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finished a large meatloaf dinner by wife, Susie – the 39-year-old pulled a putter from the club rack
located at the back of the single-room club house that stored the many
clubs from the local players. For years Morris played with a Frank Holt
putter, but on Oct 24, 1973 he selected the Southern Golf Distributor's
Ram Horn putter, it is identified as an Acushnet style putter on the toe
side, with a curling horn on the heel side (see picture). With the lights
illuminating the orange rails and green carpet, the players started teeing
off on hole one. The Player number for Morris that night was #7,
appropriate for the night he was about to have. He walked up to the
first hole joking with one of the group members, John Rankin, an established player with multiple
national tournament victories. The first hole was a typical first hole design. Straight and flat for 22
feet. The hole location was at the end of the hole, right in the middle. The Colonial Drive Course, over
the years, evolved into a consistent playing course with low scores of 24 and 25 being shot regularly;
however, there always seemed to be a few holes that would typically be a nuisance and rarely played
easy. Some folks ponder the easiness of the course, thinking maybe the course owner was adjusting the
holes to attain the perfect 18. However, the folks that knew the Southern Gentleman would confirm the
unlikelihood of such a step. Steve Morris, his son, conveys that his dad would take a scraper and
remove the glue and tar from the concrete before applying new carpet. If the adhesive were so strong it
would not come off the concrete, Warren would get a torch and melt the adhesive - then remove it. He
simply desired to have the smoothest and truest rolling putting surface for each tournament. Thus, low
scores. However, as with any course, there are always a few stubborn holes. Warren Morris placed his
PPA Steel Center #1 ball on the mat and stroked his first ace. He would
th
make holes 1 - 6 with relative ease; however, the 7 hole required 4 banks
with a backdoor approach to the cup. The spin, coming off the mid-hole
right rail angle board - then up an incline of two feet requiring a back rail
approach to a flat surface with the cup located right in the middle of the back
rail and the descending hill, would be the determining factor (see picture to
the left.). Morris stroked the ball with force. As the ball climbed the hill and hit the back rail 2 inches
to the right of the cup, Morris knew it was an ace. The ninth hole was probably the hardest hole on the
course. It had a double break with a 2-foot cat-walk area to roll the putt to the cup. On both sides of
the catwalk were troughs with a drop-off of 3 inches. At about 12 feet, the hole widened to a square
with a putting surface of 3 feet on each side of the hole; however, the flat putting surface was
surrounded by the 3-inch drop-off trough. The hole was fast with a 5-inch break from left to right and
about a foot from the hole - it would break an inch from right to left. It was very fast as well. Charging
the putt would eliminate one of the breaks and when missed, it would leave a difficult deuce putt from
the trough area. The best shot was hole speed. Morris played it perfectly. “Number 9”, he recounted,
“was the hole that gave me the confidence that I could shoot an 18.” As he finished the front nine with
perfection, his competitors were involved with their rounds and had yet to give him any extra attention.
John Rankin was struggling a bit this night and finished the front nine with a 17; two aces and a bogey.
Morris’ group respectfully helped pace the hottest player on the course. Holes 10 and 11 were
rewarding holes when hit properly, and Morris did. Holes 12 and 13 could be uncooperative
holes...even when hit pure. Hole 12 was a one pipe hole. It had an incline of two feet over 8 feet of
carpet, then flattening out. The pipe was on the flat edge, just past the incline and the cup was located a
few feet beyond the pipe, with the back rail located 10 feet past the cup. There were two shots for the
hole. A left rail front door shot with a right to left break of 6 inches or a right rail back door shot with a
left to right break of 4 inches. Warren played the front door left rail shot. He played it firm to remove
the break coming off the rail and the ball easily held the cup. The twelfth hole was a drop off hole. It
had a 15-inch incline over 8 feet, the drop to the lower level was on an elevated area with a 2 inch drop