K ^^, l^^^U c. \y^^ '% ' ^x^ ^. S' 0' x'^ .^ ^. Golf in America A Practical Manual JAMES P. LEE ^^'^i^-a^ ^ NEW YORK DODD, MEAD & COMPANY 1895 k. Copyright, 1895, by DoDD, Mead & Company ALL RIGHTS RESERVED PREFACE. A NEW game has lately been added to the list of our outdoor sports. At first there were reasons why it did not ap- pear to be a game to which the Ameri- can temperament would seem to be per- manently attracted, and grave doubts were expressed as to its ability to hold its own in this country. Such was the re- ception of golf. As time went on, how- ever, and the game became more widely known a change occurred. The extreme enthusiasm of those who took it up in- duced others to play, and every day added to the ranks of its adherents. The secret of the game was no longer a sealed book ; its apparent simplicity and lack of interest were seen to be delusions, and its success was assured. Upon every side golf clubs sprang into existence, and the formation of a National Asso- ciation became a necessity. Conse- quently, upon December 24, 1894, the following representatives of five of the leading clubs in the United States met iv PREFACE pursuant to a call previously issued: Mr, Theodore A. Havemeyer and Mr. Winthrop Rutherford, representing the Newport Golf Club; Gen. Thomas H. Barber and Mr. S. L, Parrish, repre- senting the Shinnecock Hills Golf Club ; Mr. John Reid. and Mr. H. O. Tall- madge, representing the St. Andrews Golf Club of Yonkers; Mr. Lawrence B. Curtis and Mr. P. S, Sears, rep- resenting the Country Club of Brookline, Mass. ; and Mr. Charles B. MacDonald and Mr. J. A. Ryerson, representing the Chicago Golf Club. The details of this conference are given elsewhere; its result was the recognition of golf as an established American sport and the organization of the United States Golf Association. Hence this little volume. The writer desires to express his sin- cere thanks to H. O. Tallmadge, Esq., Secretary of the United States Golf Association, for his kind assistance in many ways. New York, May i, iSgS- TABLE OF CONTENTS. PART I. PAGE Origin of the Game of Golf — Its Early History — Scotch Statutes — Extracts from Church Regis- ters — Anecdotes — Account of the Game in England and Scotland from 1864 to the Pres- ent Time — Leading Scotch Golf Clubs — Leading English Golf Clubs — History of the Open and Amateur Championship Meetings in England and Scotland 5 PART II. History of the Introduction of the Game into America — St. Andrews — Shinnecock Hills — Newport — Morris County — Tuxedo — Mont- clair — Richmond County Country Club — Orange Mountain Golf Club — Meadowbrook — Country Club of Brookline — Essex County Myopia Hunt Clab— Prides Golf Club— Ger- mantown Cricket Club — Philadelphia Country Club — Merion Cricket Club — Chicago — Colo- L CONTENTS PAGE rado Springs — History of the Organization of the United States Golf Association — Constitu- tion and By-laws of the United States Golf Association — Golf in Canada . . , -33 PART III. Explanation of the Game and of Certain Techni- cal Terms — The Advantages and Drawbacks of Golf— General Remarks on the Game . . 94 PART IV. For Beginners— The Method of Play— Choice of Clubs — Driving — Play on the Green — Putting — Summing up 112 FART V. The Etiquette of Golf— Playing Rules as Adopted by the United States Golf Association — Special Rules for Medal Play — Glossaiy of Technical Terms — List of Leading American Clubs — List of Leading Canadian Clubs . . . 149 PART I. The origin of golf has been the cause of much surmise upon the part of his- torians of the game. They are all agreed, it is true, that the game which is played to-day is substantially the same as that which flourished in Scot- land some four hundred and thirty-eight years ago. This was at a time before the general introduction of firearms into Scotland, and the game of golf was diverting the attention of the Scotch people to such an extent from the more 6 GOLF IN AMERICA important accomplishment of archery, that the Scotch Parliament felt called upon to interfere. Accordingly, in 1457, it was "decreeted and ordained that . . . the Fute-ball and Golf be utterly cryit doune and nocht usit and that the bowe-merkis be maid at ilk paroche kirk a pair of buttis and schut- ting be usit ilk Sunday." But this was obviously when golf was in its prime, when the game was flourishing to a marked degree; we can hardly suppose that it would have engaged the atten- tion of Parliament otherwise. It is the source of the game which is the chief stumbling-block; its connection with the ancient Dutch game of "kolf;" with "chole," another game very old in Belgium and the North of France; or again, with '' Pali-Mall," a favorite pas- time of Mary Stuart. These questions, ' and others, have given rise to some V courageous conjecture upon the part of \ its historians; the absence of authentic 1 records being frequently but so many I "bunkers" to be surmounted by the 1 GOLF IN AMERICA 7 explanatioij most sympathetic to each writer. It was doubtless the evident desire upon the part of these antiquarians to cause the origin of the game to be set at the earliest possible date which led SirW. G. Simpson, in his "Art of Golf," to write as follows : " It is not likely that further research will unearth the discoverer of golf. Most probably a game so sim- ple and natural in its essentials, suggested itself gradually and spontaneously to the bucolic mind. A shepherd tending his sheep would often chance upon a round pebble, and, having his crook in his hand, he would strike it away ; for it is as inevitable that a man with a stick in his hand should aim a blow at any loose object lying in his path as that he should breathe. " On pastures green this led to nothing; but once on a time (probably) a shepherd, feeding his sheep on a links — perhaps those of St. Andrews — rolled one of these stones into a rabbit scrape. ' Marry,' he quoth, ' I could not do that if I tried ' — a thought (so instinctive is ambition) which nerved him to the attempt. But a man cannot long persevere alone in any arduous undertaking, so our shepherd hailed another, who was hard by, to witness his endeavor. ' Forsooth, that is easy,' said the friend, and trying, failed. They now searched in the gorse for as round stones as possible, and, to their surprise, each found 8 GOLF IN AMERICA an old golf-ball, whicli, as the reader knows, are to be found there in considerable quantity even to this day. Having deepened the rabbit scrape so that the balls might not jump out of it, they set themselves to prac- ticing putting. The stronger, but less skillful shepherd, finding himself worsted at this amusement, protested that it was a fairer test of skill to play for the hole from a considerable distance. This being arranged, the game was found to be much more varied and in- teresting. They had at first called it ' putty,' because the immediate object was to putt or put the ball into the hole or scrape, but at the longer distance, what we call driving was the chief interest, so the name was changed to 'go off,' or 'golf.' The sheep having meantime strayed, our shepherds had to go after them. This proving an exceedingly irksome interrup- tion, they hit upon the ingenious device of making a circular course of holes, which enabled them to play and herd at the same time. The holes being now many and far apart, it became necessary to mark their whereabouts, which was easily done by means of a tag of wool from a sheep attached to a stick, a primi- tive kind of flag still used on many greens almost in its original form, " Since these early days the essentials of the game have altered but little." This to US is as satisfactory as other accounts of the origin of the game, and certainly more amusing. However this may be, it is certain GOLF IN AMERICA 9 that golf was popular in Scotland in the middle of the fifteenth century. From that time on its early history is told in occasional enactments of Parliament, in city records and church registers, and from the extracts of the minutes of the old golf clubs of Scotland. It is evident from these sources that golf was a mat- ter of serious importance and enthusias- tically enjoyed by the inhabitants in the North country. Parliament could make laws utterly crying it down, but the re- peated enactments of a like character at short intervals of time are an evidence that it was one thing to make the laws and another to carry them out. Four- teen years after the statute of 1457, it was decreed that " Ilk yeman that can nocht deil with the bow that he haf a gude ax and a targe of leddir to resist the shot of Ingland, quhillk is na cost but the value of a hide, and that the Fute-ball and Golf be abusit in tyme coming " (Act of 147 1), and again twenty years afterwards: '* That in na place of the realms there be usit Fute-ball Golf, 10 GOLF IN AMERICA or uther sik unpro'fitabill sportis under the pain of fourtie shillinges to be raised be the schireffe and baillies foresaid." But the people paid little attention. Doubtless the schireffe and baillies were as much engrossed in the game as their neighbors and forgot to add to the treasury of the Crown. Perhaps the king himself put it into their minds to be lenient, for interest in the game ex- tended from high to low, and he too, in spite of his statutes, was its devoted ad- herent. The House of Stuart as a whole was greatly given over to golf, James VI of Scotland being perhaps more wrapt up in it than any of the rest. It appears that in his time the church-going of the good people upon the Sabbath day had become endangered. Proclamations were passed by the Town Council of Edinburgh at the end of the sixteenth century, ''that na inhabitants of the samyn be sene at any pastimes or gamis within or without the town on the Sabbath day, sic as Grolf." Another en- GOLF IN AMERICA 11 actment about the same time begins as follows: Whereas "dyvers inhabitants of this burg repairs upon the Sabbath day to the town of Leyth and in tyme of sermonis are seen vagant athort the streets drynking in tavernis, or other- ways at Golf," they are admonished to desist under a penalty of forty shillings. As an instance of certain ones who were caught, so to speak, red-handed, the following extract from the Register of the Kirk Session of Humbie is quoted : ''April 27, 165 1. The which day James Rodger, Johne Rodger, Johne Howdan, Andrew Howdan and George Patersone, were complained upon for playing at the Golf upon one Lord's day ; were ordained to be cited the next day. "May 4. The which day compeired the aforementioned persons, and con- fessed thair prophaning of the Lord's day by playing at the Golf; were or- dained to mak publick repentance the next day. " The which day Johne Howdan was 12 GOLF IN AMERICA deposed from his office, being ane dea- con." Register of the Kirk Sessions of Hnmbie. Records such as the above were of frequent occurrence in the minutes of the city councils and of the church regis- ters of St. Andrews, Perth, Leith, and Stirling. It is unnecessary, however, to quote further details to show that the people were given to turning their faces towards the links of a Sunday, in which respect perhaps the times are not altogether changed. James VI was the author of an excellent compromise in the matter which is suggested to the governing committees of the golf clubs of to-day. Seeing that play continued on the Sab- bath, whether or no, he arranged it that after the end of the divine service the good people should be at liberty to en- gage in such harmless recreations as were lawful, but this privilege was not extended '' to any that are not present in the church at the service of God be- GOLF IN AMERICA 13 fore their going to the said recreations." Just how this arrangement was carried out we are left to conjecture. Probably one of the many duties of the green- keeper was to stand at the church door and mark off the worshipers as they entered. Another friendly act which James VI performed was done in the interests of the Scotch ball-maker. About this time (1618) the Scotch were importing their golf balls so largely from Holland that the king, for the protection of home manufacture, caused a prohibitive tariff to be placed on the foreign importation. This importation of balls from Holland has given rise to the idea that the game itself was brought from that country. This seems no more probable, however, than to suppose that it was carried to Holland by the Scotch, which is cer- tainly a more sympathetic view. Golf to-day is a game, above all, of the Scots, and we naturally lean to the belief, if possible, that it had its rise in what is to-day its chief home. 14 GOLF IN AMERICA The pastime of James VI was that also of his sons, Henry, Prince of Wales, and Charles I of England. Concerning the latter it is told that while engaged in play upon the links of Leith, a letter was put into his hands telling him of the uprising and rebellion in Ireland. He was an ardent supporter of the game, but on reading the news, we may well imagine that the day's sport ended abruptly. Still continuing in the direct line, we find that the Duke of York, afterwards James II of England, was particularly given over to the pleasure of golf. The first mention of a fore-caddie, who ran ahead to mark where the ball fell, is made in connection with the boy who performed this service for James II be- fore he ascended the throne and was too much given over to affairs of state to play the Scotch game. Betting also was largely indulged in in those days, and, as an instance, the story is told of a match game between the Duke of York and John Patersone, a Scotch shoemaker, on I GOLF IN AMERICA 15 the one side, and two English noblemen upon the other. A dispute had arisen as to whether England or Scotland could justly claim to be the original home of golf. One thing led to another, and the outcome of the discussion was a challenge from the Englishmen to play a foursome with the Duke of York and any Scotch- man as his partner whom he might choose. The Duke chose as his part- ner one John Patersone, a shoemaker, whose prowess upon the links was known far and wide. The result justi- fied his choice. We are not told by what score the Englishmen were beaten, nor of the exact amount wagered upon the outcome. That it was no small sum we can be sure from the fact that the Duke of York presented Patersone with one-half of the stakes, and the shoemaker thereupon built himself " a comfortable house in the Canongate " with the money which he received, which house is still standing in the Canongate at Edinburgh. In mentioning these golfing incidents concerning the House of Stuart, the 16 GOLF IN AMERICA fact that Mary Queen of Scots, the un- fortunate mother of James VI, was also a player, should not be passed over. It was, according to her enemies, but a few days after the death of Darnley that she "was seen playing- golf and pall-mall in the fields beside Seton." Whether this incident was an invention of her enemies told to accentuate her indiffer- ence to Darnley's fate is uncertain, but it tends to show that women as well as men have engaged in the game from the earliest periods, and is certainly of in- terest in that connection. Thus the term ' * A Royal and Ancient Game" is no misnomer. If further evidence is sought to support the well- known title, it may be added that in 1834 King William IV became Patron of the St. Andrews Club, and in 1863 the present Prince of Wales was elected Captain by acclamation. Dr. Johnson, David Garrick and the Earl of Montrose must not be forgotten. They are all to be numbered amongst the famous players of golf. Whether GOLF IN AMERICA 17 they played famous golf is quite another question. The last-named was educated at the ancient university at St. Andrews, and, when a student, learned his game upon the links in that part of the coun- try. From those times to the present day golf in Scotland has continued to be a favorite pastime and the links at St. Andrews, Musselburgh, and Prestwick have always been the headquarters of the game. In England, however, its growth has been comparatively recent. Indeed, golf was played but little there no less than twenty years ago. Blackheath was founded, it is true, far back in 1608, and became the scene of golf when James VI of Scotland came from the North to assume the title of James I of England. But from that date until 1864 it may be said that the game was not played at all in England. In this year (1864) Westward Ho ! sprang into existence; a year later the Royal Wimbledon Golf Club was foun- 18 GOLF IN AMERICA ded. Hoylake, near Liverpool, soon fol- lowed, and the revival of the old Scot- tish game was well under way. If it took the Englishmen a long time to de- cide to take up the game, certainly no complaint may be made of the enthusi- asm with which they enter into it to-day. Slowly at first and then with greater rapidity links sprang up in every direc- tion, both at the sea and inland, and so fast has been their growth that to-day golf has practically spread itself over the entire country of England. To attempt to enumerate these clubs would go far towards filling this little volume alone, and yet a few words con- cerning the most prominent may not be out of place here. In Scotland there are many of great age. The Edinburgh Burgess Golfing Society (1735) ^^^ The Hon. Company of Edinburgh Golfers (1744) are two of the oldest. The most famous by far, however, is the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews (1754). St. An- drews is the Mecca towards which all GOLF IN AMERICA 19 golfers naturally turn. By tacit consent it prescribes the playing rules and establishes the etiquette of the game, and nearly all the golf players of note in Great Britain are amongst its mem- bers. Old " Tom Morris," probably the best known golfer of to-day, came to the club in 1859 to take the place of Allan Robertson, the former green- keeper, and although somewhat past his seventieth year his skill and strength are with him still. In the early days of the club (1766) it was the custom for the members to meet once a fortnight and to play a round of the links, then to dine together, and ' ' that they should pay each a shilling for his dinner, the absent as well as the present." The penalty for paying a caddie a greater sum than six- pence for a round of the course was two pint bottles of claret, to be paid by the transgressor at the first meeting at which he should attend. The Captain, too, was liable for a couple of pints in case he failed to put in his appearance at any of the meetings held throughout the year. 20 GOLF IN AMERICA Instances in the minutes of the club are frequent showing that the rule as to penalties in the matter of claret was no dead-letter law, and that the club was a sporting and genial company. The society adopted, as early as 1780, red coats, which were to be considered the uniform of the club. Its memories are without number. In 1837, King William IV, who two or three years previous had become the patron of the club, presented to it a Gold Medal, with Green Ribband, with the request that it be played for annually. From that day to this the winner of the Gold Medal has been looked upon as obtaining one of the greatest golfing honors of the year. In 1855 it was won by George Glennie, with the remarkable, score of 88. For twenty-nine years this achievement was not bettered, until in 1884, Horace G. Hutchinson became the winner with a score of 87. So greatly, however, has interest in the game spread during the past ten years, and so large has been the number to take it up during that GOLF IN AMERICA 21 time, that not once since 1884 has the Gold Medal been won in less than 87, and in 1893, S. Mure Fergusson's 79 entirely eclipsed all previous efforts in this competition. As has been already stated, the records of the Hon. Company of Edinburgh Golfers ante-date even those of the St. Andrews Club. The date of the institution of this famous organization is lost in antiquity, but as far back as 1744 there appears a list of those who are to play for the Silver Club. The competitors were twelve in number and a curious custom of the times was that the defeated candidates were accustomed always to add their signatures to the statement in the record book, giving the name of the winner and the details of the competition. Evidence also exists to show that here, as well as in the case of the St. Andrews Club, a spirit of good fellowship and good cheer existed from the beginning. " Leith, Nov. 16, 1776. " This day Lieutenant James Dalrym- 22 GOLF IN AMERICA pie of the 43rd Regiment, being con- victed of playing five different times without his uniform was fined only in Six Pints, having confessed the heinous- ness of his crime. ,,j^_ ^^^^^^ " At his own request he was fined three Pints more." — Extract from the Min- utes. It was the rule that the members should dine in uniform at every public meeting of the club, and that they should likewise appear in uniform when at play upon the links. The fine for the in- fraction of this, or indeed any rule it would appear, consisted in the usual pint at the expense of the offender. For many years the home of this club was at Musselburgh, but on May 2, 1891, its new green at Muirfield was opened for play, and in 1892, the Open Champion- ship was played there for the first time. The clubs of St. Andrews, Prestwick, and The Hon. Company of Edinburgh Golfers, all of them Scotch clubs, were the original donors in 1872 of the trophy which is to-day played for in the great GOLF IN AMERICA 23 Open Championship meeting of the year, and until 1894 the yearly meeting was always held upon the course of one of these clubs. " Prestwick, St. Andrews, Musselburgh" was the order of rotation, as will be seen by a glance at the list of the winners of the Open Championship Cup, a few pages further on. Last year, however, the number of players in England and the broadspread popu- larity of the game there was sufficient to cause a change, and for the first time an English links (Sandwich) was chosen as the battle-ground of the Open Cham- pionship meeting. One other Scotch club should certainly be mentioned in passing, and that is Prestwick. Of all the golf-links in England or Scotland, this perhaps is the most picturesque. The beauty of the striking features of the surrounding scenery forces itself upon the golfer in spite of himself. The course is hilly and faced with bold precipitous cliffs, and the hazards are upon a grand scale, as the name, *'The Himalayas," given 24 GOLF IN AMERICA to one of them indicates. As a golf links, Prestwick holds the position in the west of Scotland that St. Andrews does in the east. The record for the course, 77, is held by Willie Campbell, who was formerly connected with Musselburgh and later with Prestwick. The same player, by the way, in a match with Willie Park in 1886, for ^25 a side, holed out the four rounds at Musselburgh in 152, which is 3 strokes less than the championship over that course has ever been taken in. There are, of course, many famous Scotch links other than the three just mentioned — Bruntsfield, North Berwick, Carnoustee, Troon, Montrose, Elie, and a hundred others. In England the number of golfing clubs is legion, and of these The Royal North Devon Golf Club (of which the links are known as Westward Ho!), Hoylake, and Sandwich, are amongst the best known. To the first-named belongs the honor of spreading the game among the present generation GOLF IN AMERICA 25 of Englishmen. Early in the sixties (1864) the club was formed and a course laid out on the North Devon Coast. Those were in primitive days, when there was no clubhouse, but all that is changed now. Hoylake is the Liverpool home of golf, being situated on the Cheshire side of the Mersey. This club being founded in 1869 was only a few years after West- ward Ho ! in point of time. If to West- ward Ho! can be given the credit for taking up the Scotch game and dis- seminating it through England, to Hoy- lake belongs the honor of having insti- tuted, in 1 88 5, the amateur championships which are to-day so great a success. The putting-greens of this course are known far and wide for their excellence. The course is thought by many to be somewhat tame, but it is the home of good golf, nevertheless, having produced Mr. John Ball, Jr., and Mr. H. H. Hilton, the only two amateurs to win an open championship since its foundation in 1872. 26 GOLF IN AMERICA If the course at Hoylake is a little tame, the same can certainly not be said of Sandwich, for the Sandwich course is reputed to be one of the most difficult in Great Britian. The feature of the course is the " Maiden," a high sand-hill on the the near side of which yawns a deep sand-pit forming a hazard well known to all golf players in England. In 1892 the Amateur Cham- pionship was held at Sandwich, John Ball, Jr., being the winner, and two years later the Open Championship, as has been said, was also played upon the Sandwich links. This certainly is an excellent showing for a club hardly ten years old. Great Yarmouth, Lancaster, Wimble- don, Tooting Bee, are all well known, not to mention Blackheath, the ancient forerunner of them all. Over in Ireland the chief clubs are Portrush, Newcastle, and Holywood. Further South there are Dollymount, and nearer Belfast, the Kinnegar, where the first golf in Ireland was played. Of GOLF IN AMERICA 27 these, Portrush, in Ulster County, not far from the Giant's Causeway, is the best known, being the scene of the Irish Championships. A list of clubs, such as has been given in the last few pages, however in- complete it may be, should certainly in- clude the clubs at Biarritz and Pau. The course at Pau is excellent. The golf club there has been in existence nearly half a century, and the French caddies generally pick up sufficient golf talk to enable them and the English visitors to come to a mutual understanding. It is impossible of course to give here anything like a complete list of the golf clubs in Great Britain. From latest ac- counts they number in the vicinity of eight hundred. The increase during the past few years has been something mar- velous. A few of the chief ones only have been jotted down, and more espe- cially those under whose auspices the championship meetings have been held. There are two great golf meetings of the year in Great Britain — the Open 28 GOLF IN AMERICA Championship, open to amateurs and professionals alike; and the Amateur Championship. The history of these meetings is not without interest, and as the Amateur Championship is a very recent institution (1886), we shall speak of the Open Championship first. Prior to i860 there was no champion- ship of any kind in Great Britain. In i860 what was known as the ** Champion- ship Belt " was offered by the Prestwick Club, on the west coast of Scotland, under the condition that if won three times in succession, it should become the property of the one so winning it. This trophy lasted, as will be seen by the appended table of winners, until 1870. i860 W. Park, Score for 36 holes 174 1861 Tom Morris, Sen., " « 163 1862 « 163 1863 W.Park, (C 168 1864 Tom Morris, Sen., " «' 1 60 1865 A. Strath, « « 162 1866 W. Park, « 169 1867 Tom Morris, Sen., '< " 170 1868 Tom Morris, Jun., " « 154 1869 « « " c< 167 1870 " " " " 149 Thus in 1870 the Championship Belt GOLF IN AMERICA 29 passed into the private ownership of Tom Morris, Jr. In 187 1 no trophy was competed for, and in 1872 the St. Andrews Club, The Hon. Company of Edinburgh Golfers, and the Prestwick Golf Club offered, jointly, the Champion- ship Cup, which is still played for in open competition between amateurs and pro- fessionals. Tom Morris, Jr. , again was the winner, but the donors of the cup had allowed for no provision by which the cup could ever be won outright. Had the conditions been the same as in the case of the Championship Belt, it would have lasted a short, time only, as Jamie Ander- son won his third successive victory in 1879. It will be noticed that prior to 1894 the Open Championship meeting was always held upon the links of one of the clubs donating the cup. Needless to say that at these meetings the play is of the first order, and the names of Tom Morris, Jr. (who is no longer living), Jamie Anderson, Bob Fergusson, and Hugh Kirlkaldy are known from one end of England and Scotland to the other. 30 GOLF IN AMERICA m^_ pHmS^MSpHSSFMaoSPHOQSPHMSPHMS^i ) O 1^ O C<1 O T .10<0 CD 0-^||f%f>> 'WILLIE ■ DUNN SEPT. 15, DUNN VS CAMPBELL. GOLF IN AMERICA 45 markable chiefly for what was perhaps the closest and best match which has thus far taken place in this country. Willie Dunn and Willie Campbell were the contestants. The course is at pres- ent an eighteen-hole one, but at the time of this match it was twelve holes only, and the record for the course was established by Dunn on the first round of the two rounds which were then played. This record, 47, was made, as the score of the match shows, as fol- lows: First Round. — Dunn — 4, 5, 4, 5, 3, 4, 5, 2, 4, 4, 3, 4—47- " " Campbell— 4, 5, 4, 3, 5, 5, 5, 2, 4, 4, 4, 4—49 Second Round. — Dunn — $, 3, 5, 5, 4, 5,5,3,5, 4, 3> 3—50. " " Campbell— 7, 5, 4, 4, 3, 5, 6, 3, 4, 4, 3, 3—51- Totals — Dunn, 97 ; Campbell, 1 00. Those who witnessed this match were enabled to see the game of golf as it should be played. Were it not for a slip-up by Campbell on the first hole of 46 GOLF IN AMERICA the second a tie would probably have resulted. The Newport Golf Club was founded on January 12th, 1893, and its success was assured from the beginning. To this club belongs the honor of having brought together for the first time the amateur players of various other clubs. The final match between Mr. McDonald, and Mr. Lawrence, of the Newport Golf Club, was extremely close and full of interest, the former being the winner by one stroke only. Neither this tour- nament, which occurred in the summer of 1894, nor that of the St. Andrews Golf Club, which was held a month or so afterwards, are likely, as time goes on, to be viewed in the light of the past as championship meetings, for the reason that at this time the United States Golf Association had not been organized, and therefore there was no body representa- tive of any number of clubs to which would belong the authority to grant a championship. A very similar case occurred in England in 1885. In that GOLF IN AMERICA 47 year the Royal Liverpool Golf Club held a competition upon the Hoylake links, to which the title Amateur Championship Meeting was given. The meeting was a great success, the winner being Mr. A. F. Macfie ; but it was not until the year following that a formally organized amateur championship was inaugurated amongst the various promi- nent clubs. As a consequence, it seems to be universally the view in England that the amateur championships (properly so called) date from the year 1886, when the first formal meeting was held at St. Andrews. The situation is very anal- ogous to that which has been the case in this country. That golf will be a per- manent success at Newport is certain. An elaborate clubhouse is at present in course of erection and the coming season will in all probability see it completed. Golf at Tuxedo Park, N. Y., is in a flourishing condition, the number of members belonging to the Tuxedo Golf Club approximating a hundred. The game was begun there some three years 48 GOLF IN AMERICA ago, though play on the present links only dates from July of 1893. The course abounds in hazards — the railroad, a swamp, stone fences, roads, and a brook being amongst them. A new club- house has lately been erected at the links which consists of nine holes: The Orchard, The Railroad, The Dis- mal Swamp, The Heavenly Twins, The Brown, The Alps, The Devil's Hole and House. The record for the eighteen holes is 88, made by Dr. E. C. Rushmore, the Captain of the green, and the course is well looked after by John Patrick, the professional of the club. Amongst the clubs nearer to the city of New York must be mentioned the Morris County Golf Club, the member- ship of which is limited to women. Men are allowed as associate members merely, although admitted to the same privi- leges as the regular members in the use of the clubhouse and grounds. The membership in all amounts to between four and five hundred, which gives an idea of the popularity of the game in GOLF IN AMERICA 49 the vicinity of Morristown, N. J. The course is fair, being laid out over rolling, uneven ground, already possessing the full number of eighteen holes. The holes are rather short, varying from one hundred to three hundred yards, and the putting-greens being somewhat new, are not as yet in the best condition. The Golf Club of Montclair, not very far distant, is another of the New Jersey clubs. The history of its foundation is that of many of the clubs elsewhere. After canvassing around for adherents to the cause, informal meetings were held, and finally a sufficient number of people were obtained. Upon the 8th of October, 1894, the club was duly or- ganized. Grounds were selected and laid out rather hurriedly. Instruction was obtained, and a course laid out over rolling country, consisting for the most part of pasture lands, nine holes only being obtainable. Natural haz- ards, and very good ones, are numer- ous — a wide brook which is crossed twice, an old railroad embankment, 60 GOLF IN AMERICA roadways and pieces of bog and bram- bles, with fences interspersed here and there. The putting-greens, as is the case with most new links, could stand improvement, but the experiment of organizing a club has been a successful one, and the members are already look- ing forward to obtaining permanent grounds and to building a clubhouse. The enthusiasm of the ladies in the State of New Jersey is certainly an ex- ample to the opposite sex. Not only the Morris County Club, but the Orange Mountain Golf Club, owes its existence to their efforts, having been organized by a number of the residents in and around Orange during the past year. Another course in the vicinity of New York is that of the Richmond County Country Club on Staten Island. This is so accessible to the business part of New York City that it is sure to become one of the popular links of the vicinity. It has but nine holes so far, though it is intended to increase the number during the coming season. Wooden fences, a GOLF IN AMERICA 51 brook, roadways, bushes, and swampy- ground contribute excellent hazards. The distances are somewhat short, but the hilly ground and short grass afEord an excellent inland course. Upon Long Island the chief club is that at the Shinnecock Hills, but the game of golf has also obtained a very strong hold upon the members of the Meadow Brook Hunt Club. This club is, as its name indicates, more particu- larly a hunt club, but possesses in addi- tion very good links laid out over rolling country where there is a fine short natural turf, and the efforts of the pro- fessional of the club. Fox, have met with great success in stimulating in- terest and enthusiasm. Turning from New York to the vicin- ity of Boston, we find the Country Club of Brookline, and the Essex County Club at Manchester-by-the-Sea, Mass. Both these are country clubs having for their object the pursuit of various kinds of athletic sports, but in both golf has obtained an extremely strong footing. 52 GOLF IN AMERICA The professional, for the season of 1894, of the Essex County Club, was Willie Campbell, of Scotland, who ranks high amongst the best players in his own country, and has served as an object- lesson to the residents of the north shore, of what the game of golf really is when played by an expert. In the matches during the last season with Willie Dunn, of the Shinnecock Hills Club, it was seen how closely two players can be matched in the game. There is little to choose between them, though Dunn is the more consistent per- former, and was thought by those who saw them play to be a little the better. While the two clubs just mentioned are much the most prominent in golf- ing matters in that part of the country, there are many others thereabouts which foster the game. Amongst these may be mentioned the Myopia Hunt Club, at Hamilton, Mass., where the game was started last summer. This club has an excellent course, one of the most inter- esting in that part of the country, af- GOLF IN AMERICA 53 fording excellent opportunity for driv- ing- and brassey work. Numerous stone walls and hills, together with a pond, form the chief hazards. Interest in the game has steadily increased there since it was started, and there is no doubt but that it is established upon a firm foundation. One of the less pretentious organiza- tions in the vicinity of Boston is the Prides Golf Club, at Prides Crossing. Several gentlemen owning and control- ling grounds in Beverly laid out a course there in 1893, and invited their neighbors to play. The green became popular; it was extended and improved and was used by so many that it be- came seriously overcrowded. Informal matches for cups, offered by members, were frequently held, and one of the meetings last season between Dunn and Campbell was also held upon this course. The green is a very pretty one in an attractive country; its defect is that the distances between the holes are short, but certainly the putting-greens 54 GOLF IN AMERICA are amongst the best in that part of the country. To those to whom the game is new it may be stated that it is cus- tomary to name different holes, so that instead of being known as hole number one, number two, etc., they may have some more definite apellation. As an instance of the ingenuity which can be exercised in this connection, the names of the holes upon the links just men- tioned are set down here: i, Genesis; 2, Via Dolorosa; 3, Consolation; 4, Pil- grim's Progress; 5, St. John's Wood; 6, Pons Asinorum; 7, The Pill Box (being on the lawn of a noted physician) ; 8, Toad-i'-th'-hole ; 9, Revelations. A list of names such as this, to a golf- player, conveys an excellent idea of the characteristics of the course at its va- rious points. Philadelphia, too, has caught the fever. The Merion Cricket Club, the German- town Cricket Club, and the Philadelphia Country Club all have excellent links. Of these the most important in this connection perhaps is the Philadelphia GOLF IN AMERICA 55 Country Club. The game was started here in a small way about two years ago, although very little was done in ear- nest at that time towards developing a good course. This experiment, however, of a few adherents of the game brought it into more general notice and a regu- lar course was laid out and opened to the use of the club in the latter part of the summer of 1894 and the game met with instantaneous success. The course is one and a half miles, roughly speak- ing, and contains nine holes, and for an inland course it is a very good one in- deed. The putting-greens are on level turf and only need care to be made very good. The player has hills to climb, stone walls, hedges, and fences to sur- mount, and in addition streams to cross before completing the round. Starting from the teeing ground in front of the clubhouse, the direction of play is east- ward over a stone wall to the first hole at the extremity of the lawn, then west- ward over what is known as the Liver- pool Jump, and on up the ravine to the 56 GOLF IN AMERICA third hole near the edge of the roads. To reach the fourth hole, high lofting shots are required, as the course runs straight up the hill and over the race- track to the east end of the polo grounds. A swamp, a stream, and sand-quarry are the hazards before the sixth hole is reached, and then a long run of five hundred yards is made across a stream and high grass to the seventh over the race-track again, four hundred yards to the eighth hole. From the eighth the course runs back of the polo field and across a road over iron hurdles and finally up the lawn to the ninth hole near the point of starting. The Philadelphia Country Club, it may be remarked in passing, has joined the United States Golf Association as an associate club, which shows that the game is well appreciated by its mem- bers. Turning now to the West we find that the city of Chicago has discovered the fascination of golf, and has taken up the game with characteristic energy GOLF IN AMERICA 67 and enthusiasm. The Chicago Golf Club is one of the best known in this country, and one of the original five associate members of the United States Golf Association. It was incorporated upon the i8th of July, 1893. In the year preceding Mr. Hobart C. Chatfield- Taylor had organized a small golf club at Lake Forest, on the lake shore, but the ground did not extend over more than sixteen acres, and it is not a very large affair, although still in existence. It was a start, however, and in 1893, at the time of the World's Fair, there were a number of foreigners in Chicago who, together with Mr. Charles B. MacDon- ald, sought for some ground upon which a first-class course could be lo- cated. This resulted in the organiza- tion of the Chicago Golf Club at Bel- mont, about twenty-two miles from the city of Chicago, of which in that year there were about thirty or forty mem- bers, mostly Englishmen and Scotch- men. In the spring of 1894, the Fair being over, some twenty of the old 58 GOLF IN AMERICA members alone remained, but these few induced their friends to see the game and soon aroused such interest that it was not very long before a membership of one hundred and thirty was obtained. Such has been the enthusiasm of the members that they became dissatis- fied with the leased ground at Belmont and determined to provide for the es- tablishment of a clubhouse and links of their own. On the 14th of December, 1894, the club met and authorized the purchase of two hundred acres of land at Wheaton, twenty-four miles from the city of Chicago, and upon these grounds a clubhouse is to be built which will have, needless to say, every- thing necessary for the furtherment of the game. A first-rate professional has been obtained, and under the leadership of Mr. MacDonald, one of the best players in the country, the club and the game in that part of the country are sure to thrive. Further to the west the Country Club at Colorado Springs took up golf ON THE HILLS. GOLF IN AMERICA 59 in 1 89 1, so that the game from a com- parative point of view is already old in that part of the country. At present the course at Colorado Springs has only nine holes; it is to be extended, how- ever, to eighteen holes. Starting at the clubhouse it extends along the foot of Cheyenne Mountain. There was some difficulty at first in getting clubs and balls, which it was necessary to im- port from Scotland and Canada. All this by this time is changed. What is known to golfing enthusiasts in that part of the country as the ' ' disease of golf" has taken deep root. Not only can Colorado Springs boast of a golf course, but there is another, and a very good one, near Denver, and the game there is becoming more popular every day. With the continual formation of new clubs, it was readily seen last summer by those interested that there was need of some permanent body to guide the affairs of the game. The question of the championship was not altogether 60 GOLF IN AMERICA satisfactorily settled during the summer of 1894, for the reason, as has been said, that there was in existence no association sufficiently representative of the various clubs to issue a call for a champion- ship meeting or to prescribe the rules under which it should be held. The authority was lacking, and as a conse- quence two championship meetings were held, one at Newport and the other by the St. Andrews Golf Club of Yonkers. The former was won by Mr. Lawrence, by one stroke only, from Mr. MacDonald, the Captain of the Chicago Golf Club, and the latter by Mr. Stod- dard, of St. Andrews, over Mr. MacDon- ald, who finished again directly behind the winner. Other tournaments were successfully held at Tuxedo, Shinnecock Hills, and elsewhere, but the feeling was general at the close of the season that it would be for the best interests of the game that some association of a national character should be formed with au- thority, in the first instance, to prescribe the conditions of the championship meet- GOLF IN AMERICA 61 ings and to hold them under its aus- pices, and secondly, to act as a friendly guide and arbiter in all other matters connected with the game. The organi- zation of such an association was per- fected on December 24th, 1894. On that day representatives from five of the leading clubs met and arranged the details of organization. There were present at the conference The- odore A. Havemeyer and Winthrop Rutherford, of the Newport Golf Club; Thomas H. Barber and S. L. Parrish, of the Shinnecock Hills Golf Club; Laurence B. Curtis and P. S. Sears, of the Country Club of Brookline; John Reid and H. O. Tallmadge, of the St. Andrews Golf Club of Yonkers; and Charles B. MacDonald and J. A. Ryerson, of the Chicago Golf Club. The follow- ing officers of the new United States Golf Association were elected: Presi- dent, Theodore A. Havemeyer, New- port; First Vice-president, L. B. Curtis, Brookline Country Club ; Second Vice- president, C. B. MacDonald, Chicago; 62 GOLF IN AMERICA Treasurer, S. L. Parrish, Shinnecock Hills; and Secretary, H. O. Tallmadge, St. Andrews. A special committee of Messrs. MacDonald, Reid, and Barber were appointed to draw up a constitution and by-laws and to report on playing rules, and thus the association became a fact. It will be seen from a perusal of the constitution and by-laws that the sys- tem of championships to be adopted is the same as that in vogue on the other side. Two championship meetings will be held yearly: the one an open meet- ing, in which professionals and ama- teurs will compete upon equal terms, as is done in Scotland at Prestwick, Muir- field, and St. Andrews, and the other a meeting open to amateurs only, such as that which was instituted in England in 1886. There is this difference, how- ever, which is an important one: in this country all competitors for the amateur championships must be mem- bers of clubs belonging to the associa- tion either as associate or allied mem- GOLF IN AMERICA 63 bers, whereas no such restriction exists abroad. It is sufficient there that a competitor be vouched for as to his amateur standing. Again it is to be noticed that no clubs beyond those in the United States may be admitted to membership, the effect of which is to induce all United States clubs to join the association either as associate or allied members, and to bar from competition in the amateur cham- pionships the members of Canadian clubs. No such restriction exists, how- ever, in the conditions governing the open championship meeting. This is open to professionals and amateurs of any country whether the competitors be members of any club or not. It may not be uninteresting to note the feeling in England upon the ques- tion of the association of golf clubs in general, and of the United States Golf Association in particular. The following views are expressed editorially in Golf, the official golfing paper of Great Britain, January 25th, 64 GOLF IN AMERICA 1S95 : " We should like to call the atten- tion of all golfers who have the highest interests of the game at heart, to one or two circumstances which have arisen in its development since the question of a golfers' association was last ventilated in these columns. Four years ago the desirableness of establishing such an association was broached in Golf, and the suggested project gave rise to a good deal of interesting correspondence. The general outcome of the debate was this: English golfers, as a rule, were in favor of the scheme, but as the pre- ponderance of opinion was in the direc- tion of desiring the initiative to be taken by St. Andrews, a disposition was shown not to take any action which would have the effect of breaking the great army of golfers into two camps — that of the North with no association, but with the traditions of St. Andrews behind them, and that of the South with an associa- tion established to govern the game and to provide a code of well-drafted rules. Since that time the question has been GOLF IN AMERICA 65 frequently discussed, and we have more than once made urgent appeals to the Royal and Ancient to move in the mat- ter by looking the golfing situation all over the world fairly and squarely in the face. As everybody knows, noth- ing has been done to bring about a gen- eral federation of golf clubs; and ac- cording to all the indications at present prevailing, there seems to be no inten- tion — one might almost go further and say, no desire — on the part of St. Andrews and of our leading English clubs even to discuss the feasibleness of the scheme. '*In the meantime, however, the cur- rent of vitality has been running strong throughout the golfing world. First of all, some ^energetic, influential golfers have attacked the problem'of a universal association for the game in detail. They have begun by founding county associations for golfing purposes. Hampshire led the way; then we had a Yorkshire Union of Golf Clubs, a Nor- folk County Union, a Golf Union for the 66 GOLF IN AMERICA whole of Ireland, and to-day we chroni- cle the birth of a Welsh Golfing Union, and, most important of all, the founda- tion of a National Golf Association for America. This is a considerable achieve- ment to have been realized in four years. It shows not only the marvelous popularity of the game, but, above all, it indicates how unerringly the leaders of these new golfing communities have diagnosed the weak spot in the govern- ment of golf. They have seen that golf, unlike most other sports, is an un- wieldy, incohesive congeries of clubs, without any central controlling guid- ance, with no voice in the making of the rules or in the arrangement and fix- ing of the amateur and open cham- pionships. Everything in the govern- ment of golf is haphazard and capricious. The rules have been altered and re- modeled, not to suit the average con- venience of the greatest number, but to suit the playing exigencies of one green, as in the case, for example, of the ' * lost- ball-lost-hole " rule, which is not the GOLF IN AMERICA 67 traditional St. Andrews rule, and is not found in the codes of a century ago. The Americans to-day are beginning where we ought to have begun many years ago. They adopted the game but yesterday, but they have adopted it with an ardor tempered by a due sense of the practical necessities entailed in its just government and regulation." The following letter, also from the editor of the same paper, is of interest. It is addressed to the Secretary of the United States Golf Association. Golf. A Weekly Record of " Ye Royal and Ancient Game." " Far and Sure." 80 Chancery Lane, W. C., 7th March, 1895. ** Dear Sir: I welcome your account of the by-laws and constitution of the United States Golf Association with great pleasure, and I am delighted to see how enthusiastic and practical the American golfers are with respect to a 68 GOLF IN AMERICA desirable movement for the govern- ment of the game at the outset of its early career in the United States. Nothing but the greatest good for all players concerned, both amateur and professional, can result from placing the association on such a basis as you have adopted. "It is a subject in which all golfers on this side of the Atlantic take the high- est interest, and probably in the course of time we may be able to see a visit- ing team of American golfers playing the pick of our men, as the cricketers are now doing in Australia. " The Editor, A. J. Robertson." At the present writing, the Shinne- cock Hills Golf Club, the Newport Golf Club, the Country Club of Brookline, Mass., the St. Andrews Club of Yonkers, the Chicago Golf Club, the Essex County Club of Manchester, Mass., and the Philadelphia Country Club form the list of associate members, and the Rich- mond County Country Club of Staten GOLF IN AMERICA 69 Island heads what will doubtless be- come a long list of allied members. A cup of the value of a thousand dollars, to be held for one year by the club of which the amateur champion is a member, has just been presented by the president of the association, and the outlook for the success of the organ- ization could not be brighter. It might be added that the Playing Rules as formulated by the St. Andrews Club of Scotland have been adopted as the rules to govern all contests, with the exception that Rules i8 and 29 have been modified to meet the requirements of the game in this country. The rules printed in the Appendix are those adopted in toto by the United States Golf Association. ^CONSTITUTION UNITED STATES GOLF ASSOCIATION. ARTICLE I. NAME. The name of this organization shall be " The United States Golf Asso- ciation." ARTICLE II. object. The objects of this Association shall be to promote interest in the game of Golf; the protection of the mutual in- terests of its members; to establish and enforce uniformity in the rules of the game by creating a representative au- thority; its Executive Committee to be a Court of Reference as a final authority GOLF IN AMERICA 71 in matters of controversy, to establish a uniform system of handicapping, to de- cide on what links the Amateur and Open Championships shall be played. ARTICLE III. MEMBERS. Sec. I. This Association shall consist of Associate and Allied Clubs. Sec. 2. The following clubs shall be Associate members : 1. Chicago Golf Club. 2. The Country Club of Brookline, Mass. 3. Newport Golf Club. 4. St. Andrews Golf Club of Yonkers. 5. Shinnecock Hills Golf Club of Southampton, L. I., and such other representative club or clubs as may hereafter be admitted as hereinafter provided. Sec. 3. Allied members shall be such regularly organized clubs in the United 72 GOLF IN AMERICA States as shall enter into an alliance with this Association as hereinafter pro- vided. ARTICLE IV. CLUBS ELIGIBLE. Sec. I. Other clubs eligible to be ad- mitted to membership in the Association as Associate Clubs shall be any repre- sentative clubs in an accessible part of the United States where the links, ac- commodations, constitution and by-laws of the club are such as to make it nation- ally representative, and such clubs may be admitted on a four-fifths vote of the Executive Committee of the Associa- tion. Sec. 3. Any regularly organized golf club in the United States may at any time be admitted as an Allied Club by a two-thirds vote of the Executive Com- mittee upon subscribing to and fulfilling the conditions of the Association Consti- tution and By-Laws. GOLF IN AMERICA 73 ARTICLE V. ANNUAL MEETINGS. Sec. I. The regular annual meeting of this Association shall be held on some day in February in each year, at such time and place as may be designated by the President, thirty days' notice being given and published. Sec. 2. Each Associate Club of the Association shall have the right to be represented by two delegates duly au- thorized and their appointment certified to by their Club Secretary. Sec. 3. Each Allied Club shall have the right to be represented by one dele- gate, but he shall have no power to vote. ARTICLE VI. elections. Sec. I. At the annual meeting the Association shall elect from its Associate Clubs a President, two Vice-Presidents, a Secretary, and a Treasurer. 74 GOLF IN AMERICA Sec. 2. The election of officers shall be by ballot at the annual meeting in each year. They shall be voted for separately and receive a majority of all the votes cast to entitle them to an elec- tion, and they shall continue in office one year or until their successors be elected. Sec. 3. At any special or regular meeting of this Association seven dele- gates shall constitute a quorum repre- senting at least three Associate Clubs. ARTICLE VII. EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE. Sec. I. The management of this As- sociation shall be intrusted to an Execu- tive Committee, consisting of the officers of the Association. QUARTERLY MEETINGS. Sec. 2. Regular meetings of the Ex- ecutive Committee shall be held at the time of the annual meeting, and if neces- sary quarterly thereafter, on such dates GOLF IN AMERICA 75 as may be designated by the President, fourteen days' notice of which shall be given to members. SPECIAL MEETINGS. Sec. 3. The President may call a special meeting of the Executive Com- mittee of the Association at such time as he may deem expedient, and he shall call a special meeting of the Association upon the written request of three Asso- ciate Clubs within fifteen days of the receipt of such request. At special meet- ings no other business shall be transact- ed than that for which they were called, and such business shall be specified in the call, which shall be sent out ten days previous to the time appointed for the meeting. PROXIES. Sec. 4. Proxies may be voted at all meetings of the Association. QUORUM OF executive COMMITTEE. Sec. 5. Three members shall consti- tute a quorum of the Executive Com- mittee. 76 GOLF IN AMERICA ARTICLE VIII. Sec. I. The President shall preside at all meetings of this Association and of the Executive Committee. A Vice-President shall in the absence of the President perform the duties of that office. ARTICLE IX. SECRETARY. Sec. I. The Secretary shall keep rec- ords of all meetings of this Association and of the Executive Committee, and he shall issue calls for such meetings. He shall keep a roll of membership and take charge of all correspondence and papers belonging to the Associa- tion. In his absence, Secretary pro tern, shall fulfill his duties. TREASURER. Sec. 2. The Treasurer shall collect GOLF IN AMERICA 77 all moneys belonging to the Association and dispense the same under the direc- tion of the Executive Committee. He shall report in writing the state of finances when required by the Execu- tive Committee, and at the annual meet- ing he shall present a written report showing all the receipts and expendi- tures during the year. ARTICLE X. APPLICATION FOR MEMBERSHIP. Applications for Associate and Allied membership shall be made in writing to the Secretary of the Association, ac- companied by a copy of the Constitution and By-laws of the Club making the ap- plication, a list of officers and a full year's dues, and an election shall be held at the next meeting of the Executive Committe, provided such application shall have been filed with the Secretary at least fourteen days previous to said election. 78 GOLF IN AMERICA ARTICLE XI. OBLIGATIONS AND DISCIPLINE. Sec. I. The acceptance of member- ship in this Association shall bind each club to abide by all the conditions of the Constitution, By-laws and Rules of this Association, and to accept and en- force all decisions of the Executive Com- mittee within its jurisdiction. Sec. 2. Refusing or neglecting a strict and honorable compliance with the Con- stitution, By-Laws or Rules of this As- sociation, or with the decisions of the Executive Committee, shall render such club or member liable to suspension or expulsion by two-thirds vote of the Ex- ecutive Committee, from whose decision an appeal may be taken to the delegates at the annual or special meeting. Sec. 3. No club or member, however, shall be disqualified or deprived of any privilege without due notice and formal charges, with specifications, having been made, and an opportunity having been GOLF IN AMERICA 79 given to be heard in its or his own de- fense. ARTICLE XII. DUES AND EXPENSES. Sec. I. Each Associate Club shall pay- to the Treasurer before the annual meet- ing $ioo annual dues. Sec. 2. Each Allied Club shall pay to the Treasurer before the annual meeting $25 annual dues. Sec. 3. Failure to pay such dues with- in the prescribed time shall preclude de- linquent clubs from representation or voting at any meeting of the Associa- tion. Sec. 4. The receipts from dues shall be devoted to defraying the cost of championship medals or other tokens, and for printing and other necessary ex- penses incurred by the Executive Com- mittee in the performance of their du- ties. 80 GOLF IN AMERICA ARTICLE XIII. FISCAL YEAR. Sec. I. The fiscal year shall end on the 31st of December. ARTICLE XIV. AMENDMENTS. Sec. I. Amendments to this Consti- tution may be made at any annual meet- ing by a vote of at least two-thirds of all the votes cast, providing twenty days' notice has been given associate and allied members, stating the proposed revision or amendment. BY-IvA^?VS UNITED STATES GOLF ASSOCIATION. Sec. I. The following order of busi- ness shall be observed at the annual meeting of this Ass9ciation : (i) Roll call. (2) Reading minutes of previous meeting. (3) Secretary's report. (4) Treasurer's report. (5) Election of officers and commit- tees. (6) General business. (7) Adjournment. Sec. 2. In the event of an appeal from an order of discipline imposed by the Executive Committee it must be heard at the next regular or special meeting of the Association, and any member or person who is proved, to the satisfaction 82 GOLF IN AMERICA of the Association, to have been guilty of fraudulent or discreditable conduct of any kind may be declared ineligible to compete at any competition, suspend- ed or expelled. Sec. 3. All complaints or disputes be- tween clubs of this Association shall be decided by those members of the Execu- tive Committee who are in no way con- nected with the clubs interested. Sec. 4. The Pres'ident shall appoint such special committees as shall be found necessary. Sec. 5. The Executive Committee shall interpret the Rules of Golf. Sec. 6. The Amateur and Open Championship tournaments shall take place on the links of an Associate Club, in selecting which due consideration shall be given to accessibility, accommo- dations and condition of course. Sec. 7. It shall be determined at the annual meeting each year over which links the Championship prizes shall be contended for that year. Sec. 8. The Executive Committee GOLF IN AMERICA 83 may delegate the power of naming the time and regulating the order of start- ing and determining the handicap of players to the Green Committee of the club over whose grounds the Associa- tion competitions are played, and of ap- pointing such other committees as are necessary to govern such a competition. Sec. 9. An amateur golfer shall be a golfer who has never made for sale golf clubs, balls, or any other article connected with the game; who has never carried clubs for hire after attain- the age of fifteen years, and who has not carried clubs for hire at any time within six years of the date on which the competition begins ; who has never received any consideration for playing in a match or for giving lessons in the game, and who for a period of five years prior to the ist of September, 1890, has never contended for a money prize in any open competition. Sec. 10. Only persons members of clubs belonging to the Association, season subscribers thereto, and those 84 GOLF IN AMERICA who under the rules of any Associated or Allied Club are entitled to the use of the links in whole or in part for a period not less than the current season, can compete for the Amateur Championship, and competitors must enter for the com- petition through the Secretaries of their respective clubs, who, in sending in the names, shall be held to certify that the players are bona fide Amateur Golfers in terms of the foregoing definition. Sec. II. In both the Amateur and Open Championship Golf competitions the entrance fee shall be $5, and must be received by the Secretary of the Association not later than 6 p.m. one week previous to the opening of the competition. Sec. 12. The Amateur Golf Cham- pionship shall be played by holes. The Open Golf Championship shall be medal play. Sec. 13. The competition shall be played in accordance with the Rules of Golf as adopted by the Royal and An- cient Golf Club of St. Andrews, Scot- GOLF IN AMERICA 85 land, in 1891, with such special rules as are in force and published on the green over which the competition takes place. Sec. 14. In the Amateur competition each game shall consist of one round of eighteen holes, with the exception of the last or final game, which shall be played on a separate day and consist of thirty-six holes. Sec, 15. The draw shall take place three days before competition, and shall be conducted as follows: Depending on the number of entries, such number of byes shall be first drawn as shall after the completion of the first round leave 4, 8, 16, 32 or 64 players, and one draw shall decide the order of play through- out the competition, those who have drawn byes being placed at the head of the list of winners of the first round, and taking their place in the second round in the order in which their names then stand. Sec. 16. In the event of a tie in any round, competitors shall continue to play on until one or the other shall have 86 GOLF IN AMERICA gained a hole, when the match shall be considered won. Sec. 17. The winner of the competi- tion shall be the Champion Amateur Golfer for the year, and the trophy- shall be held for that year by the club from which the winner shall have en- tered. The winners shall receive — the first, a gold medal; the second, a silver medal; the third and fourth, bronze medals. Sec. 18. All entries are subject to the approval of the Executive Commit- tee of this Association. Sec. 19. All disputes shall be settled by the Executive Committee of this As- sociation, whose decision shall be final. Sec. 20. It shall be incumbent upon clubs over whose green the tournament is held to admit all members of the As- sociation as visitors without payment during the tournament; also to bear the necessary incidental expenses. Sec. 21. Open Championship prizes shall be as follows : First — $200 to the winner of the GOLF IN AMERICA 87 championship, of which $50 shall be ex- pended on a gold medal and $150 given in money to a professional or in plate to an amateur golfer; the winner to have custody of the championship cup, but he must, if required, give security for its safe keeping. Second — $100. Third— $50. Fourth— $25. Fifth— $10. The last four prizes shall go to pro- fessionals only. Sec. 22. Any person paying his en- trance money shall be considered there- by to have submitted himself to the Rules of the Association, both as to re- strictions enjoined and penalties im- posed. On these conditions alone he is entitled to enjoy all the advantages and privileges of the Association competi- tion. Sec. 23. These By-Laws may be al- tered, amended or suspended without notice, at any regular meeting of the Executive Committee, by two-thirds 88 GOLF IN AMERICA vote of the members present, or at any special meeting on notice given in the call for such meeting. Before closing this chapter a few words should be added concerning golf in Canada. The Scotch pastime there has an older history than we can boast of on this side of the border. This, of course, is natural, being due to the English population and English influ- ences existing there. As early as 1873 the game was started by the foundation of the Royal Montreal Golf Club ; in the year following, the Quebec Club was organized, and shortly afterwards, in 1876, the game was played for the first time in Toronto. These three clubs are the chief amongst the Canadian homes of golf, although the game is played in many other places. The Niagara Golf Club, on the Canada shore of the Niagara River, was founded in 1882, and a little later an excellent club was organized at Kingston, and another at Ottawa in 1 89 1. The Deer Park Club in Toronto, and the London and Hamilton Clubs, GOLF IN AMERICA 89 which were both founded last year, must also be mentioned. Of all these, the Quebec green is by far the most interesting and picturesque. Here the game is played over the Cove Fields, which are not far distant from the citadel, and the view from the edge of the cliff at the first hole is one long to be remembered. On the left stands the historic citadel; far below flow the waters of the St. Lawrence; while in the distance the pine woods and beauti- ful shores of the river complete the panorama. The course abounds in haz- ards of various kinds, and, although the character of the country is rocky, the turf is firm and good. The old French bastion forms one of the haz- ards; and, indeed, it may be said, that there is every possible hazard upon the course, with the exception of sand; of that there is none. But the old French forts and earthworks, and precipices, together with moats, rocks and swamps, provide more than enough to harass even the expert. 90 GOLF IN AMERICA To the visitor to Montreal, the Royal Montreal Golf Club, the senior institu- tion of its kind in Canada, is well known for its open hospitality and welcome to strangers. The game is played here over Fletcher's Field, which lies at the base of a mountain, and from the club- house is obtained a fine view of the city of Montreal and of the St. Lawrence. The course is much smaller than is the case at Quebec, but it is kept in excel- lent condition by the professional of the club. The putting-greens are particu- larly good. A curious hazard is af- forded at one of the holes by an ave- nue of towering elm-trees running at right angles with the course, and at such a distance from the teeing ground that it takes a very good drive to pass it. The ball usually strikes in amongst the trees and falls down to the ground beneath them, where the caddie is wait- ing to mark it. The distances between the holes are rather short, for in most cases a good drive and an iron shot is sufficient to bring the player upon the GOLF IN AMERICA 91 putting-green. The course is not nearly so hard a one as the Quebec course, where the poor driver is continually in difficulties; but the putting-greens are far better and add much to the value of the Montreal course. These two clubs are old rivals, and the great golfing events of the year to them are the two semi-annual matches, one of which is played in Quebec and the other in Mon- treal, These matches have been played for the past twenty years, and never fail to excite the greatest interest in that part of the country. It is the boast of the Toronto Golf Club that it possesses the only eighteen- hole course in the country. The game was started in that city as early as 1876, but it was not until 1882 that it obtained a strong footing at " Fernhill," the present links of the Toronto Golf Club. A very pretty little clubhouse has been built, and the ground thereabouts is admirably suited for the game. A characteristic of the Canadian links is their great natural beauty; especially 92 GOLF IN AMERICA is this true of Quebec, Toronto, and Niagara. The clubhouse just spoken of stands on a high plateau, facing Lake Ontario, and commanding a mag- nificent view, and upon a fine day the spray of the falls may be easily seen from the piazzas. Visitors to Niagara certainly remem- ber the Queen's Royal Hotel upon the Canadian shore of the river. It is upon the grounds of this hotel that the golf course of the Niagara Golf Club is laid out. The course is only a mile and a half in extent at present, and consists of nine holes; it could easily be length- ened, however, so as to afford eighteen holes. The hazards are broken ground, old fortifications, embankments, water- ditches and sandy shore. A fine view is obtained from these links, looking across the Niagara River to the American shore. There are, of course, other golf clubs in Canada besides those mentioned, and a fuller list appears in the Appendix. A few have been mentioned more par- GOLF IN AMERICA 93 ticularly, as it is a matter naturally of interest to golfers here. With the increased interest in the game in this country, it is not unlikely that in the near future our players will be engaged in international contests with the Canadians.* *The information given in this part with regard to the various American clubs was obtained chiefly from the officers of the respective clubs mentioned. PART III. The rules of the game of golf are printed in the Appendix; but to those who have never actually seen the game of golf played, a reading of the rules gives only an imperfect idea of the way in which the game is played. So it is with foot-ball, tennis, base-ball, or any other game. The rules of any game taken by themselves would not give a clear indication of the way in which the game was really played. Of what value would it be, for instance, to place our rules of American foot-ball in the hands of the dwellers of some strange and distant country where the name even of foot-ball conveyed no idea to the mind, and to say to them : * ' There are the rules ; they cover all the essential points of the game; get eleven men together and start in and play? " One can imagine the confusion that would result. Touchbacks would count as 94 MAP OF A GOLF COURSE. GOLF IN AMERICA 95 touchdowns, and off-side play be an enigma that the wisest men of the nation could not solve. And so, per- haps, for the benefit of those who have never seen the game of golf played, it would not be out of place to say in a general way of what it consists. The general idea is easily stated. Starting from a given point with a small gutta-percha ball, it is the object of the play to show which of the competitors takes the fewest strokes to land his ball in a hole, let us say, 400 yards distant from the starting point. He who does so is the winner of that hole. A full course consists of eighteen of these holes. The winner of the majority of them is the winner of the match. This certainly sounds very simple; but there is much more to the game than would appear from such a statement. And first, by way of explanation, a few words must be said concerning the technical terms which are used. Golf, with its traditions and memories, has come down to us from past ages with a 96 GOLF IN AMERICA language which is peculiarly its own; the many terms in use are, it is true, at first confusing, but it is remarkable how soon the player becomes acquainted with them. This short chapter, however, is not for players, and one may be pardoned if it seem burdened with definitions. The links, then, are that part of the fields or hills where the game of golf is played. The golf course proper is that portion of the links generally bounded on every side by longer grass, from which it is never necessary for the skilled player to wander. A good golf course should be from three to four miles in length, or even longer, and will generally partake of the character of a circular tour. Thus players going out will not interfere with those coming in, and as will be seen from the map of the Shinnecock course, the point at which the game is finished will not be far re- moved from the starting point. At varying distances, from one to four, or five hundred yards from each other, a GOLF IN AMERICA 97 series o£ small round holes are cut in the turf. These holes are about four inches in diameter and half a dozen inches in depth, and are lined with tin to prevent the earth from caving in. The ground for twenty yards or so around each hole is turfed and should be kept level as the most carefully prepared tennis- court. This ground lying around the hole is known as the putting-green, or for short, the green. The interest of the game is greatly increased by hazards and bunk- ers, which should abound throughout the course. The difference between hazards and bunkers is quite an im- portant one. The former consists of any obstacle whatever which it may be necessary to surmount or avoid with the ball, such as roads and water, stone fences or long grass ; in fact, everything, including bunkers, which are, technically speaking, sand hills, or sand pits, to be found almost entirely on links by the sea. Thus, all bunkers are hazards, but all hazards are not bunkers. When 98 GOLF IN AMERICA it is remembered that any movement of the club which is intended to strike the ball is in fact a stroke, and must be counted as such, it will readily be seen that these obstacles or hazards relieve the game of the monotony which would otherwise exist. Thus the holes are often protected by carefully built ram- parts of ground, over which it is neces- sary to loft the ball so as to reach the green. In laying out a golf course care should be taken also so to place hazards that a poor drive may be punished ; and, if natural hazards are to be made use of, the teeing grounds should be placed with this object in view. The teeing ground, it may be said, is in golf par- lance the starting point, and, inasmuch as there is a new starting point for each hole, there are as many teeing grounds as there are holes upon the course. Starting, then, from the first teeing ground, it is the object of each player to get his bail into hole No. i (of which GOLF IN AMERICA 99 the position is indicated by a white disc in the distance), in fewer strokes than it takes his opponent with his ball to do so. There is no racing or any effort to accomplish a hole in less time than your opponent ; on the contrary, a good golfer will take time to play each stroke care- fully, for the beauty of the whole game consists in dealing skillfully with the ball as you may find it ; and in order to keep the players together, he whose ball is farther from the hole to which he is playing, continues to play until he has passed his opponent. Then his opponent plays, and this continues until each player has holed out his ball. Account has been taken of each stroke in the meanwhile, and, as has been said, the player who has played this particular hole in the fewest strokes is the winner of this hole. One round of the course, as has been said, is a match, unless otherwise agreed upon, and he who is a winner of the majority of the holes is the winner of the match. So much in a very general way for the ques- 100 GOLF IN AMERICA tion of what the game consists. There are a hundred and one other technical terms of which no mention has yet been made. The first stroke, for instance, is al- ways called the drive. The player who has won a hole is the first to drive o£E from the teeing ground for the next hole, and he is said to have the honor. He proceeds to tee his ball ; that is, he places it upon a little elevation, usually made with a pinch of sand. Artificial tees may also be used. When he has teed his ball, he addresses it; in other words, he takes his stand in the position which he intends to occupy at the moment of striking his ball, and by a few motions of the club back and forth over the ball, he assures himself that the club is prop- erly grasped in the hands, and that the direction of the flight of the ball will be true. When driving he should not toe the ball; in other words, hit it with the toe of the club ; if he does, the ball will be pulled over to the left. Nor should GOLF IN AMERICA 101 he heel it, whereby it is driven farther to the right ; but it should come squarely into contact with the face of the club. To the unlearned, all these terms sound perhaps a little superfluous, but the use of them saves much lengthy explanation amongst golf players. This game of golf certainly possesses a peculiar and insidious fascination for the majority of those who take it up. Some there are who have abandoned themselves to it entirely. They leave their homes early in the morning with their faces turned towards the links. They are buoyed up by a certain feeling of confidence in their ability to lessen their score to-day, which no experience of yesterday ever seems to obliterate. Within sight of the golf course they quicken their pace, and when once en- gaged in the game they are lost to the world in a maze of bunkers, approach shots, niblicks, and foozles. A short breathing-spell is taken for lunch, where the uninitiated will be mightily puz- zled by the conversation. He will hear 102 GOLF IN AMERICA such remarks as this possibly : '* He had me stymied at the tenth, but he was dormie, and it was do or die." I defy the English scholar (non-golfer) to ex- tract any meaning from such talk. After lunch, a couple of rounds through the afternoon and then home in the fall- ing darkness, to dream that night of what might have been, and to allow what really has been to fade hazily into the past. Such cases undoubtedly exist. They are, it is true, the advance guard of cranks, but even the rank and file go in for the game with a degree of enthusi- asm which is remarkable when we con- sider its apparent simplicity. To many who see it played for the first time it appears aimless, ridiculously simple, and altogether stupid. Indeed, one some- times hears even stronger expressions of disapproval than these. But the simplicity of golf is a trap for the un- wary. In reality, it is extremely difficult, and to become a proficient player requires GOLF IN AMERICA 103 careful and assiduous practice combined with good natural judgment of distance and accuracy of eye. A good temper is also an aid to proficiency, though not an essential. The best thing to do with a man who says that golf is easy, is to let him try it with somebody else's clubs. With the ball teed on an elevation an inch high, it is a fair chance that he misses it twice running and breaks your friend's drive on the third attempt. But from that time on he will probably be with you, for after its apparent sim- plicity probably the very difficulty of the game is one of the chief sources of its popularity. It is too much for you ; not sufficiently so to utterly cast you down, but just enough to make you de- termined to get the better of it. There is always in the game a certain beacon of hope that leads one on from stroke to stroke (a veritable ignims fatuus in many cases), a never-ending belief that the stroke you are about to take will turn out successfully, nor will any amount of 104 GOLF IN AMERICA past experience entirely extinguish this encouraging feeling. Upon the question as to whether this game has come to us in this country to stay, there is no longer room for an honest difference of opinion. At first sight it did not appear a game to which Americans would seem to be perma- nently attracted. Summed up in a word, it looked slow; too much like taking a walk, with the diversion, as an incident, of hitting a ball along the ground. From this point of view it lacks interest, vitality and the spirit of contest. Again, it seems selfish, inas- much as every technicality in the rules is taken advantage of. Moreover, it is impossible that the game should be popularized, as so great an area of space is necessary in order that it may be played. Viewed at in those lights, golf cer- tainly has not come to stay. The truth of the matter, however, is that these criticisms, barring the one last mentioned, are not founded on fact. GOLF IN AMERICA 105 Hitting a ball along the ground is not golf ; no greater mistake could be imag- ined. Unless the game is taken seriously, it is better let alone. But an honest endeavor to know by what rules it is governed, and what is the correct way in which to undertake the various kinds of strokes which one will be called upon to play, is apt to arouse and to sustain a keen interest. It is only necessary to point to the present status of the game. Scotland has nourished it certainly for four hundred and fifty years. England is wild over it. From the Cheviot Hills to Lands End the fever has communi- cated itself, especially in the past ten years, and Ireland is not very far behind, with a result that to say there are now eight hundred or more golf clubs in the United Kingdom. Australia, New Zea- land and Canada all practice it. Indeed, in the English colonies generally, and more especially where the Scotch are settled in any numbers, the sport thrives. Upon the Continent, golf is already 106 GOLF IN AMERICA ancient at Pan, and has been played for many years at Biarritz and other places. There is an excellent course at Cairo, and clubs exist in Calcutta, Bombay, and in India generally. Finally,, here in our own country, the past two or three years have witnessed the formation of golf clubs in every direction, and the organization of a national association to look after its interest has become necessary. Nor is golf selfish to those who under- stand the main idea of the game. It is a game of skill. Endurance comes in as a useful factor, but to deal skillfully with the ball in any position however bad in which it may be found, is the particular result to be obtained. The rules are so constructed as to guard jealously this principle. The lie of the ball may not be altered, nor the stroke made more easy for the player by any means whatever. Otherwise the inter- est of the game is gone. In certain cases, it is true, the penalties imposed are very heavy. For instance, if the ST. ANDREWS LINKS, GOLF IN AMERICA 107 player's ball strikes or be accidentally- moved by an opponent or an opponent's caddie or clubs, the opponent loses the hole. In the case of an accidental movement whereby the ball is dis- turbed, however little, from its original position, the punishment seems hardly to fit the crime. But the rules, though strict, are fair, and it is a great mis- take not to read them and abide by them. By all means, play by the rules. Do not regard an opponent as a man of mean spirit and selfish tendencies if he asks you to do so. The mistake usually made is that the rules are not read, or if read, are skimmed over so lightly as to leave but little impression. It would add greatly to the pleasure of the game if all players, and would-be players, would study the rules carefully and in- telligently, and agree cheerfully to live up to them to the letter. The selfish- ness of golf would be thus seen to be a delusion, and the game would borrow an added interest. 108 GOLF IN AMERICA When we come, however, to speak of the disadvantages arising from the need of the large space of ground which is required, a more real difficulty is met with. This of itself would prevent golf from becoming a game for the people at large. It is not likely that cities or villages in this country will support public links, as is the case in many parts of Scotland and England. It is practi- cally only the men who can maintain a club to whom the game is open. These exist all through the country, however, and from a geographical standpoint, golf is already a popular game in the United States, and there is every indica- tion that its popularity will increase as it becomes more widely known. But enough of its drawbacks. It may be said in favor of golf, in the first place, that it is healthful and invigorating and possesses the element of skill to a marked degree. The number of people, after all, who can engage in American football and baseball, our two great GOLF IN AMERICA 109 national games, is limited. Moreover, the population at large need all the out- lets for physical exercise which they can obtain; the more the better, and golf supplies this outlet to a large number, both of men and women. Again — and in this respect it differs much from the two sports just mentioned — golf is a game for all ages, from first childhood to second childhood. It is never too late to take it up. It may be that the swing will be a little less free and the joints a little more stiff in the case of one who prac- tices it for the first time at that time of life which is known as " pretty well on." But this is not necessarily so, and even at worst a three-quarter swing is better than no swing at all. On the other hand, the earlier a boy is allowed to play, the better it will be for his indi- vidual game. The amount of exercise which is taken varies with each player. There is a cer- tain danger in allowing children to flour- ish round with golf clubs, as the chances 110 GOLF IN AMERICA are that their aim will not be true, nor will they pay much attention to the question of where they are standing; but this difficulty can be obviated by allow- ing them to play under instruction until they become fairly proficient. Another great advantage is that not only does the game not need a number of men with whom to form a team, but it can even be played alone and yet be interesting. The spirit of competition in this case is absent, but a man's previ- ous best score can always be attacked with zest should no other adversary be at hand. Still another advantage, un- usual in the case of other games, is the fact that golf can be played practically throughout the entire year. Even when the snow is upon the ground en- thusiasts are at it. The real cause, how- ever, of the widespread popularity of the game, the underlying reason for its existence, is the skill required to execute properly each stroke. This phase of the game is a sealed book to the uninitiated. Problem after problem arise and must SHINNECOCK HILLS LINKS. GOLF IN AMERICA 111 be dealt with as the circumstances of each case demand. The difficulty of those who do not take the trouble to study the correct methods of play are well known. The ground is plowed up, the ball hacked to pieces, the club broken and the temper gone. The whole point of the game is missed. The only real way to enjoy it is to take a sufficient interest in it, to find out how it is played. It will then be found how much more there is to it than is at first supposed. It certainly will take long months of practice before one can hope to equal the professional player, and this point will in all proba- bility never be reached by the majority; but it does not take long to learn how to play a fair game, and from that point on it depends upon the natural aptitude of the player and his willingness to practice whether or not he will gain the position of the first rank. PA.RX IV. It must be remembered that the game of golf is not a game of brute force, but one rather in which skill plays the more important part ; consequently, it is most important at the outset to acquire a cor- rect style of play. The danger, rather, is that the means will occupy the mind too fully and the end be lost sight of. The end of each stroke is to hit the ball with such accuracy and with such force 112 GOLF IN AMERICA 113 as will carry it in the direction and for the distance required, and while the means employed in arriving at the best results are a necessary subject of study and of practice, the beginner is warned to avoid affectations of style. This comes largely from imitation coupled with a failure to understand the first principles of the game and is productive of the very faults which the intelligent player is en- abled to avoid. With the understanding, then, that the player is to aim at the ball first, and at style as a means only of accomplishing a result, it is safe to say that in no game, perhaps, more than in golf, is the understanding of first princi- ples more essential to success. Golf is not easy ; a trial of the game will readily show the fallacy of any such idea. It does not consist merely of hitting a ball from one hole to another in a haphazard way, nor will the stroke wrongly taken ever produce the best result of which the player is capable. One who desires to play the game well must realize that each stroke is a game in itself, and the 114 GOLF IN AMERICA only way to succeed is to take the strokes one by one and learn how to play each one correctly. Scientific reasons for every movement tend to confuse the mind. What the beginner really wishes to know is what he is to do, and it is the object of this chapter (intended only for beginners) to mention what is more or less univer- sally regarded as the correct practical method of play. With this introduction it may be said that the game, broadly speaking, is di- vided into three parts: (i) Driving, (2) Play on the Green or Iron Play, and (3) Putting. Play on the Green might be again subdivided, for in the nature of things the ball seldom falls into exactly the same lie. Sometimes it is a hanging ball, sometimes it lies in a cup; again, unfortunately, in a bunker, or perhaps with a little elevation immediately in front, or in a hundred other possible positions. But for all purposes, it is better and simpler to class all these dif- DRIVING: THE "UPWARD SWING.' GOLF IN AMERICA 115 ferent strokes together under the gen- eral heading of Play on the Green and to speak of them singly as they come up. And first, with regard to the clubs. It is frequently asked, and is a very pertinent question, why it is that so many clubs are necessary for the game of golf. To the uninitiated it looks very much like affectation. Some, it is true, have wooden heads, and others have iron heads, but that to them is the main point of distinction, and it cer- tainly seems an affectation the less par- donable because it is expensive. They should recollect, however, that the game does not consist in batting the ball care- lessly along the ground; its whole in- terest lies in the necessity for playing away the ball in a skillful and satisfac- tory manner, from any position on the ground in which the player may find it. A closer inspection of the clubs than a mere first glance will show that they differ very materially, and that they are carefully made for the purposes to which they are put at different times. 116 GOLF IN AMERICA Merely to satisfy the curiosity of those who ask in desperation how many clubs it is possible to play with, the following list, nineteen in number, is given : WOODEN CLUBS. The driver or play club. Grassed driver. Long spoon. Middle spoon. Baffing spoon. Niblick. Brassy. Bulger. Putter. Driving spoon. Short spoon. IRON CLUBS. Iron-putter. Cleek. Driving ^ron. Medium or ordinary iron. Lofting iron. Niblick. President. Mashie. GOLF IN AMERICA 117 Some of these clubs, such as the baffing spoon and the president, are obsolete; others differ so slightly that it needs a proficient player to tell them apart, and it need hardly be said that it is in no way necessary for the am- bitious beginner to think that he must needs purchase a set of clubs such as has been named. If it must be confessed, the list is given largely to encourage him to get as many as seven clubs, which is cer- tainly all that he will need. These are the brassy and driver, of the family of wooden clubs; and in addition, the cleek, iron, lofter, mashie, and putter. These clubs will be found at different times to be necessary, for it might as well be recognized that unless golf is taken seriously, the main pleasure of the game is missed ; and the man who goes round the course with the cleek and the iron as his only implements, may be enjoying himself, but he is not endeavor- ing seriously to master the fine points of the game. 118 GOLF IN AMERICA Being provided with a set of clubs such as has been suggested, and with a ball, the beginner sallies forth prepared to play round the course. Before he does so, however, he will be wise if he obtains the services of some competent professional who will show him in a general way the essential points, at least of the first stroke. In golf, as in other things, the fine player, whether professional or amateur, is not neces- sarily the best teacher, the art of teach- ing being a very different thing from the capacity to play. The game is very young in this country, and it would surely seem to be a good policy for the many clubs which are springing up on every side to look mainly to the teach- ing qualities of the expert whom they propose to employ as the professional of the club. Arrived at the teeing ground, the first thing to do is to tee the ball. Many good players merely place the ball in a favorable position on the ground, dis- daining the aid of any other tee. Indeed, GOLF IN AMERICA 119 one of the trick shots of golf is to tee the ball upon the crystal of an open-faced watch and drive it with full force from that position. Needless to say, such performers are experts, and the watches their own. Let the beginner be humbly thankful that there is at least one stroke in which he is allowed to place the ball to suit himself. In teeing the ball on a slight elevation made with a pinch of dirt or wet sand, let him be careful that the ball rests very lightly on the dirt. One prominent player declares that he considers a ball clumsily pressed down into a big pat of sand to be bunkered rather than teed. Avoid high tees; they are demoraliz- ing. The effect, in the first place, is apt to be that the ball will be a sky-scraper, and secondly, it has a tendency to spoil your play through the green. With the ball properly teed, the next thing to occupy your mind is the grasp of the club. The driver, as its name indicates, is the only proper club to be used in the opening stroke of the game. 120 GOLF IN AMERICA The beginner will be wise to choose a g-ood stiff club, and to avoid the temptation of getting a springy, willowy- one. The latter, in the hands of one who knows how to use it, is far more serviceable, but the probability is that it will not stand the wear and tear to which it will be subjected by a novice. In addition to this, it is much more dif- ficult with a springy club to acquire true direction for the ball, as the matter of balance is one needing experience. The length and the weight of the club will differ somewhat with the height of the player. DRIVING. The main idea in grasping the club is to remember that the left hand should hold it firmly, rigidly in fact, whereas the right is allowed a much looser grasp. This is upon the sup- position that the player is right- handed. It is laid down by some, and is a good thing to remember, that the left hand and forearm should be re- garded in a certain sense as a part of GOLF IN AMERICA 121 the club itself, and should be used in lending force to the swing, while the right hand is the guiding hand and should be held loosely. The impor- tance of the absolute looseness and flex- ibility of the right hand and arm cannot be overestimated. The club should be held in the fingers of the hands, not in the palms, the left thumb lying along the shaft and the right thumb being allowed to go completely around. Having learned the proper manner in which to hold the club, the player must next find out what is the proper place in which to stand relative to the posi- tion of the ball as it lies upon the ground. The main thing to remember is to stand square to the ball, that is, facing it at right angles to the direction to which it is intended that the ball should be driven. The feet should be firmly planted on the ground so as to afford a good strong position ; probably the dis- tance between them will be, for the average player, about eighteen inches. 122 GOLF IN AMERICA The most difficult question to solve, and the most important one in this connec- tion, is to stand at a correct distance from the ball; not too near so that it will be necessary, in the act of striking, to draw in the arms, whereby the ball will become heeled and driven away to the right, nor, on the other hand, too far, in which case the ball will be caught by the toe of the club and pulled round to the left. What, then, is the correct distance ? The answer to this question is best obtained by allowing the club, when properly grasped in the hands, to rest directly behind the ball. With the knees bent slightly inward to give a firm hold on the ground, and the body in- clined a little forward, the arms stretched out to their full length and the wrists held down, the top of the shaft of the club should be found almost to be touch- ing the left knee. This seems like a very arbitrary rule, and it might not perhaps be a safe one to follow too blindly. The distance from the ball will vary somewhat with the height of GOLF IN AMERICA 123 the player and the length of the driver which he may use ; but the rule will be found to work fairly well on trial. There is little else to be said on this question of position for the drive. The player should discover by practice the correct distance which should intervene between himself and the ball. Uncertainty in this matter means lack of accuracy. When the stroke is actually taken, above all do not assume an unnatural and strained position. The mind should not be occupied with the details of the game to such an extent as to produce manner- isms. No player can hope to become pro- ficient who has a stiff, awkward manner of using his clubs. This awkwardness comes often from the fact that the player is trying too hard to do the many things which are seen to be a part of the stroke of an expert. The idea of freedom of motion should never be lost sight of. Having assumed the correct position, and with the club properly grasped in the hands, the player proceeds to address the ball. In addressing the ball the play- 124 GOLF IN AMERICA er moves the head of his club back and forth with free action over it in the in- tended direction of its flight. The main object of this is twofold: first, the limbering up of the wrists and the satisfaction of knowing that the club is grasped properly in the hands before actually striking the ball, and secondly, swinging the club backwards and for- wards, in the line of the intended flight of the ball, it is more probable that it will be swung back and be allowed to swing downward upon the ball with greater accuracy. Unless the player has these things in mind, it is very much better that he should not wave his club to and fro without purpose, as it is likely that the very things which he intends to avoid will be occasioned by his action. His left hand will be allowed to loosen; he will shift his position from one foot to the other and his eye will become confused. After addressing the ball, the club should be allowed to rest for a moment upon the ground directly behind it. This GOLF IN AMERICA 125 is for the purpose of directing the play- er's attention for the last time to that part of the ball which he intends should come in contact with the face of the club ; and it is well here to mention what might be called the first rule of golf, which is generally stated in the sentence, " Keep your eye on the ball." This sentence is somewhat misleading. It is a matter of fact, that the club will tend to strike the ball at that part of it towards which the eye is directed and it is on this very ac- count doubtless that so many balls are topped. Do not stare rigidly down upon the top of the ball ; rather keep the eye fixed as firmly as possible upon a point just below its center, upon that side where the club rests, before taking the stroke. This rule cannot be repeated too many times ; to lose sight of it is to play a careless, slashing game, equally hard upon the ball and the temper. So far all has been preparation : there remains only the taking of the^ stroke. This is accomplished by swinging the club at full arm's length backwards, and 126 GOLF IN AMERICA in a natural curve, round the right shoul- der, and swinging it down again with full force upon the ball, but with a following motion. It will thus be seen that the swing of the club consists of two parts, the upward swing and downward swing with the follow. The upward swing, when compared with the force of the downward swing, should be more deliberate. ' ' Slow back " is the rule laid down; but it does not mean that the upward swing is to be stilted or hesitating. Indeed, in the hands of a good player, a club will seem to come back with great rapidity ; but it is the last act, so to speak, of taking aim at the ball, and should not be done reck- lessly. The club should be allowed, -as has been said, to swing round the right shoulder and all the way back behind the neck, but never by any possible chance to rest upon the left shoulder. Probably the two most important things to remember at this critical point are that the club must not waver or become loosened in the left hand, and that the GOLF IN AMERICA 127 eye must not wander from the ball for any fraction of a second. If either of these things occur, the drive is almost sure to be a failure. When the club is brought down, traveling as it should in the same line as that by which it was drawn back, remember to siveep away the ball. The stroke does not end by any means when the ball has been struck, but in order to accomplish the best results, the swing of the club is continued, so that at its termination its head will be found to be pointing, as it were, after the flying ball. When in the act of driving, the feet should be settled firmly upon the ground and the upper part of the body allowed to turn freely upon the hips. If this is done, and a full swing is taken, as has been described, it will be found as an entirely natural consequence, that the heel of the left foot has been drawn from the ground and that the left knee has turned slightly inward. This, how- ever, is a consequence of correct driv- ing, not a cause. It is a mistake to 128 GOLF IN AMERICA sway the body backwards and forwards when driving, as the change of position tends to lessen the accuracy of the stroke, and indeed the probable cause of this mistake is very often the affecta- tion of raising the heel of the left foot and bending the left knee inward at the wrong time. Another mistake which is very com- mon to beginners, is the desire to hit the ball too terrible a blow. Theoret- ically, perhaps, if the eye be trained and the judgment of distance perfect, it is impossible to hit the ball too hard; but much better results are to be ob- tained in the beginning by devoting the attention to hitting the ball in the proper place with a moderate amount of force. Sufficient has certainly been said upon the method of taking a single stroke after the statement that the player's mind must not be occupied by details. It is only when in the act of hitting the ball, however, that his mind is to be free and clear of a consideration of the ways and means. One of the commonest cases is DRIVING: THE FINISH OF THE STROKE. GOLF IN AMERICA 129 that of the man who takes the game up carelessly, becomes fascinated with it because it is so much more interesting and difficult than he had at first supposed, and yet continues stolidly to attack the monster in his own way. After playing the game for a month or two, it occurs to him to ask advice from the profes- sional of his club, and it is a hard matter to cure him of his faults. The wiser course is to acknowledge your nothing- ness at the outset. At the same time it is well to adopt immediately a free and open style of hitting at the ball. Pro- vided a beginner is not hitting blindly with the idea of force uppermost in his mind, he will be a more satisfactory pupil if he needs toning down in this respect, rather than building up. Such a one will be more apt to acquire in the end a free and fearless style of play and to avoid the cramped mannerisms of which mention has been made. PLAY ON THE GREEN. What has been said with regard to driving, applies largely to the usual 130 GOLF IN AMERICA stroke which one will be called upon to make while playing through the green. Let us suppose that the player's ball, after his first stroke has fallen upon the turf in the course, lies in fairl)'' good position — too far, however, from the first hole for a full cleek or iron shot. The brassy will perhaps be the proper club to use. The brassy is a wooden club with a brass sole as a protection to the wood. It resembles very much the driver and is a most efficient instrument. The stroke which is taken with it differs in few essential points from that in which the driver is used ; possibly it is better to stand with the ball a little more in ad- vance than is the case when the ball is teed. It may be, however, that the ball has fallen into what is known as a cup. This is a very shallow hole which may be formed by rough treatment of the green, by some one who has turned up the sod at this particular point, or from some other cause, such as the mark of a horse's hoof, or a wagon rut in the GOLF IN AMERICA 131 course. The reason why this stroke is so difficult, is that there is an elevation of ground both in front and behind the ball, and it is a matter of great accuracy to play it out in a good clean manner. This is best accomplished by what is known as a "jerking" stroke, wherein the club strikes with a quick cut imme- diately behind the ball and comes to a dead stop on reaching the ground. It requires some delicacy to get with pre- cision between the elevation immedi- ately behind the ball and the ball itself, and to escape plowing the ground up or topping the ball, in either of which cases the stroke is a failure. In this play, above all others, do not keep the eye upon the top of the ball, but be sure that it is directed intently to that part which is to come into contact with the club. Another stroke which bothers many players other than beginners, is what is known as the hanging ball, which is one which lies on a downward slope of the ground. It is here that the great value 132 GOLF IN AMERICA of a spoon-faced club is seen. The mis- take which nearly all beginners make, is to try and get under the ball so that they may loft it ; it is for the very reason that they are unable to do this that the club used is spoon-faced, and thus will be found to do the work itself. It is hard to learn to play this stroke in the right way. The only correct manner in which to play such a ball is to use a club of the character referred to and to play ex- actly as if the ball were lying upon the level ground. The swinging, sweeping motion when following the ball after it has been struck, the necessity of getting the shoulders well into the blow, are both present as in the case of a drive, but there should be no attempt on the part of the player to loft the ball by a movement of the wrists; let the club do the work and it will be a great satis- faction to see how successfully this diffi- cult stroke can be played. One of the great objects of the game is to avoid the bunkers. Bunkers are a special form of hazards, the latter con- GOLF IN AMERICA 133 sisting of water, bushes, sand, and other impediments, both natural and artificial. A bunker, however, is more strictly a sandpit. A good player may extricate himself when his ball has fallen into a sandpit, with the loss perhaps of a stroke or two. But not so the novice; unless the latter be careful, his faults will only the more effectually pile up his difficul- ties. Instead of hitting the ball away from the ground, he will only drive it farther in, and he has the less help in aiding his eye, for the reason that the rules do not allow him in a bunker to place his club upon the sand behind the ball at any time while in the act of taking his stroke or preparing to do so. The main thing to remember is that he should not attempt to hit the ball itself. This may seem curious, but it is true nevertheless. The sand about an inch back of the ball should be the mark at which he should aim ; sand and all must come with the ball; it is the only way. It is no easy matter to accomplish this. 134 GOLF IN AMERICA In every other stroke of the game the player has been accustomed to keep his eye on the ball itself, until it has become almost a second nature. If he were allowed to rest his club but for a mo- ment on the spot which he intends to hit, it would be a great help. An indentation would thus be made which would be a guide to the eye, but even this is denied him under the penalty of the loss of the hole. At no time of the game, with the exception perhaps of putting, is it more necessary that he should keep his self- composure and attend strictly to busi- ness, for the ball is an obstinate thing in a bunker; to aim behind it, however, is the secret of success. In speaking of the "approach shot," it might well be borne in mind that it shares with putting the honor of being the stroke upon which most depends. An approach shot is one played from such a distance from the hole that the ball falls, or should fall, upon the putting- green. Many players, if the distance be not altogether too far, use almost the GOLF IN AMERICA 135 same stroke as has been described when the ball lies in a cup. The full swing will not usually be necessary; a three- quarter shot, or in other words, a shot which is made without the use of the shoulders, will often be sufficient to bring the ball upon the green. The right foot should be more in advance, and the weight of the body may be allowed to remain much more upon the right leg than is the case in driv- ing. Indeed, the stroke is taken almost entirely off the right foot. Speaking in a general way, the shorter the distance from the hole in playing the approach shot, the farther in advance may the right foot be placed, and the more may the weight of the body be allowed to rest upon it. This principle is carried to such an extent in the case of some players, that when upon the putting- green they play with the ball directly opposite, or in extreme cases, even a little bit behind, the right foot. The lofting iron is the correct club to use, the face being very far laid back, and 136 GOLF IN AMERICA whether the shot be played by a jerk as above mentioned, or the ball be lofted, it is much more likely that the use of this club will give the ball a backward spin and thus cause it to fall dead upon the green. The novice would probably have much better success, from a practi- cal point of view, in running the ball up from a moderate distance with a wooden putter; but this style of play is not a part of the game and should not be employed. As in the case of using the cleek for driving, it only puts off the day when he may hope to become a proficient player. In the approach shot the feet should be somewhat nearer together than in driving, the hands somewhat farther down the shaft. Approach play should be a matter of study and continual practice under the eye of an intelligent professional or teacher. It is impossible in a part dealing so entirely with the essentials of the game to do more than to point out a few of the leading principles. GOLF IN AMERICA 137 With the ball lying upon the putting- green, we come to the last stroke which it was proposed in the beginning of this part to discuss. In the early days of our golfing endeavors, we are apt to despise putting and to think that driving is the great stroke of the game. In one sense this is true. Nothing can give such keen pleasure in the game as a good clean drive delivered with a full swing. It is a sensation, so to speak, to be sought after. When players get on a little way, although they still cling to the feeling of pleasure which the drive gives, they are led into what is perhaps the op- posite extreme. They then hear so much of the value of good putting and of ap- proach shots that they begin to feel that there is something wrong in taking so much satisfaction in their driving. The correct view lies between the two ex- tremes. Driving is certainly a very im- portant part of the game. In a course of eighteen holes, the far and sure driver 138 GOLF IN AMERICA has a very great advantage over him to whom the art of driving is a sealed book. Many a match has been won by the famous professional, Douglas Rolland, through his superior powers of driving. But a stroke is a stroke, and a poor putt is just as costly from this point of view as a poor drive. The man who can putt always with accuracy has already ob- tained a marked advantage. A man who putts poorly, on the other hand, may take three, four, or even a greater num- ber of strokes to get into the hole when once within twenty yards of it. Conse- quently, good putting, though it appears at first less interesting than the rest of the game, will be found in the long run to be of the very greatest advantage. When once upon the putting-green, uni- formity of style amongst players seems to be lost sight of. By degrees each man will assume a position which he will have found by experience to be the most suita- ble for him. Some stand with their feet far apart, others having them close together; some with the ball midway GOLF IN AMERICA 139 between their feet, others with the ball lying even to the left of the left foot, and others, again, with the ball lying op- posite to the right foot. The shaft of the club is held at the top and low down ; the player faces the hole or the ball, and altogether, each one suits himself. The question which arises first in the mind is to decide upon the advisability of using a wooden putter or an iron one. That the wooden clubs are of greater use from longer distances, and the iron ones for shorter distances, is pretty well accepted; but many players will find that upon a true green the wooden put- ter is the more reliable owing to the weight of the head of the club. It is less likely with a wooden putter that the ball will not be struck sufficiently hard to reach the hole. This is a dan- ger which is commonly experienced. A tendency to play cautiously has the effect of causing one to play weakly, and the ball stops short. This failing is so universal as to have given rise to the maxim, '' Be Up," amongst golf players; 140 GOLF IN AMERICA in other words, the hole, even if it is only four inches and a half in diameter, runs a good chance of catching your ball, providing the ball reaches it. Aim, therefore, for the far side of the hole, not the side nearer to you. Another reason for playing with decision in putting and forcing the ball to travel with a fair rate of speed upon the green, is the fact that small obstructions or uneven pieces of ground are the less likely to divert it from its proper direction, whereas a ball putted weakly is likely to be turned aside by the slightest cause. A good gen- eral rule in putting : stand close to the ball, the weight on the right leg, the right arm close to the side, and the ball nearly opposite the right foot. Remember that there is nothing approaching a swing in putting : the stroke is more in the nature of a push. Again, it is as unwise to oc- cupy an undue amount of time in prep- aration as it is to play with undue haste. The distance from the hole and the di- rection of the path of the ball are the only two things to consider. A glance GOLF IN AMERICA 141 will suffice to tell at what distance the ball is lying from the hole, and the amount of force necessary to reach it will be found better by practice upon the green than in any other way. The ques- tion of direction will depend upon the condition of the ground, and possibly upon the wind. In aiming, remember once again to play for the back of the hole. Above all, avoid carelessness in putting; one of the dangers into which beginners are apt to fall. Do not be de- ceived by the fact that it appears easy. Play carefully at this point of the game, otherwise many strokes are practically presented to your opponent. To sum up : ( i) Drwi7tg — Begin with a good stiff club; avoid high tees; in holding the club the left hand should be held firmly and the right hand loosely, the club should be held in the fingers of the hand, not in the palm, the left thumb lying along the shaft and the right thumb being allowed to go completely round. Stand square to the ball with the feet firmly planted upon the ground 142 GOLF IN AMERICA and separated by about eighteen inches. Rest the head of the club upon the ground back of the ball, and if you are standing at a correct distance from the ball the top of the shaft of the club will be found to be touching the left knee. In addressing the ball, remember to have in mind the two objects in view: first, that you may be sure that the club is properly grasped, and secondly, that you may obtain a better idea of the line of the intended flight of the ball. After addressing the ball, the club is to be allowed to rest for a moment upon the ground behind it before taking the swing. In swinging the club around your right shoulder and behind the neck, do not allow it to rest upon the left shoulder ; turn upon the hips and do not sway backwards and forwards. The arms should be at full length, and the shoulders must get well into the work. ** Slow back." The arc described by the club in its upward swing is the same as that of its downward swing. Throughout the entire swing keep your GOLF IN AMERICA 143 eye upon the ball. Never allow the club to waver or become loosened in the left hand when in the act of driving; do not attempt to hit the ball too hard, aim rather to hit it in the proper place, and after the ball has been struck, do not forget that the club must be allowed to follow after with a swinging motion, so that at the end of the stroke the head of the club will be found to be pointing in the direction which the ball has taken. (2) Play on the green — A ball lying in a cup, should be played by the stroke which is known as a "jerking" stroke, in which the club comes to a short stop on reaching the ground. In this play it is most important to keep your eye upon that part of the ball which it is intended should come into contact with the face of the club. A " hanging ball," or that which lies upon a downward slope of ground, should be attacked with a club having its face particularly far laid back; the chief thing to remember being, that with such a club the ball must be played 144 GOLF IN AMERICA exactly the same as though it were lying upon the level ground. The club, ow- ing to its peculiar shape, will do the rest; do not, therefore, attempt to get under the ball or to loft it. In a "bunker " the main thing to aim at and hit is the sand back of the ball, and not to attempt to strike the ball it- self. The ball lies practically imbedded in the sand, and it is necessary to carry away the sand back of it in order to get well under. Play with particular cool- ness and judgment at this point of the game, otherwise your difficulties will only increase. The " approach shot" may be played either by the stroke recommended when the ball is lying in a cup, or the ball may be lofted ; a three-quarter shot (one made without the aid of the shoulders) will usually be sufficient to bring the ball upon the green. The right foot should be more in advance and the weight of the body allowed to remain almost en- tirely upon the right leg. The approach shot is probably the most important, and THE "APPROACH SHOT.' GOLF IN AMERICA 145 certainly one of the most difficult shots the player will be usually called upon to undertake, and it is recommended that he practice it carefully under the in- structions of a competent teacher. (3) Putting — In putting there are two things to be taken into consideration : the distance of the hole from the ball and the direction. To acquire a correct idea of the amount of force necessary to reach the hole, continual practice upon the green should be taken ; the heavier the club, the less will be the amount of force to be applied by the player, for the weight of the head of the club is an element to be considered. Wooden putters, especially for the longer dis- tances, are considered more reliable than iron ones, and with the use of a wooden putter it is more likely that the ball will reach the hole and not fall short. Aim for the far side of the hole ; otherwise the anxiety not to go a hair's breadth either side will cause one to play weakly. The stroke required in putting possesses none of the elements of a swing, the 146 GOLF IN AMERICA joints and wrists being- stiff, the arms close to the side ; the ball should be al- most opposite, though a little in advance of the right foot. Putt with decision, but never with carelessness. It has been impossible, of course, in a short treatise such as this one, to go to any extent into the theory of the game. There are many fine points also in the practice of the game which have not been touched upon, such as wrist shots, slicing, and the correct stroke to play when a player finds himself stymied. This part, however, makes no pre- tense beyond mentioning the essential points of the game, the methods of deal- ing with the ball in the average condi- tions under which one must usually play. The more usual failings and difficulties of beginners have been pointed out and their remedies suggested. Other diffi- culties and other questions will certainly arise as the novice continues to play, and for these the advice of a capable pro- fessional or good teacher, whether pro- fessional or amateur, will be necessary. ON THE PUTTING-GREEN. GOLF IN AMERICA 147 A few words remain to be added con- cerning general play. Do not be discouraged if in the begin- ning your ball does not sail away into space as does that of the crack player whose style you are endeavoring to imi- tate. The game cannot be learned all at once; if it could, there is no doubt at all but that one of its great pleasures would be lost. It takes long and intel- ligent practice. Probably at first you will have what is known as * ' beginners' luck; " in other words, you will imme- diately begin to play what you may consider to be a very fair game, even when compared to the play of those who are no longer novices. Later on, you will feel that you are going backwards; the more you try, the less happy your re- sults. The cause of all this probably comes from the fact that a beginner knows absolutely nothing about the game. This being so, the mind is not bothered about details, and he gives his whole attention to hitting the ball with free and unimpeded movement. Then 148 GOLF IN AMERICA he begins to look the game up in the books, and his mind is confused by the number of details which he is asked to remember at the same time; conse- quently, his game falls off and his man- nerisms alone remain. Practice under good coaching is the one thing necessary to elevate him from this condition into the ranks of good golfers, for a good golfer he certainly cannot be until he has mastered the details of the game. The amount of practice which is consid- ered wise is a matter in which there is some difference of opinion. Three or four times a week is thought by some to be sufficient, and more than that un- desirable, if a man wishes to obtain the best results. This is, however, if pos- sible, taking the game a little too seri- ously. It is a better rule to play when- ever the opportunity presents itself and you desire to do so, but to remember above all not to get into the habit of playing carelessly; there is no greater enemy to success. PART V. ETIQUETTE. The playing rules of golf are fairly full and comprehensive. They serve to point out the method whereby the game shall be played and the limits by which it shall be prescribed. These in a general way may be said to be the objects of the rules of all games. But there is something more to any game than the actual rules under which it is to be played. There is the interpreta- tion of these rules, the spirit also in which they are to be received and car- ried out, and certain practices among the players which, for obvious reasons, in each case, custom has made an un- written addition to the rules. It is this " something more," this unwritten ad- dition, which forms the etiquette of the game. There is no rule, for instance, in golf providing that an opponent shall not 150 GOLF IN AMERICA tee his ball before the player who leads from the tee has been allowed to play. Yet this is universally regarded as a part of the etiquette of the game. No player preparing to drive off should be bothered by his opponent who is mov- ing around him, looking for a suitable eminence upon which to tee his own ball. And if his opponent has actually teed his own ball before the player who has the honor is preparing for his stroke, it is equally an annoyance. It is a reminder that his opponent is eager for his own opportunity; it bears with it a suggestion of hurry, and serves generally to distract the attention of the player from his own game. This, obviously, is unnecessary on the part of the opponent and an actual disadvan- tage to him who is about to play. The rules do not provide for such a case; there is no loss of a hole or of a stroke; consequently custom has stepped in and has declared it to be contrary to the etiquette of the game. Again, and this is most important, no ST. ANDREWS LiNKS. ANOTHER VIEW. GOLF IN AMERICA 151 player, caddie, or onlooker should move or talk during a stroke. Golf is a game essentially where each individual stroke must be carefully played. Take care of your strokes and your score will take care of itself, might well be said of it. It is in consequence most important that a player should be allowed the privilege of playing each stroke without distrac- tion or annoyance. It is only by a con- centration of his attention to the partic- ular stroke under consideration that he can hope to excel in the game. This is well known to golfers and to the ma- jority of our caddies also in a vague way. The caddies may not reason much about it, but the necessity of silence and of standing in one position while the stroke is being made has been well drilled into them. It is the result, after all, which is important to the player. With the spectators, however, the matter is not so well understood. Even if it be a positive right which onlookers have to follow a match game, it is a right which is theirs under restriction. A certain 152 GOLF IN AMERICA courtesy upon their part towards the players is demanded, and it consists in remaining silent and in one position as each stroke is played. It is upon the putting-green where this matter of eti- quette is usually most in danger. A has holed out, let us say, with a total score of 50. B is fifteen yards from the hole and has played 48. His preparation for the stroke is complete — distance, direction, wind, everything has been taken into consideration, and as he is about to play, '' Will he do it ? " comes to his ears, from some interested on-looker, in a stage- whisper. Any golf player knows how far in excess of the apparent cause is the effect which may be produced upon the player in such a case. One of the best ways, perhaps, to provide against such an occurrence at the last hole, is to choke it off at the first. This can be done by a firm and impartial umpire or scorer who will make it his duty after a gen- eral warning to speak openly to individ- ual transgressors as the occasion de- mands it. The presence of spectators GOLF IN AMERICA 153 should at all odds be a stimulus, not a handicap, to the contestants. It is to be presumed that a party play- ing three or more balls will not make as rapid progress as a party playing but two balls. If all the players in both parties played at somewhat the same rate of speed, it can readily be seen that such would be the case. Consequently a party playing three or more balls must allow a two-ball match to pass them; another illustration of the fact that eti- quette is founded upon good sense. Players who have holed out should not try their putts over again when other players are following them. To do so would obviously delay in an unfair man- ner those who are behind. It should also be remembered that it is equally unreasonable for those who are following on to press too eagerly upon the party ahead of them. It is seldom that one who is accustomed to the links is hit by a golf ball ; at the same time there is a strong possibility that some players will be struck unless there is some method 154 GOLF IN AMERICA observed in allowing a safe distance to intervene between two parties engaged in separate games. The custom in this respect is that no player should play from the tee until those in front are out of range. With good players the second shot ought to take one out of range, but, as a matter of fact, the indifferent player will need three shots or more to make the distance. It is a question of good sense and judgment. When approaching the putting-green, it is correct to wait until those in front have holed out and moved away before playing the approach shot. Of course, if the party in front is composed of poor players, and that behind is a faster team, a feeling of natural politeness should suggest to those in front to allow those behind to pass them. A little common sense will show that all these suggestions are entirely sensible to prevent unrea- sonable delay. Players looking for a lost ball must allow any other match coming up to pass them. The time allowed to a GOLF IN AMERICA 155 player in looking for a lost ball is five minutes, and it is not to be expected that the play of other matches on a crowded links is to be blocked on this account. Another rule belonging to the estab- lished etiquette of the game is that a party playing a shorter round must allow a two-ball match playing the whole round to pass them. This is upon the theory that those playing a match game consist- ing of a complete round of the course should have greater rights than those who are merely playing over a part of the course in practice. A matter which is most frequently overlooked is the replacing of turf which has been cut or displaced in the act of playing. It not infrequently happens with the beginner that he recklessly plows up the turf in his attempts to hit the ball. These agricultural strokes are entirely excusable from one point of view. No one knows until he has tried the game how frequent and uninten- tional they may be, but the fact that 156 GOLF IN AMERICA they are excusable because they are un- intentional is no reason why the dam- age done should not be remedied before passing on, otherwise a course which is naturally true will in time become greatly spoiled in this respect. So much for some of the well-estab- lished customs of golf, the observance of which, especially upon a crowded links, greatly adds to the pleasure of the game. RULES FOR THE GAME OF GOLF. 1. The game of golf is played by two or more sides, each playing its own ball. A side may consist of one or more per- sons. 2. The game consists in each side play- ing a ball from a tee into a hole by suc- cessive strokes, and the hole is won by the side holing its ball in the fewest strokes, except as otherwise provided for in the rules. If two sides hole out in GOLF IN AMERICA 167 the same number of strokes, the hole is halved, 3. The teeing ground shall be indi- cated by two marks placed in a line at right angles to the course, and the player shall not tee in front of nor on either side of these marks, nor more than two club lengths behind them. A ball played from outside the limits of the teeing ground as thus defined may be recalled by the opposite side. The holes shall be 4^ inches in diam- eter and at least 4 inches deep. 4. The ball must be fairly struck at and not pushed, scraped or spooned, un- der penalty of the loss of the hole. Any movement of the club which is intended to strike the ball is a stroke. 5. The game commences by each side playing a ball from the first teeing ground. In a match with two or more on a side, the partners shall strike off alternately from the tees and shall strike alternately during the play of the hole. The players who are to strike against each other shall be named at starting, 158 GOLF IN AMERICA and shall continue in the same order during the match. The player who shall play first on each side shall be named by his own side. In case of failure to agree it shall be settled by lot or toss which side shall have the option of leading, 6. If a player shall play when his part- ner should have done so his side shall lose the hole, except in the case of the tee shot, when the stroke may be recalled at the option of the opponents. 7. The side winning a hole shall lead in starting for the next hole and may re- call the opponent's stroke should he play out of order. The privilege is called the '* honor." On starting for a new match, the winner of the long match in the previous round is entitled to the ' ' hon- or. " Should the first match have been halved, the winner of the last hole gained is entitled to the '* honor." 8. One round of the links — generally eighteen holes — is a match unless other- wise agreed upon. The match is won by the side which gets more holes ahead GOLF IN AMERICA 159 than there remain holes to be played, or by the side winning the last hole when the match was all even at the second last hole. If both sides have won the same number it is a halved match. 9. After the balls are struck from the tee, the ball farthest from the hole to which the parties are playing shall be played first, except as otherwise pro- vided for in the rules. Should the wrong side play first, the opponent may recall the stroke before his side has played. 10. Unless with the opponent's con- sent, a ball struck from the tee shall not be changed, touched or moved be- fore the hole is played out, under the penalty of one stroke, except as other- wise provided for in the rules. 11. In playing through the green, all loose impediments within a club's length of a ball which is not lying in or touch- ing a hazard may be removed, but loose impediments which are more than a club's length from the ball shall not be removed under the penalty of one stroke. 160 GOLF IN AMERICA 12. Before striking at the ball the player shall not move, bend or break anything fixed or growing near the ball, except in the act of placing his feet on the ground for the purpose of addressing the ball, and in soling his club to ad- dress the ball, under the penalty of the loss of the hole, except as provided for in Rule i8. 13. A ball stuck fast in wet ground or sand may be taken out and replaced loosely in the hole which it has made. 14. When a ball lies in or touches a hazard, the club shall not touch the ground, nor shall anything be touched or moved before the player strikes at the ball, except that the player may place his feet firmly on the ground for the purpose of addressing the ball, under the penalty of the loss of the hole. 15. A ^'hazard " shall be any bunker of whatever nature — water, sand, loose earth, mole hills, paths, roads or rail- ways, whins, bushes, rushes, rabbit scrapes, fences, ditches, or anything which is not the ordinary green of the GOLF IN AMERICA 161 course, except sand blown on to the grass by wind or sprinkled on grass for the preservation of the links, or snow or ice, or bare patches on the course. 1 6. A player or a player's caddie shall not press down or remove any irregu- larities of surface near the ball, except at the teeing ground, under the penalty of the loss of the hole. 17. If any vessel, wheelbarrow, tool, roller, grass-cutter, box, or other similar obstruction has been placed upon the course, such obstruction may be re- moved. A ball lying on or touching such obstruction, or on clothes, or nets, or on ground under repair or temporarily covered up or opened, may be lifted and dropped at the nearest point of the course, but a ball lifted in a hazard^ shall be dropped in the hazard. A ball lying in a golf hole or flag hole may be lifted and dropped not more than a club's length behind such hole. 18. When a ball is completely covered with grass, bushes, hedges, trees, or foliage, only so much thereof shall be 162 GOLF IN AMERICA set aside as that the player shall have a view of his ball before he plays, whether in a line with the hole or otherwise. 19. When a ball is to be dropped, the player shall drop it. He shall front the hole, stand erect behind the hazard, keep the spot from which the ball was lifted (or in the case of running- water, the spot at which it entered) in a line be- tween him and the hole, and drop the ball behind him from his head, standing as far behind the hazard as he may please. 20. When the balls in play lie within six inches of each other — measured from their nearest points — the ball nearer the hole shall be lifted until the other is played, and shall then be replaced as nearly as possible in its original position. Should the ball farther from the hole be accidentally moved in so doing, it shall be replaced. Should the lie of the lifted ball be altered by the opponent in play- ing, it may be placed in a lie near to, and as nearly as possible similar to, that from which it was lifted. GOLF IN AMERICA 163 21. If the ball lie or be lost in water, the player may drop a ball, under the penalty of one stroke. 2 2. Whatever happens by accident to a ball in motion, such as its being de- flected or stopped by any agency out- side the match, or by the forecaddie, is a ''rub of the green," and the ball shall be played from where it lies. Should a ball lodge in anything moving, such ball, or if it cannot be recovered, an- other ball, shall be dropped as nearly as possible at the spot where the object was when the ball lodged in it. But if a ball at rest be displaced by any agency outside the match, the player shall drop it or another ball as nearly as possible at the spot where it lay. On the putting-green the ball may be re- placed by hand. 23. If the player's ball strike, or be accidentally moved by, an opponent, or an opponent's caddie or clubs, the oppo- nent loses the hole. 24. If the player's ball strike, or be stopped by, himself or his partner, or 164 GOLF IN AMERICA either of their caddies or clubs, or if, while in the act of playing the player strike the ball twice, his side loses the hole. 25. If the player, when not making a stroke, or his partner or either of their caddies touch their side's ball, except at the tee, so as to move it, or by touch- ing anything cause it to move, the pen- alty is one stroke. 26. A ball is considered to have been moved if it leave its original position in the least degree and stop in another; but if a player touch his ball and there- by cause it to oscillate, without causing it to leave its original position, it is not moved in the sense of Rule 25. 27. A player's side loses a stroke if he play the opponent's ball, unless ( i ) the opponent then play the player's ball, whereby the penalty is cancelled, and the hole must be played out with the balls thus exchanged, or (2) the mistake occur through wrong informa- tion given by the opponent, in which case the mistake, if discovered before GOLF IN AMERICA 165 the opponent has played, must be recti- fied by placing a ball as nearly as possi- ble where the opponent's ball lay. If it be discovered, before either side has struck off at the tee, that one side has played out the previous hole with the ball of a party not engaged in the match, that side loses that hole. 28. If a ball be lost, the player's side loses the hole. A ball shall be held as lost if it be not found within five min- utes after the search is begun. 29. A ball must be played wherever it lies, or may, under a penalty of two strokes, be lifted out of a difficulty of any description and teed behind the same. 30. The term "putting-green" shall mean the ground within twenty yards of the hole, excepting hazards. 31. All loose impediments may be removed from the putting-green, except the opponent's ball when at a greater distance from the player's than six inches. 32. In a match of three or more 166 GOLF IN AMERICA sides, a ball in any degree lying be- tween the player and the hole must be lifted, or, if on the putting-green, holed out. 33. When the ball is on the putting- green, no mark shall be placed, nor line drawn, as a guide. The line to the hole may be pointed out, but the person doing so may not touch the ground with the hand or club. The player may have his own or his partner's caddie to stand at the hole, but none of the players or their caddies may move so as to shield the ball from, or expose it to, the wind. The penalty for any breach of this rule is the loss of the hole. 34. The player, or his caddie, may re- move (but not press down) sand, earth, worm casts or snow lying around the hole or on the line of his putt. This shall be done by brushing lightly with the hand only across the putt and not along it. Dung may be removed to a side by an iron club, but the club must not be laid with more than its own GOLF IN AMERICA 167 weight upon the ground. The putting line must not be touched by club, hand or foot, except as above authorized, or immediately in front of the ball in the act of addressing it, under the penalty of the loss of the hole. 35. Either side is entitled to have the flag-stick removed when approaching the hole. If the ball rest against the flag- stick when in the hole, the player shall be entitled to remove the stick, and, if the ball fall in, it shall be con- sidered as holed out in the previous stroke. 36. A player shall not play until the opponent's ball shall have ceased to roll, under the penalty of one stroke. Should the player's ball knock in the opponent's ball, the latter shall be counted as holed out in the previous stroke. If, in play- ing, the player's ball displace the oppo- nent's ball, the opponent shall have the option of replacing it. 37. A player shall not ask for advice, nor be knowingly advised about the game by word, look or gesture from 168 GOLF IN AMERICA any one except his own caddie, or his partner or partner's caddie, tinder the penalty of the loss of the hole. 38. If a ball split into separate pieces, another ball may be put down where the largest portion lies, or if two pieces are apparently of equal size, it may be put where either piece lies, at the option of the player. If a ball crack or become unplayable, the player may change it, on intimating to his opponent his inten- tion to do so. 39. A penalty stroke shall not be counted the stroke of a player, and shall not affect the rotation of play. 40. Should any dispute arise on any point, the players have the right of de- termining the party or parties to whom the dispute shall be referred, but should they not agree, either party may refer it to the Green Committee of the green where the dispute occurs, and their decision shall be final. Should the dispute not be covered by the rules of golf, the arbiters must decide it by equity. GOLF IN AMERICA 169 SPECIAL RULES FOR MEDAL PLAY. 1. In club competitions, the competi- tor doing the stipulated course in the fewest strokes shall be the winner. 2. If the lowest score be made by two or more competitors, the ties shall be decided by another round, to be played either on the same or on any other day as the Captain, or, in his absence, the Secretary shall direct. 3. New holes shall be made for the medal round, and thereafter no member shall play any stroke on a putting-green before competing. 4. The scores shall be kept by a special marker, or by the competitors noting each other's scores. The scores marked shall be checked at the finish of each hole. On completion of the course, the score of the player shall be signed by the person keeping the score and handed to the Secretary. 5. If a ball be lost, the player shall return as nearly as possible to the spot 170 GOLF IN AMERICA where the ball was struck, tee another ball, and lose a stroke. If the lost ball be found before he has struck the other ball, the first shall continue in play. 6. If the player's ball strike himself, or his clubs or caddie, or if, in the act of playing, the player strike the ball twice, the penalty shall be one stroke. 7. If a competitor's ball strike the other player, or his clubs or caddie, it is a " rub of the green," and the ball shall be played from where it lies. 8. A ball may, under a penalty of two strokes, be lifted out of a difficulty of any description, and be teed behind same. 9. All balls shall be holed out, and when play is on the putting-green, the flag shall be removed, and the competi- tor whose ball is nearest the hole shall have the option of holing out first, or of lifting his ball, if it be in such a posi- tion that it might, if left, give an advan- tage to the other competitor. Through- out the green a competitor can have the other competitor's ball lifted, if he find that it interferes with his stroke. GOLF IN AMERICA 171 10. A competitor may not play with a professional, and he may not receive ad- vice from any one but his caddie. A forecaddie may be employed. 11. Competitors may not discontinue play because of bad weather. 12. The penalty for a breach of any rule shall be disqualification. 13. Any dispute regarding the play shall be determined by the Green Com- mittee. 14. The ordinary Rules of Golf, so far as they are not at variance with these special rules, shall apply to medal play. ETIQUETTE OF GOLF. The following customs belong to the established Etiquette of Golf and should be observed by all Golfers : 1. No player, caddie or onlooker should move or talk during a stroke. 2. No player should play from the tee until the party in front have played their 172 GOLF IN AMERICA second strokes and are out of range, nor play to the putting-green till the party in front have holed out and moved away. 3. The player who leads from the tee should be allowed to play before his opponent tees his ball. 4. Players who have holed out should not try their putts over again when other players are following them. 5. Players looking for a lost ball must allow any other match coming up to pass them. 6. A party playing three or more balls must allow a two-ball match to pass them. 7. A party playing a shorter round must allow a two-ball match playing the whole round to pass them. 8. A player should not putt at the hole when the flag is in it. 9. The reckoning of the strokes is kept by the terms: *'the odd," "two more," "three more," etc., and "one off three," "one off two," "the like." The reckoning of the holes is kept by GOLF IN AMERICA 173 the terms: so many ''holes up," or "all even," and so many "to play." lo. Turf cut or displaced by a stroke in playing should be at once replaced. GLOSSARY OF TECHNICAL TERMS EMPLOYED IN THE GAME OF GOLF. Addressing the Ball. — Putting oneself in position to strike the ball. Approach. — When a player is suffi- ciently near the hole to be able to drive the ball to the putting-green, his stroke is called the "approach shot." Baff. — To strike the ground with the " sole " of the club-head in playing, and so send ball in air. Baffy. — A wooden club to play lofting shots. Bone. — See Horn. Brassy. — A wooden club with a brass sole. Break-club. — An obstacle lying near 174 GOLF IN AMERICA a ball of such a nature as might break the club when striking at the ball. Bulger. — A wooden club with a con- vex face. Bunker. — A term originally confined, almost exclusively, to a sandpit. Its use is now extended to almost any kind of hazard. See Hazard. Bye. — The holes remaining after the long match is finished. Caddie. — A person who carries the golfer's clubs. Carry. — The distance from the pface where the ball is struck to the place where it pitches. Hence a long carry, and a short carry. Cleek. — An iron-headed club used for driving, and sometimes for putting. Club. — The implement with which the ball is struck. The heads are of three kinds — wood, wood with a brass sole, and iron only. Course. — That portion of the links on which the game ought to be played, generally bounded on either side by rough ground or other hazard. GOLF IN AMERICA 175 Cup. — A small hole in the course, usu- ally one made by the stroke of some pre- vious playei*. Dead. — A ball is said to be " dead " when it lies so near the hole that the "putt" is a (^.?rt^(/ certainty. A ball is said to fall "dead" when it does not run after alighting. Divot. — Piece of turf cut out by an iron club, which should always be care- fully replaced. Dormy. — One side is said to be "dormy"when it is as many holes ahead as there remain holes to play. (This word is probably derived from the French, like many Scottish terms.) Draw. — To drive widely to the left hand. Identical in its effect with Hook and Pull. Driver. — See Play Club. Face. — First, the slope of a bunker or hillock; second, the part of the club head which strikes the ball. Flat. — A club is said to be "fiat" when its head is at a very obtuse angle to the shaft. 176 GOLF IN AMERICA Fog. — Moss, rank grass. Foozle. — A bad, bungling stroke. Fore! — A warning cry to any person in the way of the stroke. Foursome. — A match in which two play on each side ; those on a side play- ing alternate strokes with the same ball. Gobble. — A rapid straight " putt " into the hole, such that, had the ball not gone in, it would have gone some dis- tance beyond. Golf -ball. — Made of gutta-percha, or some composition into which gutta-per- cha largely enters, strongly compressed in a mold. They are numbered by the makers — 26, 27, 27)^, 28, 29 — according to the number of drachms (avoirdupois) they weigh. A 27)^ gutta-percha is iH inch in diameter. Grassed. — Said of a club whose face is slightly ** spooned " or sloped back- ward. Green. — First, the whole links; sec- ond, the putting-ground around the dif- erent holes. Grip. — First, the part of the handle GOLF IN AMERICA 177 covered with leather by which the club is grasped; second, the grasp itself. Gutty. — An euphemistic term for a gutta-percha ball. Half One. — A handicap of a stroke deducted every second hole. Half Shot. — Less than a full swing. Halved. — A hole is said to be ** halved" when each side takes the same number of strokes. A ''halved match "is a "drawn game"; i.e. the players have proved to be equal. Hajiging. — A "hanging" ball is one which lies on a downward slope. Hazard. — A general term for bunker, long grass, road, water, whin, molehill, or other bad ground. Head. — This word is a striking speci- men of incongruity and mixed metaphor. A head is the lowest part of a club and possesses, among other mysterious char- acteristics, a sole^ a keel, a toe, or 7tose, a neck, and a face/ Heel. — First,the part of the head near- est the shaft; second, to hit from this part and send ball to the right hand. 178 GOLF IN AMERICA Hole. — First, the four-and-a-quarter- inch hole lined with iron. The holes going out are generally marked with white and those coming in with red flags; second, the whole space between any two of these. Honor. — The right to play off first from the tee. Hook. — See Draw. Horn. — A piece of that substance in- serted in the sole of the club to prevent it splitting. Hose. — The socket in iron-headed clubs into which the shaft fits. Iron. — A club made of the material its name implies, with the head more or less laid back to loft a ball. Jerk. — In "jerking" the club should strike the ball with a downward stroke and stop on reaching the ground. Lie. — First, the inclination of a club when held on the ground in the natural position for striking; second, the situa- tion of a ball — good or bad. Lift. — To lift a ball is to take it out of a hazard and drop or tee it behind. GOLF IN AMERICA 179 Like. — See under Odd. Like-as-we-lie. — When both sides have played the same number of strokes. Links. — The open downs or heath on which golf is played. Loft.— To elevate the ball. Made. — A player or his ball is said to be ** made " when his ball is sufficiently near the hole to be played on to the put- ting-green next shot. Mashy. — A straight-faced niblick. Match. — First, the sides playing against each other ; second, the game itself. Match Play. — Reckoning the score by holes. Medal Play. — Reckoning the score by strokes. Miss the Globe. — To fail to strike the ball either by swinging right over the top of it or by hitting the ground be- hind. It is counted a stroke. Neck. — The crook of the head where it joins the shaft. Niblick. — A small narrow-headed heavy iron club used when the ball lies in bad places, as ruts or whins, etc. 180 GOLF IN AMERICA Nose. — The point or front portion of the club-head. Odd. — First, ''An odd," " two odds," etc., per hole, means the handicap given to a weak opponent by deducting one, two, etc., strokes from his total every hole; second, to have played " the odd " is to have played one stroke more than your adversary. Some other terms used in counting the game will be most easily explained here altogether: If your opponent has played one stroke more than you — i.e. "the odd" — your next stroke will be " the like; " if two strokes more — i.e. "the two more" — your next stroke will be ' ' the one off two; " if " three more," "the one off three; " and so on. One off Two, O^ie off Three, etc. — See under Odd. Play Club. — A wooden-headed club with a full-length shaft more or less supple ; with it the ball can be driven to the greatest distance. It is used when the ball lies well. Press. — To strive to hit harder than GOLF IN AMERICA 181 you can with adequate accuracy of aim. Putt. — To play the delicate game close to the hole. (Pronounce u as in but.) Putter. — An upright, stiff-shafted, wooden-headed club (some use iron heads), used when the ball is on the putting-green. Putting-green. — The prepared ground round the hole. Putty. — Eclipse ball, so-called from its comparative softness, and to rhyme with Gutty. Rub on the Green. — A favorable or un- favorable knock to the ball, for which no penalty is imposed and which must be submitted to. Rtm. — To run a ball along the ground in approaching hole instead of lofting it. Scare. — The narrow part of the club- head by which it is glued to the handle. Sclaff. — Almost synonymous with Baff, which see. The distinction is so subtle as almost to defy definition. Scratch Player. — One who receives no allowance in a handicap. 182 GOLF IN AMERICA Screw. — See Draw. Set. — A full complement of clubs. Shaft. — The stick or handle of the club. Slice. — To hit the ball with a draw- across it, from right to left, with the result that it flies to the right. 5^/^.— The flat bottom of the club- head. Spoons. — Wooden-headed clubs of three lengths — long, middle, and short ; the head is scooped so as to loft the ball. Spring. — The degree of suppleness in the shaft. Square. — When the game stands even- ly balanced, neither side being any holes ahead. Stance. — The position of the player's feet when addressing himself to the ball. Steal. — To hole an unlikely " putt " from a distance, by a stroke which sends the ball, stealthily, only just the dis- tance of the hole. Stroke. — The act of hitting the ball with the club, or the attempt to do so. GOLF IN AMERICA 183 Stroke Hole. — The hole or holes at which, in handicapping, a stroke is given. Stymie. — When your opponent's ball lies in the line of your ''putt" — from an old Scotch word, meaning ' ' the faintest form of anything." Vide " Ja- mieson," Swing. — The sweep of the club in driving. Tee. — The pat of sand on which the ball is placed for the first stroke each hole. Teeing Ground. — A space marked out, within the limits of which the ball must be teed. Third. — A handicap of a stroke de- ducted every third hole. Toe. — Another name for the nose of the club. Top. — To hit the ball above its center. Two-more, Three-more, etc. — See un- der Odd. Upright. — A club is said to be " up- right " when its head is not at a very obtuse angle to the shaft. The con- verse of Flat. 184 GOLF IN AMERICA Whins. — Furze or gorse. Whipping. — The pitched twine unit- ing the head and handle. Wrist Shot. — Less than a half shot, generally played with an iron club. LIST OF LEADING AMERICAN CLUBS. ST. ANDREWS GOLF CLUB OF YONKERS. John Reid, .... President W. D. Baldwin, . . Vice-President H. W. R. Innis, . . . Treasurer W. E. Hodgman, . . . Captain H. O. Tallmadge, . . . Secretary Address : 19 Whitehall Street, New York City. Governing Committee, iSg/j.-^, H. Holbrook, J. B. Upham, A. L. Livermore, Dr. Henry Moffat. Links situated at Yonkers, N. Y. Number of members, 150. GOLF IN AMERICA 185 SHINNECOCK HILLS GOLF CLUB. Thomas H. Barber, . . President Geo. R. Schieffelin, . . Vice-President Charles L. Atterbury, . . Treasurer S. L. Parrish, .... Secretary Address : 44 and 46 Broadway, New York City. Links situated at Shinnecock Hills, Long Island, N. Y. Number of members and subscribers, 225. NEWPORT GOLF CLUB. Theodore A. Havemeyer, . President Robert Goelet, . . Vice-President O. H. P. Belmont, . . Treasurer Robert I. Gammel, . . . Secretary Address : Newport, R. I. Executive Committee, H. M. Brooks, Buchanan Winthrop, H. A. C. Taylor. Links situated at Newport, R. I. Number of members and subscribers, 250. 186 GOLF IN AMERICA COUNTRY CLUB OF BROOKLINE, MASS. Executive Committee. J. Murray Forbes, Chairman ; F. W. Lee, Treasurer ; A. Donner, Secretary ; F. Peabody, Jr., Charles Head, James Parker, Charles Davis, Jr., A. W. Stead- man, J. H. Bradford, Jr., H. D. Burn- ham, Charles F. Sprague, Wm. H. Goodwin, Jr., Q. A. Shaw, Jr. Golf Committee. H. D. Burnham, Chairman ; Quincy A. Shaw, Jr., J. T. Morse, Jr., and Laurence Curtis, Secretary. Address : Country Club, Brookline, Mass. Links situated at Brookline, Mass., near Boston. Number of players, 150. CHICAGO GOLF CLUB. Charles B. Macdonald, . . Captain Address: 177-179 Dearborn Street, Chicago, 111. James B. Forgan, . . Treasurer E. W. Cramer, . . . Secretary GOLF IN AMERICA 187 Directors. H. C. Wilmerding, J. C. Sterling, Henry B. Stone, E. S. Worthington, E. I. Frost, B. M. Wilson. Links situated at Wheaton, 111. , twen- ty-five miles from Chicago. Number of members, 150. ESSEX COUNTY CLUB. Robert C. Hooper, . . . Chairman Henry W. Cunningham, Secretary and Treasurer Address all golf communications to ''Committee on Golf," Essex County Club, Manchester, Mass. Links situated at Manchester, Mass., near Boston. Number of members, 250. MORRIS COUNTY GOLF CLUB. Miss Nina Howland, . . President Mrs. H. McK. Twombly, Vice-President Mrs. William Shippen, Recording Secretary 188 GOLF IN AMERICA Miss Alice D. Field, Corresponding Secretary- Mrs. Charles Bradley, , . Treasurer Number of members, 450. Links situated at Morristown, N. J. THE TUXEDO GOLF CLUB. W. Breese Smith, . . . President James L. Breese, . . Vice-President E. C. Kent Treasurer Alfred Seton, Jr., . . Secretary Dr. E. C. Rushmore, Captain of the Green MEADOWBROOK HUNT CLUB. Golf Committee. O. W. Bird, Chairman; W. Ruther- ford, J. F. D. Lanier, Charles Carroll, F. R. Appleton. Address communications to Golf Com- mittee, Meadowbrook Hunt Club, Hempstead, N. Y. Links situated at Hempstead, Long Island, N. Y. GOLF IN AMERICA 189 GOLF CLUB OF MONTCLAIR. Mrs. F. M. Wheeler, . . President Mrs. G. S. Brown, . Vice-President A. Schroeder, Secretary and Treasurer Address: Montclair, N. J. Links situated at Montclair, N. J. Number of members, loo. MYOPIA HUNT CLUB. Golf Committee. James Parker; S. D. Bush, Secretary. Address: 71 Kilby Street, Boston, Mass. Links situated at Hamilton, Mass., near Boston. Number of members and subscribers, 150. WARREN FARMS GOLF CLUB. Executive Committee. Alfred Bowditch, W. R. Cabot, A. Sampson, G. E. Cabot ; T. Daland, Sec- retary. Address: 16 Fairfield Street, Boston, Mass. 190 GOLF IN AMERICA Links situated at Warren Farms, near Boston. Number of members, 50. THE GERMANTOWN CRICKET CLUB. Thomas McKean, . . . President Rodman Wister, ^ D. S. Newhall, V . Vice-Presidents C. Tower, Jr., ) E. W. Clark, Jr., . . Treasurer Samuel V. Merrick, . . Secretary- Address: Germantown Cricket Club, Philadelphia, Pa. Links situated at Germantown, near Philadelphia. Number of players, 100, PHILADELPHIA COUNTRY CLUB. Executive Committee. J. F. McFadden, Chairman; Geo. D. Fowle, Arthur E. Newbold, E. H. Mc- Cullough, Llewellyn Barry. Address: J. F. McFadden, 121 Chest- nut Street, Philadelphia, Pa. Number of players, 100. GOLF IN AMERICA 191 THE MERION CRICKET CLUB. A. J. Cassatt, .... President A. Evans, ^ C. A. Griscom, [• . . Vice-Presidents W. P. Henszy, ) W. R. Philler, .... Treasurer E. S. Sayres, .... Secretary Address: Haverford, Pa. Links situated at Haverford, near Philadelphia. LAKE FOREST GOLF CLUB. Hobart C. Chatfield-Taylor, . President H. N. Tuttle, . . Vice-President Francis C. Farwell, Sec'y and Treasurer Address: Lake Forest, 111. Links situated at Lake Forest, near Chicago. COUNTRY CLUB OF COLORADO SPRINGS. Golf Committee. D. Chisholm, Chairman; Clarence Edsall, T. C. Parrish. Address the Chairman at Colorado Springs, Col. 192 GOLF IN AMERICA Links situated at Broadmoor, near Colorado Springs. Number of players, 50. THE RICHMOND COUNTY COUNTRY CLUB. George Hunter, . . . Captain Golf Committee. W. H. Motley, Chairman; George Hunter, George E. Armstrong, A. J. McDonald, Wetherel Thomas. Links situated on Staten Island. HOHOKUS GOLF CLUB. L. A. Stout, .... President Harvey H. Palmer, . Vice-President Stewart C. Rawbotham, . . Secretary Links situated near Hohokus, N. J. LIST OF LEADING CANADIAN CLUBS. ROYAL MONTREAL GOLF CLUB. J. L. Morris, .... Captain E. G. Penny, . . .Hon. Secretary Membership about 150. Ladies' Club about 80. GOLF IN AMERICA 193 QUEBEC GOLF CLUB. John Hamilton, .... Captain Major H. C. Sheppard, Hon. Secretary Membership, 80. OTTAWA GOLF CLUB. Lt.-Col. D. T. Irwin, . . Captain A. C. Simpson, . . Hon. Secretary Membership, 100. TORONTO GOLF CLUB. Walter G. P. Cassels, . . Captain A. W. Smith, . . Hon. Secretary Membership, 160. Ladies' membership, 100. KINGSTON GOLF CLUB. J. B. Carruthers, . . . Captain E. A. Robinson, . . Hon. Secretary NIAGARA GOLF CLUB. Charles Hunter, . . . Captain Alfred B. Whitehead, . Hon. Secretary HAMILTON GOLF CLUB. Senator Mclnnes, . . President A. G. Ramsay, . Vice-President 194 GOLF IN AMERICA DEER PARK GOLF CLUB OF TORONTO. Rev. Mr. White, T. C. Snider, . Captain Hon. Secretary LONDON GOLF CLUB. V. Cronyn, .... President I. W. G. Andrass, . . . Captain F. P. Betts, . . . Hon. Secretary ^ "X^^ ' s \ '?-:. s^" '^ ^^^ ^^-^ ^^ vOO. ^0' \!;.v,V= '%'i'^ o* " .^^ .>?" 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