Quiz: Which one is false?

When I was in college, I hated multiple choice questions, especially those with the numerus answer bubbles to fill in with a number two pencil. I will give you a simple example of the type of question format that would drive me crazy: An apple is: A. red. B. green. C. reddish yellow. D. all of the above. E. none of the above.

Funny thing, I also hated essay questions. I always thought the professor got a kickback at the bookstore when he required his students to buy a “blue book” and bring it to his mid-term or final exam. If I had to pick a lesser of three evils, I guess I would have to say that a true/false test was preferred (at least you had a 50% chance of guessing the right answer - or so it seemed, except for a one-word change making a seemingly true question false or vice versa. Confused? An example from my vertebrate physiology final in 1969: True or False. A rib fracture may cut, tear, or perforate the tissue of the esophagus, causing hemothorax or may collapse a lung, pneumothorax. (Answer in my trivia section)

Back to golf. I will give you 10 short statements (nine true) and to make this simple, all you have to do is pick the one that is false. To ease your pain, the entire statement is true or false, no single words changed, etc., to confuse you.

1. In 1952, two lady golfers were killed by the U.S. Navy while playing golf on a course near Jacksonville, Florida.

2. Prior to 1870, players would tee up their shot to the next hole while still standing on the green.

3. In 1957, a golf match was conducted over the telephone.

4. In the history of the U.S. Open, only one winner, Fred Herd (1898), was required to pay a deposit on the trophy before accepting it.

5. In 1947, the British Open was decided by broken glass.

6. Jack Nicklaus’ picture was printed on a legal tender Scottish Banknote.

7. The first non-American to win the Masters was Jose Imanez (Spain) in 1961. He never won another major during his career.

8. Aerial golf was first played in 1928, by dropping golf balls from low-flying planes onto the green.

9. Great Britain has a golf hole named after the last witch burned at the stake in 1727.

10. The first televised golf tournament was in Great Britain in 1938.

Well how did you do? If you stop and think about my ten statements, they all seem false, except for one.

1. True. A crippled Navy plane crashed on the golf course killing both golfers.

2. True. The Scots believed in “tee it high and let it fly,” from the green. After 1870, they came to their senses and used a tee box.

3. True. In 1957, members of a British Golf Club teed off in a tournament against members of an Australian Golf Club. Highlights and scores were transmitted by phone. The Brits beat the Aussies, 564-570. Who knew?

4. True. A golfer with a history of loving the 19th hole celebration was required to put a large deposit down to protect the trophy from being pawned to raise cash for more drinks at the bar.

5. True. At the 1949 British Open, Harry Bradshaw had to play his ball from broken glass in the second round and the impact showered him with glass. With facial injuries and glass in his eye, he finished the tournament in a tie, but lost in a playoff.

6. True. Scotland the Home of Golf honored him in in 1995 with his picture on a five-pound note.

7. False. Gary Player was the first non-American to win the Masters in 1961.

8. True. Not sure why, but true.

9. True. The 17th hole at Royal Dornoch Golf Course is named The Witch, in memory of Janet Horne.

10. True. The BBC beat us to the punch. We do have the Golf Channel and they do not.

19th Hole Trivia

• The answer to the rib fracture true/false question is false. The word pleurae was changed to esophagus to make it untrue. I know what you are thinking. I thought the same thing.

• The aerial golf thing bugged me, so after extensive research, I found out that a golfer named Willie Hammond and his wealthy friends actually dropped golf balls (wrapped in multi-colored cloth) on each green to determine the winner of each hole (on a regulation course).