Lawrence democrat. (Lawrenceburg, Tenn.) 1884-1925, 1894-12-07
THE GAME or GOLF.
What tho Popular Sport is and How 1t ID
PLAYED.


Played.
Briefly stated, the game of golf con-
sists in driving small gutta-percha
ball around a course provided with a
of holes, generally eighteen,
from one hundred to Ave hundred
yards apart, by means of variously
shaped clubs. However tame this
statement may seem, the real game is
trimming over with life and jollity
and strong excitement.
! The balls used in ancient days were
made of leather and stuffed with feath-
ers until they were as hard as stone;
but the golfing.ball in use to-day is of
gutta.percha, painted white SO that 1t
may be seen easily, with a corrugated
surface, and its weight varies from one
and three fourths TO two ounces.
At the bidding Of the golfer, this lit.
tie ball, sometimes called the guilty"
flies over bridges, and streams, and
sand-hills, through thickets of gorse
and, alasl sometimes into .sand-pits or
even amid gorse-bushes, from which 1t
is recovered with great difficulty, for
the rules are memorable, and ball
must be hit exactly where it lies.
When hole is made" however, and
the ball has settled into the goal of the
players ambition, it is, of course, i'm
possible to play it for the next hole
until it has been removed. A tiny pile
of sand or earth, called tee, is then
made for it, just outside the hole, and
within certain fixed limits called the
teeing-ground, and the little ball is
then ready to set out on It's next long
journey. The player or side that wins
the greatest number of holes In the en-
tire round has the game; or in medal
play, the victor is the side or the
player making the round in the least
number of strokes, and as certain con-
ditions cause the loss of stroke, one
needs to be very careful how he strikes
Holes are punched out of the ground
with an iron especially made for this
purpose, are four or five inches in diam
eter, and lined with iron. The holes
on the outward journey are usually
designated by white flags, and those
coming in with red flags. The space
in the immediate vicinity of a hole is a
very interesting part of the grounds,
because, even if your ball lies quite
near the hole, wrong shot may send
it not quite near enough or far beyond,
and so give that hole to your opponent.
This space is called the putting green,
and the process OF holing the ball from
here is called putting.
Perhaps YOU may suppose that the
battle-ground or links has been care
fully prepared for the convenience OF
golfers, but no such consideration is
shown, and indeed the most important
feature of the game, and that which
adds its greatest interest and excite.
ment, is the overcoming of the various
obstacles in the way of knobs, hillocks,
thickets, and sandpits to be avoided,
called by one general name, hazards,
which tax the players skill to the ut
most.
But we have not yet spoken of two
NCI AihpOTJdub lldItCTS ConuCCtSu WIN
golfing-the clubs and the "caddies. y
OF clubs there must be generous va
riety, though the tendency of later
years is to discard many that were once
considered indispensable. The ball ii
capable of assuming so many singular
positions that the player must consider
carefully what club will best suit hi
purpose at the time.
A very important parsonage on thu
links is the caddie, the man or boy wht
carries the stout holland case or bag
in which are kept the various clubs
also balls to replace those which may
be lost; who hands the clubs wher
needed, and who usually gives advice
whether it is needed or not.
The ground best suited to golf is I
broad stretch of undulating land will
sandy soil, covered with short turf
and supplied with occasional sand
holes and fair amount of growing
bushes. The links of St. Andrews b,
the sea, in Scotland, is the most famou
of all golfing-grounds and the tow
is not better known for its ancient uni
versity than for its golfing. Heller
Marshall North, in st. Nicholas.