Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-05-17
best IN WORLD
BOBBY NOW SAYS
Called 1t Worst First Time
He Played lt-Strange
Happenings There.
BY II. G. SALSINGER.

Bobby Jones will try to win the
only major championship that
has escaped him TO date over
first time he ever played it as "the
worst golf course ever saw
This was in 1921 and the course is
the oldest of the four at st. Andrews,
near Fyfe, Scotland
Asked few days ago whether he still
thought st. Andrews the worst course
he has ever seen, he replied
mo On the contrary, I think it
the finest in the world"
The course where the British ma
tional amateur championship will be
decided is known as the old course and
Il has been played over for more than
400 years. st. Andrews also has the
Eden and the Jubilee courses. Then
It has new addition, known as the
new course. 1t is only rs years old.
VIII Make Fourth Bid.
The old course, where Jones will
make his fourth bid for the British
amateur crown is a public links and
the best known of all the worlds
courses. 1t was the cradle of golf.
In the United States courses often
are referred to as links, regardless of
where they are located. In great Brit
ain links is golf course. but not
every golf course is links. When you
say links you mean seaside course.
Most of the eight championship courses
in England and Scotland are seaside
courses, or links. They are built on
links land, so called because for CEN
turtles the gales have swept the sands
over the territory and created dunes
and vegetation and general contour
not found on inland courses.
ST. Andrews will not appeal to a
flrst-class American golfer on his first
visit any more than it appealed to
Jones when he got his first glimpse of
the old course 1t is simple stretch
Of land, wide-open course with no
visible hazards It is laid out in the
form Of horseshoe, and seven holes
No. to No. 12-are away out. On
the park-like American courses cat least
on nearly all of them the No. 9 and
No. 10 holes adjoin the club house,
but at st. Andrews the No. 9 is deep
In the loop. There are only two par
holes on the course. and par for the
18 is 10. You can pull ball at will
from all but two tees without getting
into trouble, but if your drive Is not
placed properly, you will have plenty of
trouble with your second shot.
Largest Green in World.
The old course has the largest green
in golf. 1t is 221 feet one way and 230
feet the other, and that is more than
one acre of green. 1t contains two
holes. the No.. going out and the
No. - coming in.
In the British open of 1927 Jones
found himself on the edge of the green
with his second, coming to tbs No.
S hole. The flag was 40 feet away.
Jones put power behind his putt and
sank it. Turning to his caddy he said
That's the longest putt ever made"
1t marked the turning point for
him in the tournament, He did not
miss a putt of 20 feet or less after
that. He finished the round in SO,
breaking 20 for the first time in a
major tournament. He was never over
par in any round.
Jones discounts this performance,
saying:
There was no great wind during
the tournament. With the usual wind
1t would have been impossible to score
20 low
In playing the No. IA on his four
rounds Jones drove different way
each time, since the wind cid rot
come from the same direction twice
during the tournament.
Two on 367- Yard Hole.
Francis Ouimet had an even stranger
experience in playing the course. He
used a brassie on the No. IL, a 367-
yard hole; shot the green, and was down
in one putt.
Going directly to the No. IL tee, he
again used the brassie. This is
290-yard hole, but Ouimet overshot
the green by 80 yards.
Shooting with the wind on the No.
-. he drove twice as far as he did
shooting against the wind on the No.
IL. and with the same club. There
probably is no better test Of golf than
St Andrews offers.
1T is the least obvious course in the
world" says Jones.
British criticisms of American golf
courses include the complaint that they
are too obvious. There are strips Of
fairway clearly outlined and greens
surrounded by bunkers. Looking ahead
of him, the. golfer knows exactly what
he must do on an American course;
the detailed architecture of the Amer
ican course decides his problems for
him; st. Andrews creates them.
(Copyright. 1890. by North American News
paper AllianceJ