The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1909-08-10
By Crafts w. Higgins, Editor of The
Golfers Magazine.

Golfers magazine.
The first competition for the Tom
Morris Memorial trophy, which was
presented to the Western Golf Associa-
ton by Peter Dawson of Glasgow,
Scotland, in memory of the "Grand
Old Man of Golf brought out the
largest number of players that ever
took part in algolf event. Sixty-three
teams of eight each returned reports,
and there were a number of clubs that
considered themselves too much down
TO par to turn in their scores. In all,
about 900 men took part in the com
petition.
The Denver Country Club proved the
winner, it's team finishing 16 down to
par. with the Annandale Country Club
of Pasadena, California, a close second
at II down.
The Denver club used four substitute
players. The average age of the team
is an even Al years. Walter Fairbanks
was the veteran of them all. A. c..
Travis was just within the age limit,
having recently passed his 25th birth
day.
The course has never been an easy
one, and it has been made more diff
fieult this year by the addition of a
number of traps and bunkers. The
creek, 80 feet wide, which runs through
the club grounds, is crossed eight times.
The fair green has good thick turf
throughoutss The putting greens are
somewhat uncertain on account of the
great amount of clover in them. The
statement in some papers about the
Denver course not having bunker on
1t or a blade of grass on the entire
links is absolutely without foundation
of fact The only thing in Denver S
favor, not possessed by most other
clubs, is the rariied air, which unques-
tionably enables the PLAYER to secure
greater distance to each shot.
1t seems a strange coincidence that
the great advantage clubs with many
holes whose par score contains a frac-
fion possessed should be pointed ont by
Walter Fairbanks, the captain of the
winning team in an article published in
The Golfers Magazine just before the
competition took place. The Denver
Club has ten holes with par figures con
tanning fractions. The Inverness Club
of Toledo, which finished third with %
down. had the greatest advantage in
this respect in that it has twelve such
holes. The Onwentsia Club with At
down. finished first among the clubs that
have but few half stroke holes. 1t has
but three. An analysis of the score
sheets showed that none of the On
wentsia team lost hole where the par
figure contains fraction; whereas the
Denver team lost eighteen such holes.
Had Onwentsia 5 par contained the
same number of half stroke holes that
the Denver course has, and basing the
play of the Onwentsia team on what
they actually did at such holes, the
Onwentsia club might have won the
trophy. This difference would have
been 56 holes in its favor. making the
result of the team S play 9 up instead
of A. down.
The ineoualifr that the fraction in
the par score presents is such that some
different method for computing the par
Is needed in order that every hole may
he represented bv 4 whole number.
This is 50 apparent that readjustment
of the par system viii be necessary for
newt wears competition.
This question is treated in a special
article by Harry r. Glow, one of the
W. G. 4 handicap committee. publish
ed elsewhere in this number
The Tom Morris competition has
demonstrated most emrhatieally tina.
the special rules for par were not even
read by many Of the participants.
There probably has been nothing in the