Deeside Golf Club professional FRANK COUTTS has loaned me a scrapbook of newspaper cuttings from the post World War II scene.
Over the next few weeks, I'll be reproducing some of the articles for Scottishgolfview.com readers.
Here is the first one - from The Press and Journal of Saturday, July 6, 1946, the last day of the first Open to be held since 1939, and at the same venue - the Old Course, Andrews.
In those days and for a few years later, the Open was played over three days, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday with the last two rounds on the Friday.
This was a throwback to the days when club professionals had to get back to their club shops for Saturday members' competitions which made it their busiest day of the week.
In the Open championships of yesteryear, all the entrants played a qualifying round to produce a field of around 100 for the championship proper.
Unfortuntely, the P and report does not mention the
qualifying competition.
SAM SNEAD WINS 1946 OPEN TITLE
OVER OLD COURSE, ST ANDREWS
Murcar club pro Willie Anderson
finishes as the leading Scot
FROM THE PRESS AND JOURNAL
OLD COURSE, ST ANDREWS
British golfing prestige suffered a severe blow here today when Sam Snead, the long-hitting American won the Open championship with an aggregate of 290.
Two more of the overseas invaders - Johnnie Bulla and Bobby Locke - tied for second place, with Henry Cotton, Dai Rees, C H Ward and Norman Von Nida another stroke behind.
Snead, who is 34, is professional to Cascades Club, Virginia. He will fly back to America with the championship trophy on Tuesday.
Willie Anderson of Murcar, the Scottish professional champion, had the satisfaction of finishing the leading Scot with an aggregate of 305.
In the final round, Anderson played beautiful golf and was out in 35. Starting back with a 4 and a 3, he had every chance of returning the best round of the day. However, he ran up a string of six consecutive 5s, due mainly to bad lies off his tee shots.
Anderson picked up a stroke with a birdie at the last hole where he got down from six yards for a 3.
Once again, today, the Old Course gave the top-notchers something to think about. With a stiff westerly wind blowing, scoring was much higher than on the first two days of the championship.
When the last round started, Snead, Bulla and Rees were level in the lead on 215, a stroke ahead of the fourth-placed Cotton.
Hopes were high that Rees and Cotton would resist the overseas onslaught but these were dashed early in the afternoon when the Swilcan Burn, which winds round the front of the first green, took toll of both British players.
Cotton got off with a 5 but Rees three-putted for a fatal 7 and reached the turn in 42.
Bobby Locke had a great chance to put himself in a winning position but the threw the championship away with a succession of putting failures from the 13th onwards.
The South African's final disaster was on the home green where he took three putts, missing from less than a yard. His 76 gave him a total of 294.
There was drama in plenty at the 18th hole for the next hour.
Cotton, struggling all the way from the ninth to shake off the effects of a disastrous first six holes which cost him 30 strokes, took three putts at the 18th to finish with a 79 for 295, one behind Locke.
Bulla took four shots from the edge of the green at the 17th (Road Hole) and holed out in 6.
The American, after playing a lovely second shot to the 18th green, then three-putted, missing from less than 2ft, for a 5 and a round of 79 to match Locke's 294 total.
Rees had an eagle 3 at the 17th and hit his second at the home hole to within eight yards of the flagstick. Had the Welshman been able to hole the birdie putt, he would have joined Locke and Bulla in the lead but his effort slipped past and he finished with an 80 for 295.
With all the other leaders failing, the door was left wide open for Snead.
(Editor's note: In those days there were no on-course scoreboards and no communication from out on the course so that until a player handed in his scorecard, no one could be quite certain who was winning).
All sorts of rumours failed the air round the clubhouse that Snead had cracked and it transpired that the American had taken 40 shots for the outward half, including a 6 at the fifth, where he had to play out of Hell bunker (on the 14th fairway).
The turning point for Snead came at the 10th where he got a 3 and from there onwards he had the Open title in his pocket.
He came back in 35 for a 75 and a total of 290 - four strokes clear of Locke and Bulla.
That won Snead the Claret Jug, a medal and £150.
LEADING FINAL TOTALS
290 Sam Snead (USA) 71 70 74 75
294 Bobby Locke (S Africa) 69 74 75 76, Johnnie Bulla (USA) 71 72 72 79.
295 Charlie Ward (England) 73 73 73 76, Henry Cotton (England) 70 70 76 79, Dai Rees (Wales) 75 67 73 80, Norman Von Nida (Australia) 70 76 74 75
298 Fred Daly (N Ireland) 77 71 76 74, Joe Kirkwood (USA) 71 75 78 74
299 Lawson Little (USA) 78 75 72 74
300 Harry Bradshaw (Ireland) 76 75 76 73
SELECTED TOTALS
305 Willie Anderson (Scotland) 76 76 78 75