competition. In the last of
the notices that were sent to the various
clubs there was circular letter which
contained the following significant SEN
tence:
q Your attention is called to the
printed terms of the competition and
also to the Special Rules for DOGGY and
Par Competitions Of this Association,
which strictly govern the play in this
event. Ignorance Of these rules will
not be considered an excuse for any
violation of them. and it is suggested
that the members of your club who
will comprise its team familiarize them
selves with the rules promulgated by
this Association.
One of the w G. A. par rules states
that the WHOLE number next above the
fraction shall count as a halved hole
A number of clubs in sending in their
reports counted a 5 taken at a Az hole
as a hole lost instead of hole halved
The most notable difference in the team
score as the result Of not reading the
rules was in the case of the Euclid Club
of Cleveland. which returned a report
showing the team to be 81 down, when
had they taken the trouble to have read
the rules its report would have been 48
down While there were a number of
clubs in error in this respect, the Exec,
utive Committee constructed this as an
error of addition and did not disqualify
the teams for this mistake in their
reports.
The only team to be disqualified was
that of the Oakmont Country Club.
This club did not make a report on one
of the printed blanks as was required
by the terms of the competition. This,
however, was a technical matter which
would have been waived had the cards
returned from this club been correct.
None of the cards of the Oakmont team
were kept in accordance with the Spe-
cal Par Rule No. 8, the penalty for the
violation of which is disqualification.
Another reason for the disqualification
of the Oakmont Club was that it stimuli
taneously played team match with the
Allegheny Country Club in the Western
Pennsylvania league series, presumably
under the Z. S. G. A. rules for match
play, and the cards turned in for the
Tom Morris competition apparently
were those kept in the team match
with Allegheny. AS the rules for par
and match play differ in many particu-
lars it was, of course, impossible to
determine whether or not the Oakmont
players had observed the special
W. G. A. par rules which governed the
competition.
, The St. Andrews Rules of Golf Com
mittee has repeatedly ruled that two
| forms of the game cannot be played
simultaneously and that players who at
tempt to play both match and medal
! plav at the same time are DISQUALIFIED
! in both competitions. The Western
| Golf Association has no jurisdiction in
! the team matches of the W. P. G. A. and
therefore its disqualification as to Oak
mont applied only in the Tom Morris
| competition. A team contest of such
| Importance as the Tom Morris Memo
rial competition would certainly seem
! to Justify club making a special event
of it, and not playing it in connection
| with other minor affairs. Fortunately
/ the disqualification of the Oakmont
| Club did not have any bearing on the
winning of the trophy as the Oakmont
| team made its return as 81 down to
! par.
The medal scores of the winning team
! cannot be given as at a number of holes
! balls were lost or picked up without
/ boiling out. R. f. MacCracken of the
/ Denver team made the best score, 4 NJ
on par
! Exmoor was the only club among the
leaders that furnished complete medal