Caddie Golf Tours

The infamous Swilcan Burn directly in front of the first green on the first hole of the Old Course, St. Andrews, has been causing much upset for over four hundred years with many a poor golfer coming to grief within it's shallow watery depth, though a few have benefitted.   One such golfer was Mr. L.M. Balfour who in winning the 1895 Amateur Championship saw his last three matches going to the 19th hole (the 1st). As they played down the 19th Mr Balfour watched in amazement as each of his opponents, Mr W. Grey, Mr. L. Auchterlonie and Mr J. Ball (the eventual runner-up) put their respective approach shots into the Swilcan Burn, and each in turn then had to retreive their golf ball and count a penalty shot, which subsequently lost them the hole and the match.

I was looking through one of my fathers old golf books last week and came across this delightful report of a round of golf played by the legendary American golfer, Bobby Jones:- "In the Southern Section Qualifying Competition for the Open Championship of 1926, played over Sunningdale in the south of England, Mr Bobby Jones did rounds of 68 and 66. The round of 66 by Mr. Jones may be ranked as one of if not the most perfect rounds ever played in championship golf. It was the perfection of  execution with the club and the ball. He was out in 33 and 33 in. He had 33 putts and 33 other shots. He was 3 under par each side. He failed to reach the green with his second shot at the ninth, where he ran through, and at the short thirteenth, where he was six yards short. The achievement in detail, showing the distance, the number of putts, and the score. are truly worthy of record. They are: Hole Par Dist Score Putts