Like so many things in golf, the standardized size of the hole comes to us courtesy of the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews, with an assist from the links at Musselburgh.

In new rules issued in 1891, the R&A determined that the hole size should be standard on golf courses everywhere. So the R&A discussed just what exactly that size should be.

The size they decided on was 4.25 inches in diameter. The reason is that the folks at Musselburgh (now a 9-hole municipal course on the Levenhall Links near Edinburgh, Scotland) had invented, in 1829, the first known hole-cutter. That ancient hole-cutter is still in existence and is on display in the clubhouse at Royal Musselburgh, an 18-hole course in Prestonpans, Scotland. (That’s where the Royal Musselburgh Golf Club that used to play at the 9-holer outside Edinburgh is now based.)

That first hole-cutter utilized a cutting tool that was, you guessed it, 4.25 inches in diameter. The folks running the R&A apparently liked that size and so adopted it in their rules for 1891. And as was usually the case, the rest of the golf world followed in the footsteps of the R&A.

The exact reasons for why that first tool cut holes at the now-standard diameter are lost to history. But it was almost certainly a completely arbitrary thing, a notion supported by the story that the tool was built from some excess pipe that was laying about the Musselburgh links.

On this day in 1975, in Cypress (Orange County, California), Eldrick “Tiger” Woods was born to Earl and Kultida Woods. The world of golf – and sport overall for that matter – have never been the same since.

How time flies! … And while we’re not in the habit of stepping out on limbs here around In Golf We Trust, we’ll say this with with dead-solid certainty: Treasure him while you can folks, because Eldrick “Tiger” Woods is the best golfer most of us will ever see in our lifetimes and he’s square in the middle of his prime. Happy 32nd, Tiger …

Is it really that long since little Tiger, aged 2, was shown swinging a mini golf club on the Mike Douglas Show on October 6, 1978 alongside his father, the host, and entertainer Bob Hope? Yep. Is it really that long since Tiger became the youngest player (at the time) to make his debut in a PGA Tour event, when he teed it up at Riviera in the Nissan LA Open in ’92 at age 16? Yep again …

It was during that tournament that Masters champ Sandy Lyle was asked if he had ever heard of “Tiger Woods” and Lyle replied: “Is that a golf course?”. And Tiger, asked about what he had learned in the event, said “I learned I’m not that good.” (Both still among our favourite Tiger anecdotes).

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