The Telegraph-courier. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1888-1946, 1896-08-20
THE GAME OF GOLF.
The wayside club Introduces Here An
Ancient Pastime.

| that the Wayside club has been intro
ducing the game OF golf to Kenosha
people, and more particularly to its own
members. One sees a great deal in
the newspapers about the game, and
now hardly magazine comes out
which does not occasionally have an
article on it with illustrations of its
methods and of successful players.
The interest now taken in the game
| is Il revival. The game is a very old
one, dating back to somewhere in the
fourteenth century, almost to the time
when mans mind runneth to the con-
trary. as Blackstone says. The game
recently has been given such wide at
tention and is being played SO extern
sively in the east that few western
clubs have now been organized to
practice upon it. The cultivation of
this game is not the whole object of the
Wayside club, but comes in incident
ally.
The inks" DIS the grounds are
called when properly staked out, have
been established on the Uihlein farm,
about three miles west of the city, on
the plank road. The grounds are ad-
mirably situated and suited to the pur-
pose, and afford most pleasing aspect
A representative of this paper went
out there Monday afternoon to see the
place and to get some idea of the game
10 a
number of the members of the club
there taking lessons from professional
caddies from Lake Forest, Ill. Doug
las Newell seemed to be quite familiar
with the game, and to his explanations
we owe the main portion of the infor
nation in this article.
Golf is an amusement SO peculiar to
Scotland and so prevalent there that it
may be called, par excellence, the ma
tional game 1t may be practiced on
any good stretch of meadow land,
where the grass is not too rank; but the
ground best suited to the purpose is a
reach of undulating down country,
sandy in soil, and as such covered with
short, crisp turf, occasionally broken
up into sand holes or bunkers. =
These g bunkers," and sometimes
whin. constitute the main "hazardso
of the game, in the avoidance of which
skill in it is specially shown; and with
out fair provision of them, no golfng
i" linksu or " green" can be held to ap-
proach the ideal standard. Small
holes, OF about four inches in diameter,
are dug in the turf at distances indefi
nitely variable, but ranging from about
100 to 400 or 500 yards; and from one
of these holes into the next in order, a
ball of gutta percha of about one and
three quarters ounces in weight has to
be driven with some variety of club de-
vised for the purpose. Their variety is
determined by this, that while, in Start
inc from the hole, the ball may be teed,
i. e., placed where the player chooses,
with a little pinch of sand under it
called a tee; it must in every other case
be played strictly from its place as it
chances to lie-in sand, Whin or else
where-a different club being neces-
sary in each particular difficulty.
These clubs may generally be defined
as shafts of wood, with SO many heads
of wood, iron or brass attached.
A complete set of them may number
about dozen: driving club, a long, a
middle and a short spoon" and the
" putteru are the clubs formed wholly
of wood, while of iron there are heavy
and a light iron," a driving and a
lifting :" cleek" and a niblick. )"
Those used by the Wayside club are
known as the driver, mashie, cleek,
brassy and putter.
Starting from the one hole, it is the
immediate aim of the player to drive
his ball as far toward the next as he
can. Having got within some moder-
ate distance of it, he proceeds to make
his g approach shot" carefully select
ing the appropriate instrument. When
he has reached the putting green" a
smooth space carefully chosen for the
purpose, he essays to put his ball into
the hole; and generally if he does it in
two strikes, he may be held skillful or
fortunate. The player who holes his
ball in the smallest number of strokes is
the winner of the hole. The APP
proachu and the putting" are by far
the most difficult, critical and import
ant parts of the game; though no one
who is not fairly competent in his driv-
| ing also is ever in the least likely to
take rank as first class player. The
maximum length of good driving
stroke for first class player, may, per-
haps, fairly be stated as something over
$50 yards and under 200 yards
The game, as described above, may
not seem very lively or entertaining;
and it is to be admitted that, seen for
the first time, it does not look of much
promise. No game, however, stirs a
keener enthusiasm in its votaries; and
very few people who have ever fairly
| committed themselves to serious prac-