NOVEL GOLF RECORD

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LXIII, Issue 19127, 23 September 1936, Page 7

NOVEL GOLF RECORD

PLAYED ON 1500 COURSES HOBBY BEGUN 26 YEARS AGO LONDON, Aug. 14. Ralph Kennedy, a travelling salesman of Now York, has sot .up a golf record that it will b<* difficult to beat. In (ho course of his business, which lakes, him all over the American continent, he. has played on 1500 courses and has kept his score for each, the card being duly attested by either the secretary or the club professional. When it is considered that. Hobby Jones has played, on less than 250 different courses," and that Walter Hagcn has yet to reach the 4CO mark, some idea 'of the immensity of Kennedy's achievement, can he gathered. At each over-night stop he makes it a practice to play on a new course. Kennedy, who is 54, and began ins hobby 26 years ago, expects to reach the 2000 mark before he tires. THE STRANGEST COURSE The strangest course he has played is at Guayaquil, Ecuador. It is under water six * months in the year, and as there is no turf the fairways are built of baked clay.

A Peruvian engineer conceived the bright idea of sinking concrete emplacement* for the. greens. The native caddies shriek with laughter when an unsuspecting visitor plays a, high pitch. The ball, when it hits the concrete base, bounces yards into the. air. It is the wish of every golfer to play over as many courses as possible. In this country one naturally turns to the famous four—Harry Vardon, . James Braid, J. H. Taylor, and Alex Herd—to 1 supply a comparison to Kennedy's record. 'Bach has been playing golf well over 50 years. There are nearly 2000 courses in Oreat Britain, and Braid said that he must have played on 1200 of them. Taylor, who has toured in most countries has played on over 1000 courses. Vardon has played on more than 1000 different courses in many parts of the world. The weirdest experience was at St. Paul, Minneapolis, where he was: playing a match against his brother, Tom. "On one green," says Harry, "my putt had dropped into the hole when a huge frog leapt out and the ball with it." Herd has played on 1200 different courses, some as far away as Mexico City, and while short of Kennedy's total, the Scotsman holds the record in another direction. He has accomplished 19 holes each in one. A putter made of gold awaits Herd's twentieth ace.