This hole is very nearly ideal, but would be better still if the lie of the land were such that the Beardies, the Crescent, the Kitchen, and Hell Bunkers were visible and impressive looking. If these bunkers only looked as terrifying and formidable as they really are, what thrills one would get in playing this hole! What pleasurable excitement there would be in seeing one’s second shot sailing over Hell!
[Illustration: FOURTEENTH HOLE AT ST. ANDREWS: showing lines taken by A, B, C, and D.]
It may be, however, that it is just as well these bunkers are blind. If they had been visible, although in reality they would have been much fairer, there would have been so many players crying out that it was most unfair that bunkers should be placed in the exact position where perfect shots go; that it was most iniquitous to have a hazard like the Beardies 180 yards from the tee exactly in the line for the hole; that the carry over Hell for the second shot is over 400 yards from the tee; and that the only way to play the hole was along the fairway to the fifth, etc., etc.
As these bunkers are blind, players do not notice these things, and the lives of the Green Committee are saved.
The seventeenth hole at St. Andrews is almost too well known to need description—it is probably the most noted hole in the world. Although so difficult, it is by no means impossible for the long handicap player, for he can go pottering along, steering wide of all hazards, and losing strokes because he refuses to take any risks.
At this hole, once more, it is the slopes that give so much character to the hole.
Even for the tee shot there is a ridge immediately beyond the corner of the station-master’s garden which kicks your ball away from the hole if you pitch to the left of it, and towards the hole if you pitch to the right—in fact, an extra yard or two over the corner makes all the difference in getting into a favourable position for the second shot. There are also hillocks and ridges down the right-hand side, all forcing an inaccurately placed shot into an unfavourable position for the approach.
I often think that the hole would be more interesting without the Scholar’s Bunker—the latter prevents a badly hit second getting into the danger zone. If it were not there, one would much more frequently be forced to play the sporting approach to the green with the road bunker intervening. It is this road bunker, with the slopes leading a ball to it, which makes this hole of such intense interest. Notwithstanding the abuse showered on it, this bunker has done more to sustain the popularity of St. Andrews than any feature on the course.