The Bismarck Tribune

ST. ANDREWS
HOLES TRICKY
Famous
'Road Hole' Jinxed
Larry Nabholtz-Helped
Him Lose Match

BY O. B. KEELER

A deal has been written about the famous Road Hole at St. Andrews, which has earned the sinister reputation of being the fiercest score-wrecker in the world. One of our gallant young Americans, Larry Nabholtz, discovered for himself its deadly proclivities, in the qualifying round on the old course. I think it was Long Jim Barnes, a former British and American open champion, who was saying whimsically that he, Jim, had reached the Road Hole with a very good score in one round.

Got Into Road

"Then, with two holes to play," said he. "I got into the road and stayed there about half an hour!"

Jim could not have played so very many shots in the road, at that, because he finished very well up indeed. But J. H. Taylor, I was told, once used fifteen strokes on that hole in a championship. And, as set forth previously in this little series, I once saw Bobby Jones and Watts Gunn, in an international foursome match, win it with a 7 against an 8 for Cyril Tolley and Andrew Jamieson.

In his qualifying round at the Old Course, Larry Nabholtz picked off an eagle 3 at the long and difficult fourteenth hole, a matter of 530 yards, and one of the toughest holes on the course. He is rated one of the longest drivers ever seen in Britain. Many of the fans at St. Andrews regarded him as the longest hitter in the field. In this case he followed a good poke from the tee with a magnificent brassie to the green and had a putt of only two yards, which he holed for his eagle 3.

"Then I found how true is the saying at St. Andrews, that you have no prospect until the seventeenth is behind you," said Larry.

Goes Off Lawn

"I played well and confidently at the fifteenth and sixteenth, and felt I was set for a fine low score, as I stood on the seventeenth tee. I decided to wallop the ball over the corner of the shed, cutting off the angle, and making it easier to shoot for the long green. I got the ball a little off the heel, and out of bounds it went. Playing 3 from the tee, I hit another one not too well, and I thought it went out of bounds, also.

I had one more ball in my pocket and my caddy was a couple of hundred yards down the course. I felt sort of dizzy. Here I was, playing 5 from the tee... And so I proceeded to knock that one out of bounds. This would make me play 7, and I began thinking about poor old Johnny McDermott, whose heart was broken because he knocked six out of bounds from the sixth tee at Muirfield, fifteen years ago. It seemed I could go on knocking them out as long as the supply of balls held out.

"I yelled for my caddy, and he yelled back that the second ball was inside. This probably saved me from apoplexy. I had played 3, however, and messed up the rest of the hole, finally missing a putt of one yard and took an 8. It was a lesson to me. You really have very little idea what your round will be until you stand on the last tee, at St. Andrews. And then you aren't sure."