The Calhoun chronicle. [volume] (Grantsville, W. Va.) 1883-1984, 1895-01-08

~ small gntta-percha ball round
course provided with n
number OF holes, generally eighteen,
from 100 to 500 yards apart, by means
of variously shaped clubs. However
tame this game may seem, the real
game is brimmIng over with life and
Jollity and strong excitement.
The balls used in ancient DAYS were
made OF leather, and stuffed with
feathers until they were as hard as
stone; but the golfing ball in use to-
day IS OF gutta-percha, painted white
so that it may be seen easily, with a
corrugated surface, and it's weight
varies from one and three-fourths to
two ounces.
AT the bidding OF the golfer this
little ball, sometimes called the
guilty, flies over bridges and streams
md sand hills, through thickets of
gorse aud, alas sometimes into sand
pits, or even among gorse bushes,
from which 1t Is recovered with great
difficulty, for the rules are inexorable.
and n ball must be hit exactly where
1T lies. When Il hole is made" how
ever, and the ball has settled into the
goal OF the players ambition, it is
OF course, impossible to play it for the
next hole until it has been removed.
tiny pile OF sand or earth, called a
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 its next long journey. The player
or side that wins the greatest number
OF holes In the entire 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 conditions cause the loss
Of stroke, one needs to be very care.
iul how he strikes
Holes are punched out OF the ground
with an iron especially made for this
purpose, arc four or five inches in
diameter, and lined with iron. The
holes on the outward journey are usu.
ally designated by white flags, and
those coming in with red flags. The
space iii the immeda c vicinity of q
hole is very interesting part of the
grounds, because, even if your bal
lies quite near the hole, wrong shot
may send it not quite near enough OF
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
goltng ground or links has been care.
fully prepared for the convenience OF
golfers, but no such consideration i.
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 the general name, hazards,
which tax the players skill to the
utmost
But we have not yet spoken Of two
very important matters connected with
golfng the clubs and the "caddies. g
VI clubs there must be generous
variety, though the tendency Of later
years is to discard many that were
once considered Indispensable. The
ball is capable of assuming 81 many
singular positions that the player.
must consider carefully what club will
best suit his purpose Mt the time.
A very important pers image on the
links is the caddie, the man or DO,
who carries the stout holland case OF
bag in which are kept the variou:
clubs, also balls to replace those which
may be lost; who hands the club.
when needed, and who usually give.
advice whether it is needed or not.
The ground best suited to golf is &
broad stretch OF undulating land with
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 mos
famous of all golfng- grounds, and Tin,
town is not better known for it!
ancient university than cor Is golfiug
st. Nicholas.