Chapter XI

And so, heigho! another full year of golf has run to its end, and we come to pause for a little while to reflect upon the new chapter that has been added to the long happy story of our play; for, indeed, it is true of us golfers, as it is of others, that “we spend our years as a tale that is told.” For some days now the links which have served us so faithfully and so well during all this year, have been at rest, asleep. Nature, the gentle considerate nurse, sometimes comes to the help of these precious acres of green turf in that season when their lot is the least happy, fending away us tyrant masters while she lays them to repose and wraps up each teeing ground and putting green and all the way between in the thick mantle that she weaves herself. Perhaps the players do not always know that the grass welcomes this snow, and is not, as they might imagine, stifled with it and reduced to such unconsciousness as to be near the point of death. The snow both nourishes and warms the worn-out turf--collects and holds down for its sustenance all the available nitrogen in the atmosphere, and then covers it with that thick cloak which generates only warmth beneath. Presently, when the frosts cease and the snow melts and the grass lies bare again, those who have recollection enough for the comparison will see that it is greener and stronger than it was before. When there is a championship in prospect on St. Andrews links, the wise and good greenkeeper there beseeches kind Nature that of her infinite variety she will vouchsafe to his little patch of earth for some several days of winter a heavy fall of snow, that in due course he may better serve up to his master golfers a links of such perfection of order as will please them to the utmost. What shall he care if the old grey place is beleaguered by these storms of snow, if the Swilcan Burn is almost covered up, and if it would be as much as the life of the captain of the Royal and Ancient Club were worth to try to find the line to the Long Hole? Hush, you grumbling golfers! The old course, weary, is at rest; and patiently will the happy greenkeeper wait for its awakening. There is something of pathos in the time and the scene, as:

“Full knee-deep lies the winter snow,
And the winter winds are wearily sighing;
Toll ye the church-bell sad and slow,
And tread softly and speak low,
For the old year lies a-dying.”

How much does it mean to us, does a year of golf! In the last few moments of the year that you give up to golfing thought and reverie as you sit by the cheerful fire, and perhaps, according to the old fancy, toy on the hearthrug for a while with the putter that you hold at convenience in the corner, and the memento ball that you preserve upon the mantelpiece--at such time make a pleasant reflection upon all the joy and the gladness, and the health and the adventure, and the glorious rivalry and close comradeship that have been crowded into this short space of time! Above all, think how much nearer in most blessed friendship has this year of golf drawn you to those who are most after your own heart! There is no habit of man that can do more than golf towards such an end as this, and it is in his abundance of the best friends that a man lives most happily and to the best purpose.

And the golfer has seen more of the year, of the real year of Nature so complex and so complete in its variety and balance, than the other men who live in towns. He braved it in the open lands through the bitter weeks of January and February, and he was cheerful through the winds and rains that followed, for as the rainbows spread across the sky he knew that the glorious spring had come, most heartening time of all the golfing year. Then would he stamp his feet on turf grown firm, and acclaim his ball with affection for its constant cleanliness. The golfer, even he of the town, hears the change in the song of the birds, he notices the newcomers among them; he has interest in the leafing of the trees, and lo! the big sun of summer shines upon him. And when can golfer be happier than when, after droning lazily through a hot afternoon, he plays an evening round upon the links in those most perfect conditions for pure delight? Surely it is hard to say which of those rounds is the best, that of the spring morning, the autumn morning, or the one in the balmy evening of June. And the golfer, bold and lucky, who once in a way makes his ripest play on some wild day in December when the wind from the sea comes like a blast across the links and all above is dripping scud, would in his pride not grant that the golfer lived his life at the full on any of those other days of peace and calm. So, from the play in the long summer twilight, we wander down the year, through brown October to the greys that follow, and the white curtain falls at last upon the exhausted season.

INDEX

Aden Golf Club, 10
African coast, golf on the, 12
Age for golf, best, 293
America, golf in, 12
American ladies’ golf, 100
Anderson, Jamie, 89
Antarctic, golf in the, 11
Arabia, golf in, 10
Archerfield golf course, 140
Architecture, different classes of golf, 134
Argentine Republic, golf in the, 10
Asia, golf in, 10
Australia, golf in, 10
Austria, golf in, 9
Autumn meeting at St. Andrews, 186
Axes of rotation, 209

Bagdad, golf at, 10
Balfour, Jamie, 301
---- The Rt. Hon. A. J., as a golfer, 37, 90
Ball, Mr. John, 124
Balls, different kinds of, etc., 54, 58;
price and quality of, 59;
rival manufacturers, 112;
points of good, 203;
too far-driving, 240;
used in a year, 285
Barry, Mr. A. G., 293
Belgium, golf in, 9
Biassed balls, 205
Bicycles and golf, 158
Blackheath golf course, 159
---- golfers, 160, 256
Bogey, 234;
origin of, 237
Boulogne, golf at, 8
Braid, J., 26, 27, 293
Brassey, an ideal, 44
Briars hole at Hoylake, 125
Broughton, Capt., 53
Bruntsfield links, 77
---- ---- Golf Club, 304
Buccleuch, Duke of, 299
Building estates and golf, 232
Bunkers, movable, 241

Caddies, 148
Cæsar’s pits on golf courses, 11
Cairo, golf at, 296
Calabar, golf at, 12
Campbell, Mr., of Saddell, 55
Canada, golf in, 10
Canary Islands, golf at the, 8
Carnoustie golf links, 141
Carry from drive, 196
Chaplains to golf clubs, 64
Charm of the game, 1
China, golf in, 8
Cinque Ports Golf Club, 145
Classification of courses, 134
Clergymen and golf, 61
Close seasons, 288
Clubs, names for, 41;
ideal, 42;
favourite, 114, 115
Cold weather, 289
Colonies, golf in, 10
Commercialism, 226
Community of interests, 179
Companion for golfing holiday, 125
Companions of old players, 47
Competitions, new, 242
County unions, 244
Courses, altering to suit new balls, 241
Crawford, “Big,” 40, 61
Croquet and golf, 174
Cruickshank, Mr., of Langley Park, 97

Deal golf links, 116, 136, 145
Dinners, golfing, 297, 299
Diplomacy and golf, 13
Disappointments, 33
Dog dropping ball in hole, 265
Drive, longest possible, 216
Driving, Prof. Tait on, 215
Dunn, the brothers, 50

East Indies, golf in the, 10
Ecstasy, greatest, in golf, 163
Eglinton, Earl of, 299
Egypt, golf in, 12, 294
Enthusiasm, greatest, 76
Errors, popular, 201
Examinations in rules, 243

Favourite holes and courses, 258
Feats of golf, 91, 111
Ferguson, Robert, 48
Flight of golf ball, 194
Footpaths and roads, 158
Forbes, Duncan, 221
Foursome, a famous, 140
France, golf in, 8
Frog in the hole, 263
Frosty days, 255
Future, concerning the, 30

Gate-money and golf, 230
Germany, golf in, 9
Gourlay, Douglas, 80
Government of the game, 244
Graham, Mr. John, junr., 124
Gravity and the golf ball, 197
Great Pyramid, 297
Gullane, golf at, 139

Haskell ball, invention of, 57;
success of, 58
---- Mr. Coburn, 57
Health and golf, 291
Helouan, golf at, 296
Herd, A., 26, 152
Hilton, Mr. H. H., 29, 115, 259, 293
Holes, in process of changing, 267
Holidays, golfing companions on, 125;
advice on, 127;
returning from, 132
Holland, golf in, 9
Honourable Company of Edinburgh golfers, 64, 221, 300
Hope in golf, 3
Hoylake, golf links, 122, 137
Huntercombe course, 11
Hutchings, Mr. Chas., 293

Ideal clubs, 42
---- course, 259
Imaginary golf, 181
Impact, duration of, 200
International aspect of golf, 14
Italy, golf in, 9

Jones, Rowland, 26, 152

Kaiser William and golf, 9, 220
Kennedy, Lord, 97
Kent, golf in coast of, 144
Kilspindie golf course, 140
Kimberley, putting greens at, 10
King Edward VII. as captain of the Royal and Ancient Club, 220
---- James II., 224
---- of Spain as golfer, 220
---- William IV. medal, 190
Kinloch, Sir D., 299
Kirkaldy, Andrew, 27, 152, 290

Ladies’ golf, 85, 98
Laidlay, Mr. J. E., 92, 172, 295
Leith, golf at, 79, 224
Line of the putt, 272
London, as centre of game, 146
Long grass, 85

Macdonald, Mr. C. B., 260
MʻKellar, Alexander, 76
March, 24
Match-book, on keeping a, 17
Maxwell, Mr. Robert, 25
Medal play, 84
Mexico, golf in, 12;
travelling in, 152
Midland Association, 244
Morris, Tom, junr., 47
---- Tom, senr., 50, 55, 140
Mother course, a golfer’s, 160
Motor-bicycles, 157
Motor-car, ball in, 270
Motoring and golf, 150
Mud, questions to Rules Committee about, 81
Muirfield golf links, 140

Names for clubs, 41
Napoleon’s camp, golf on, 8
National Golf Club, U.S.A., 259
Nature lover, golfer as, 193, 308
New Zealand, golf in, 10, 80
Night, match at, for £500, 96
North Berwick links, 25, 136, 139
---- ---- old club, 299

October, 191
Old age, golf in, 291
Old-time golfers, 297
One, holing in, 86

Park, Mungo, 141
---- W., senr., 25, 141
Parliament, golf in, 278
Patersone, John, 226
Pegwell Bay, 147
Picture, valuable, hit by golf ball, 110
Polar golf, 11
Politics of the game, 244
Porthcawl golf links, 141
Practice stroke on putting green, 272
Prestwick golf links, 25, 136, 143
Pretoria, putting greens at, 10
Primitive instincts, 5
Prince’s Club, Sandwich, 145
Professional matches, 26
Put off, being, 157
Putting, in medal play, 83;
hesitation in, 107;
difficulties of, 166;
psychology of, 169;
thoughts during, 171;
things hurtful to, 176;
line in, 272
Putting green, curious, 10

Queen Adelaide Medal, 188

Rain on the links, 16
Resting from golf, 289
Rhodesia, golf in, 94
Risks of golf, 93
Riviera, golf on the, 294
Roads and footpaths, 158
Robb, Mr. James, 167, 172
Robertson, Allan, 47;
fine play at St. Andrews, 49, 55, 140
Royal and Ancient Club, 41, 186, 247, 302
---- Liverpool Golf Club, 123, 277
---- Musselburgh Golf Club, 99, 304
---- St. George’s Golf Club, 145
Rules, points on the, 261
Rules Committee, 80
Russia, golf in, 9

St. Andrews, charm of, 118;
by-laws at, 120;
bunkers at, 121;
class of links, 137;
holes at, 158;
autumn meeting at, 186;
early times at, 221
St. Clair, Wm., of Roslin, 222
St. Petersburg, golf near, 9
Sandwich golf links, 138
---- Islands, golf in the, 10
Scientific investigations, 194
Score, keeping, in match play, 102
Seasons, changing, 192
Secret of the charm of the game, 1
Seed, sowing, 190
Selkirk decision, 274
September, 46
Shafts, socketed and scared, 255
Shakespeare and golf, 31, 34
Sheltering from bad weather, 254
Siam, Royal Bangkok Golf Club, 10
Snow, 306
Societies, golfing, 177
South Africa, golf in, 10, 95
---- America, golf in, 10
Spin of golf ball during flight, 198, 202, 208, 213, 214
Spring, 1, 15, 35
Statistics, 284
Stormont, Lord, 256
Sun on the links, 16
Sunningdale golf course, 136
Superstitions of golf, 114
Sussex Union, 244

Tait, F. G., his match-book, 21, 196, 220
---- Rev. J. H., 295
---- P. G., Professor, experiments and investigations in flight
of golf ball, 194, 222
Tangier, golf at, 8
Taylor, J. H., 26, 27, 293
Tee shot, pleasure of hitting good, 163
Temple of golf, 219
Tests of balls, 206
Thibet, golf in, 10
Thoughtful study of the game, value of, 67
Trajectories of balls, 210, 212
Travelling for golf, 148, 156
Travis, Mr. W. J., 115, 171, 173
Triumvirate, the, 27, 28, 29
Troon golf links, 25, 136
Turkey, golf in, 10

Unions, golfing, 244

Vardon, H., 26, 27, 293
---- T., 27
Victoria Falls, ball driven over, 111
Vincent, Sir Edgar, 295

Walton Heath golf course, 11, 136
Wandering player, 118
Warwickshire County Union, 244
Water shots, 253
Weather, bad, 251
Wei-hai-wei, golf at, 8
Welsh Union, 244
White, Jack, 26, 29, 152
Wind in golf, 24
Winter, 251, 306
Worcestershire County Union, 244

Yorkshire Union, 244

_Printed by MORRISON & GIBB LIMITED, Edinburgh_

[Transcriber’s Notes:

Inconsistent hyphenation retained.
Errors in punctuation repaired.
Pages 22 and 128, “slightest” changed from “slighest” (without the
slightest chance; the slightest provocation).
Page 29, “popular” changed from “populer” (great and popular player).
Page 34, “a” inserted (Could a golfer).
Page 45, “a” inserted (a good human).
Page 90, “Point Garry” changed from “Pointgarry” (It was Point Garry).
Page 94, “court” changed from “courts” (may a man court).
Page 115, “have” inserted (Other golfers have).
Page 224, “seventeenth” changed from “seventeeth” (of the seventeenth
century).
Page 242, “They” changed from “Then” (They play, say,).
Page 262, “occurrence” changed from “occurence” (the most
extraordinary occurrence).
Page 305, duplicated “of” deleted (one of our poets).
Page 313, “Sandwich” changed from “Sandwick” (Prince’s Club,
Sandwich).
Page 314, “Wei-hai-wei” changed from “Wei-hai-Wei” (Wei-hai-wei, golf
at).]