Back in January 1999, when the northern winter months then meant there was a lot less golf being played around the world, Golf Monthly produced one of those great list articles so beloved of magazine editors – 101 things you didn’t know about golf.
For instance, the Charley Hull of his day was Ted Ray, reputed to be the only man to light up his pipe prior to sinking the winning putt at the US Open – that was in 1920.
The last amateur to win a Major? Johnny Goodman who carried off the US Open in 1933. The world’s oldest golf club outside the British Isles? The Royal Calcutta Club in India, formed in 1829 – they’ve since built an airport on the original course…
There’s plenty more where those came from to help you pass an idle hour or two as you wait for this year’s Open champion to emerge from the pack. Catch up with them here.
