Old school vs modern golf

We expect most of our HGT-golfers to play normal, modern golf, using their own modern equipment with range finders, intending to shoot as good scores as they are able to on a good day. Of course we welcome this. We play this kind of golf ourselves sometimes. However, we believe there to be some elements from the past worth picking up also for today’s golfer…

Comparing golf now and golf then

We believe golf was great also back in the day. Not only great now. We love making comparisons between golf now and golf then. And to encourage golfers to identify and pick up elements from the past. It could be things like playing a man-to-ma match game without scorecards instead of stroke play or stableford. And to leave range finders and golf GPS watches in the hotel for a day and play the man-to-man match enjoying the visual difficulties the architect created. Or it could be to walk instead of to drive a buggy. And maybe to carry a short set that encourages shot-making, rather than pulling 14 bats around the course to have one for every distance. And of course to go back and play the kind of blades and persimmons from the days of Nicklaus, Gary Player, Trevino, Faldo and Ballesteros and that so many of us used when we were juniors.

Most fun? Best value for money?

We also encourage comparing the “bang for the buck” you experience when on one day we take you to a super venue that charges 450 pound for a round and on the next day we take you to an unknown course where you put 20 pound in an honesty box to walk and play on a less beaten track. Which was best value for money? Which was more fun? Again – modern golf vs old-school?

What old-school golf would be like

We are passionate to share insights into golf the way it used to be played. It will be like beaming ourselves back in time. Back to the days of persimmon and blades (1945-1990). Or even to hickory clubs (1900-1939). Days when predominantly match was played and you counted your odd and even strokes against your gentleman or lady opponent and when “medal play” with scorecards was a rare occurrence. You typically carried a light bag with a half-set and rounds were quick, typically around two hours. There were no lasers, no green-books and yardage was determined by eye measurement.

In those days, while being a good golfer rendered appreciation, golf etiquette and fair play was imperative to everyone. There seem to have been a different respect towards both other players and the course. Do you remember how, as juniors, we learned not to take practice swings on the tee, not to pull carts between bunkers and the green, not to use trolleys early and late in the season. And players or their caddies took well care of divots, pitch marks and the raking of bunkers. Going even further back bunkers were not raked, thereby increasing their strategic value as hazards. But going back that far would be overdoing it, maybe?

Courses were less manicured of course. The game at that time was not a game of perfect. Bad lies, or even stymies, was part of the game. Over time good and bad fortune evens themselves out in a spirit of fair play. After all, it was just a game in a sporting spirit and under a general consensus on etiquette and on and off course behaviour. And a game more about creative shotmaking than a game of brute force.

Reflections, and maybe conclusions (?)

We believe there are bits and pieces in golf from those days that were good, but have been lost. Not only the beautiful crafted clubs, but also other behavioural memorabilia.

If you believe so too, we hope to see you coming here in Troon for a few rounds of both modern golf and old-school “gowff”. And for some good banter and a bevvy or two.