THE COURSES

Records & Holes in One: 2003

Local golfer, Harry Liddle (pictured below), enjoyed his 10th hole-in-one in October - the same month as his 84th birthday. Mr Liddle, who is a dedicated golfer, plays nine holes on either the Balgove or Strathtyrum almost every day of the year and is looking forward to another successful year in 2004.

Group Captain Duncan Watson of the R&A used a three wood to ace the 172yard 11th hole on the Old Course. Playing into a NW Force 8 gale, his drive reached the left side of the green, travelled up hill, curved round and was then blown back down by the wind and dropped into the hole. Alan Caithness, putting out on the 7th green, witnessed the shot. Few aces are reported on this fearsome Par 3, renowned worldwide for its unforgiving bunkers, Hill, Strath and Shell. Ther pin was also set in one of its most difficult positions, behind the Strath Bunker. Playing partners, Angus Ogilvie, John Cameron and Gordon Senior were on hand to help with the celebrations.

Congratulations to James Anderson from Cupar and Mark Grace from Essex who both had a hole-in-one on the 8th of the Eden Course. Also on the Eden but at the 18th Stuart McLaren from RAF Leuchars had a hole-in-one using a driver. Another local golfer, Ian Rodger from St Andrews, watched as his tee shot on the 5th of the Jubilee using a six iron took the ball straight to the pin and into the hole.

Garry Aitken from Dunblane had a hole in one on the 8th hole of the Old Course using a five wood.

Three golfers had holes in one on the New Course in the autumn. Deborah DeComo from California struck lucky on the 5th hole using a five wood while Richard Holman from Cheshire used a six iron on the 6th hole. Local man Christopher Seltz made it a hat trick for the New Course in August when he aced the 9th hole using a 3-wood.

John Delaney from Dublin had a hole in one on the 5th hole of the Jubilee Course using a 9-iron. The 5th of the Eden Course was the scene of a hole-in-one for George Brabender from Glasgow.

Thirteen is unlucky for some but not for Marion Dunlop of the St Rule Club, St Andrews, who had a hole in one on the 13th of the Strathtyrum. Marion used a 3-wood to make the lucky shot, watched by her two playing partners.

James Tait from St Andrews saw the ball go in the hole after his drive on the 8th of the Balgove Course.

Mark Allen from Kansas had an albatross on the 5th of the Old Course in July, using his driver and a five iron to two shot the par 5, 514 yard hole.

Well done to Shane Nicoll from Fife for his first ace which took place on the 5th hole of the Eden Course. Also lucky on the 5th of the Eden was James McDonald from Dunblane, while on the 15th James Black had a surprise hole in one in very windy conditions.

Erika Lim from London enjoyed a hole in one on the 5th of the New Course using a 3 wood. The 8th of the Old course was the scene of a hole in one for Amporn Lostapornpipit from Bangkok using a 6 iron. Ryan Chapman from Glenrothes used a 7 iron for his ace on the 5th of the Balgove.

A golfer from Arizona enjoyed an extraordinary hole in one on the Old Course during his first trip to St Andrews in May. Using a driver on the par four 307 yard 9th hole, John McIntyre arrived at the green to see the ball wedged in the cup. He celebrated with his caddie Sean McGloughlin and playing partners from Arizona,

Another hole-in-one on a par four hole took place on the Strathtyrum Course. Derek Fogg from Bolton, used an 8 iron for the 312yd shot on the 12th hole.

The Old Course was the scene for three holes in one recently for two golfers from the USA and one from England. John Hynes from Massachussetts enjoyed an ace on the 8th hole, John Guanci also from Massachusetts managed his ace on the 11th despite a tough left to right wind, and Alan Woodward from Sheffield had his lucky shot on the 7th using a 3 wood. On the Strathtyrum, Steve Jones from St Andrews Golf Club had a hole-in-one on the 3rd hole with a 5 iron and 78-year-old George Taylor from Paisley was successful on the 6th hole using a 5 wood.

Marie O'Toole had a tale for the folks back home in New Jersey when she became one of the few lady golfers to make an eagle on the Jubilee Course. Using an 11 wood on the par 4 second hole, she was delighted when her caddie reported the ball had gone into the hole.

There was a hat-trick of aces during the 2003 St Andrews Links Trophy (22-25 May). It's not the first time a hole in one has been scored during the amateur event, but three must surely be a new record.

Keith Hamilton (Whitecraigs) carded the first of the three aces on Friday during the opening round of the tournament. He used a 5-iron to clear the 225yd, Par 3 9th hole of the New Course.

On Saturday it was the turn of Eric Ramsay (Carnoustie), who holed his shot with a seven-iron on the 172 yd, 11th hole of the Old Course, another Par 3.

The same hole proved lucky for Stuart Wilson (Forfar) 24 hours later. His chosen weapon was also a 7-iron and the ace contributed to him finishing fourth equal with a four-round total of 285.

A golfer from Arizona enjoyed an extraordinary hole-in-one on the Old Course during his first trip to St Andrews in May. Using a driver on the par four 307 yard 9th hole, John McIntyre arrived at the green to see the ball wedged in the cup. He celebrated his alabatross with his caddie Sean McGloughlin and playing partners from Arizona, David McIntyre, Troy Lubber and Jim Gewecke.

Another albatross occured on the 12th of the Strathtyrum Course. Derek Fogg from Bolton used an 8 iron for the 312yd shot on the par four hole.

Willam Terry, a member of the St Andrews Golf Club, scored a hole-in-one on the 16th of the Strathtyrum Course recently. It was his 8th hole-in-one and was witnessed by fellow club members, FJ Sturrock, JM Bruce and WB Smart.

News of a hole-in-one scored on 6 November 2001 made the headlines in April. Fergus Muir, who has played golf on the Links since he moved to St Andrews in 1972, scored his first ever ace on the 5th hole of the Eden - the remarkable thing is that he used his putter to do it! Witnessed by fellow New Club members, Peter Gillespie Snr and George Fullerton, the 375ft shot has just entered the Guinness Book of Records as the longest putt on record. Well done Fergus.