Russley's sternest test was it's fourteenth hole

Press, Volume CXII, Issue 33095, 9 December 1972, Page 4

Russley's sternest test was it's fourteenth hole

No mattei’ how talented a field may be assembled for a golf tournament, it is usually the course which wins in the end; and so it was at Russley in the Garden City Classic last week. A survey of the results brings up some interesting points, and underlines the fact that Russley has a particularly difficult run of finishing holes. Taking into account all the holes played by all the competitors, the whole field was 1119 strokes over the can! for the tournament. Of these, 575, or more than half, were attributable to the final five holes. And although the second half of the lay-out includes the easiest hole — par-5 thirteenth —the field was 715 over for this half, compared with 404 on the first nine. Of Russiey’s nine par-4 holes, the fourteenth is the longest and most difficult, because of the need to place the tee shot with particular accuracy, because of the shape of the green, and because this fairway seems to be less protected from wind than some of the others. It is shown as the first hole for strokes in handicap play, and its position was vindicated by the results. The players lost more strokes at the fourteenth than they won at the thirteenth, which is flattered by being given a par-5 rating. Conditions during the tournament offered a fair test of the course’s strengths and weaknesses —there was plenty of wind, from the south and mainly, from the east. The results

showed some surprising variations from the rating of the holes. The seventh, for instance, was the most difficult of the par-3 holes, and cost more strokes than any other hole, save the fourteenth. But it is rated as 14 in the handicap scale. Third hardest hole was another par-3, the fifteenth, but it is shown as 11 in the lists. Yet another short hole was more difficult than the handicapping suggests it should be. The tenth was eighth in the results list, thirteenth on the card. For handicapping, the short third is shown as the eighteenth hole in grading. But in the tournament, it was the eleventh-hardest hole. The par-5 second

comes tenth in the stroke list, but in the tournament it was the second-to-easiest hole. The sixth is also flattered—it is handicapped at eighth, but was fifteenth in difficulty in the tournament.

A break-down of the

results appears below. The meticulous reader, may observe that the totals for the last four holes are down by one on the totals for the other 14. One of the players, indisposed, withdrew after playing 14 holes in the second round.

Hole 1. Eag. Birds. 60 Pars 258 1-ov 54 2-ov 2 3-OV 4-ov 5ov Result — 2 2. ‘ ’ 8 148 167 41 8 1 1 —— —100 3. .... 1 47 216 99 11 — —— 4- 72 4. — 17 215 126 15 1 —— — 4-142 5. 17 214 130 12. 1 —-- — 4 140 6. 4 104 209 45 11 1 S- ■ — — 42 7. .... 1 11 209 138 11 3 1 4-160 8. 34 221 105 13 1 —— 4-100 9. ’. ..’ 6 108 210 46 4 —_ — — 66 10. —— 18 225 1*1 9 1 — — 4-124 11. 1 55 248 63 6 1 — — 4- 21 12. 17 221 119 17 —— — — 4-136 13. 16 151 169 34 4 —— — —141 14. 21 185 150 17 1 —— — 4-1! .6 15. — 12 208 145 8 — — —— 4-149 16. ;.’.’ ’ 2 65 209 84 8 3 1 1 4- 49 17. .... 1 29 250 80 11 1 1 —— 4- 78 18. .... — 20 215 125 11 2 — — 4-133