Caddie Lore

The stories behind the game. Six centuries of golf, every claim checked against a primary source. Narration and imagery are AI-generated. The research is not.

[Caddie Lore @caddielore]

Alan Shepard topped his first swing on the moon and moved the next one two or three feet. Then he called a shot "miles and miles and miles." Measured in 2021 against orbiter images: about 40 yards. #golf

[Caddie Lore @caddielore]

What is the oldest golf course in the world? Guinness has named two. In 2009, Musselburgh, on a lawyer's account book: 2 March 1672, "lost at golfe at Musselburgh." Now St Andrews, on a 1552 charter. One proves golf was allowed. One proves somebody lost.

[Caddie Lore @caddielore]

Jordan Spieth turned five clear on Sunday at the 2016 Masters. By the 12th tee he led by one. At 5:38 p.m. his 9-iron hopped twice on the bank and trickled into Rae's Creek. At 5:48, a 7. Walking to 13, he told his caddie it seemed like they were collapsing.

[Caddie Lore @caddielore]

Why is golf so expensive? It used to be the ball. A top feathery cost five shillings. The gutty, from 1848, cost one. Allan Robertson made featheries. His employee, Old Tom Morris, was caught playing a gutty. High words in the shop. Morris left that day.

[Caddie Lore @caddielore]

Alan Shepard hit a golf ball on the moon in February 1971, one-handed, a six-iron head fixed to a sample tool. He said it went "miles and miles and miles." Later he put it at 200 yards. In 2021 an image specialist checked orbiter photos. About 40 yards.

[Caddie Lore @caddielore]

Strange golf rules? A boulder estimated at a ton can be a loose impediment. 1999 Phoenix Open: Tiger Woods's ball stopped beside one. The official checked underneath. Not embedded, so size doesn't matter. Fans moved it. Birdie. Under today's rules, legal.

[Caddie Lore @caddielore]

Roberto De Vicenzo shot 65 on his 45th birthday in the final round of the 1968 Masters. Tommy Aaron, keeping his card, wrote a 4 for his birdie 3 at the 17th. Maybe the error was Aaron's. De Vicenzo signed it. The 66 stood. Goalby won by one.

[Caddie Lore @caddielore]

Why do golfers yell fore? Unproven. The leading theory is the forecaddie, and the job is on paper first: Thistle Golf Club's 1824 rules quote Andrew Dickson saying he was forecaddie to the Duke of York at Leith. The shout? The OED's first fore is 1878.

[Caddie Lore @caddielore]

The first name on the Claret Jug got a medal instead. Young Tom Morris won his fourth Open in 1872, and the new trophy was not ready. He had already kept the old one, the Challenge Belt, by winning three straight. Golf ran out of prizes for him twice.

[Caddie Lore @caddielore]

Why are golf clubs different lengths? A longer shaft swings a wider arc, so it moves faster. Shorter clubs play near the hole, where precision counts. Bryson DeChambeau skips it: every iron 37.5 inches, 6-iron length. The idea flopped in shops in the 1980s.

[Caddie Lore @caddielore]

The R&A captaincy was a prize until about 1806: win the Silver Club, run the club. Every captain since still "wins" with one drive and nobody else playing. On Sept. 25, 272 years in, that drive was hit by a woman for the first time. #StAndrews

[Caddie Lore @caddielore]

In 1997 TPC Scottsdale's 16th had a handful of skyboxes. Tiger Woods hit a 9-iron there. Two hops, in. Beer cans rained onto the tee. By 2024: 294 skyboxes. Maybe the ace built that. A marshal dates it to the early '90s. Tiger was the cherry on top.

[Caddie Lore @caddielore]

Who invented golf? Unclear. Who wrote its rules is not. 1744: Edinburgh put up a silver club for a contest at Leith and insisted on rules, so golfers wrote thirteen. Thought lost for centuries. Found in 1937 at the back of a minute book. Signed by the winner.

[Caddie Lore @caddielore]

Pete Dye figured the way to make a name was to do the opposite of whatever Robert Trent Jones was doing. Jones had a hand in 420 designs. His verdict on Dye's work took one sentence: no sense going to such tremendous expense to replace beauty with ugliness.

[Caddie Lore @caddielore]

Why are golf clubs so expensive? Maybe it is the logo. In 1974 it was the shaft. By then a driver with a graphite shaft ran $100 to $120, and one with steel ran $40. Half the weight. Up to three times the price.

[Caddie Lore @caddielore]

Greg Norman led the 1996 Masters by six with 18 to play. Bogey at the first. Three by the eighth green. At nine his ball landed on the green, then trickled back down the hill. Two. He shot 78. Faldo shot 67. That night Norman did not hide: "It's all on me."

[Caddie Lore @caddielore]

Abandoned golf course? The Lido on Long Island was not abandoned. It was drafted. The U.S. Navy took it over in World War II, and it closed in 1942. Rebuilt in Wisconsin from old surveys and photos, it opened in 2023. This week it hosts the U.S. Mid-Amateur.

[Caddie Lore @caddielore]

Strangest golf swings? Start with Moe Norman. Very short backswing, very short follow-through, and he never took a lesson. Maybe it looked wrong. It went straight. He once withdrew from the Masters after nine holes. Blisters, from too many practice shots.

[Caddie Lore @caddielore]

Nullarbor Links is one golf course: 18 holes along 850 miles of the Eyre Highway. So how long is a round? Golf Digest, relaying a travel writer: up to five days. https://t.co/WxkHb0t9Xe: three. ABC, on opening day: four. The course's own FAQ never says.

[Caddie Lore @caddielore]

The 1933 U.S. Open champion won no prize money. Johnny Goodman, an amateur from South Omaha, beat Ralph Guldahl by one after Guldahl missed a four-footer at the last. Guldahl took home $1,000. Goodman took the cup. No amateur has won a men's major since.