Chapter XX: Links I Have Played on 219

Many first-class links--The best of all--Sandwich--Merits of the Royal St. George's course--Punishments for faults and rewards for virtue--Not a short course--The best hole--The Maiden--Other good holes--Prestwick an excellent course--The third and the ninth holes--The finest hole anywhere--Hoylake--Two or three tame holes--A means of improvement--Good hazards and a premium on straight play--St. Andrews--Badly-placed bunkers--A good second hole--The finest one-shot hole to be found anywhere--An unfair hole--The best holes at Muirfield--Troon--North Berwick--Cruden Bay--Dornoch--Machrihanish--A splendid course at Islay--The most difficult hole I know--Gullane--Kilspindie--Luffness--Links in Ireland--Portrush--Portmarnock--Dollymount--Lahinch--Newcastle--Welsh courses--Ashburnham--Harlech--On the south and south-west coasts--The rushes at Westward Ho!--Newquay--Good holes at Deal--Littlestone--Rye--The advantage of Cromer--Brancaster--Hunstanton--Sheringham--Redcar--Seaton Carew--St. Anne's--Formby--Wallasey--Inland courses--Sunningdale--A splendid course--Another at Walton Heath--Huntercombe--London links--Courses in the country--Sheffield--Manchester--Huddersfield--"Inland" courses at the seaside--A warning.

CHAPTER XXI

GOLF IN AMERICA 232

Good golf in the United States--My tour through the country--Mr. Travis's victory in our Amateur Championship--Not a surprise--The man who played the best golf--British amateurs must wake up--Other good Americans will come--Our casual methods of learning golf--The American system--My matches in the States--A good average--Driving well--Some substantial victories--Some difficult matches--Course records--Enthusiasm of the American crowds--The golf fever--The king of baseball takes to golf--The American Open Championship--A hard fight with J.H. Taylor--A welcome win--Curious experiences in Florida--Greens without grass--The plague of locusts--Some injury to my game--"Mr. Jones"--Fooling the caddies--Camping out on the links--Golf reporting in America--Ingenious and good--Mistakes made by non-golfing writers--Lipping the hole for a hundred dollars.

CHAPTER XXII

CONCERNING CADDIES 245

Varieties of caddies--Advice to a left-handed player--Cock-shots at Ganton--Unearned increments--An offer to carry for the fun of the thing--The caddie who knows too much--My ideal caddie--His points--The girl caddie--A splendid type--Caddies' caustic humour--Some specimens of it--Mr. Balfour's taste in caddies--When the caddie is too anxious--Good human kindness--"Big Crawford"--"Lookin' aifter Maister Balfour"--An ingenious claim--A salute for the Chief Secretary--A story of a distressed clergyman--Sandy Smith--The clothes he wore--An excess of zeal--The caddies' common-sense--When his lot is not a happy one.

CHAPTER XXIII

REFLECTIONS AND RECOLLECTIONS 259

Good golf to come--Giants of the past--The amateurs of to-day--The greatness of "Freddy" Tait--Modern professionals--Good sportsmen and good friends--A misconception--The constant strain--How we always play our best--Difficult tasks--No "close season" in golf--Spectators at big matches--Certain anecdotes--Putting for applause--Shovelling from a bunker--The greatest match I have ever played in--A curious incident--A record in halves--A coincidence--The exasperation of Andrew--The coming of spring--The joyful golfer.