The course at =Troon= is perhaps a little overshadowed by its more famous neighbour, but it is a very fine course nevertheless, especially since it has been lengthened of late years. It has, moreover, one of the finest short holes to be found anywhere. Here dwells Willy Fernie, and here it was that Braid and Herd went down so memorably before Vardon and Taylor in the great foursome over four greens. The Scottish pair left St. Andrews with a small advantage, but in Ayrshire a terrible thing befell them. Taylor and Vardon won so many holes--the number was well in double figures--that they came to the two English courses, St. Anne's and Deal, with a lead that nothing but a second miracle could take from them--and such miracles do not happen twice; it was surely one of the most extraordinary day's play in all the history of big matches. Troon, oddly enough, is one of the last places that one would expect such a collapse to occur. We know that when the greens are fast and fiery and not a little rough, a man who becomes afraid of his putter can lose an unlimited number of holes, but the greens at Troon are smooth and true, and of an almost velvety consistency that encourage us to putt above our form. They are certainly one of the features of the course. [Illustration: TROON _The new short hole_] Another pleasant feature of Troon is that the holes are known not simply by dull numbers, but each by its own name--'Dunure,' the 'Monk,' the 'Fox,' 'Sandhills'--they are good names; and what is more to the purpose, they are familiarly and habitually used, and not merely printed on the scoring cards. The first three holes run straight forward along a narrow strip of turf, having the seashore on the right-hand side; while at the third hole there is a small burn to be crossed. The fourth is 'Dunure,' a good two-shot hole, if the wind be not too strong against us, with big bunkers to right and left to catch the crooked tee-shot. 'Greenan' is the fifth--that takes its name from Greenan Castle on Carrick shore; and then comes one of the new holes, 'Turnberry' by name, in which the old 'Ailsa' is swallowed up. Here we need two full shots and a good iron to reach the green, which lies close to the Pow burn--the same burn that we have been trying to avoid on the links of Prestwick. So far we have been going forward and hugging the shore, but now we turn inland to the left to play 'Tel-el-Kebir,' where is a narrow sloping green with a face in front of it. We may hope for our first three at the next, a short hole, that takes us back again towards the Pow burn; and then, turning inland once more, we come to the 'Monk,' with an exciting tee-shot over a big hill.