The Opelousas courier., 1900-08-25
ODD STATISTICS ON GOLF.
AMERICANS MORE DEVOTED TO IT
NOW THAN ARE scoTcHMEN.

--s--s-"--
a Tremendous Amount OF Money Spent
Annually On This ~spoft-There Are
100000 Players in This Country -
Sixty Spaare Miles of Courses.
The most remarkable feature id the
history of sports lib this country dur
ing the past five years has been the
enormous increase in the scope and
growth Of the game of golf. In 1895
there were hardly twenty golf courses,
or what were called such by courtesy
IN those days, in the United States,
and the game was mildly played by a
few hundred expatriated Englishmen
and ~Scotchmen, who, not coming to
this country young enough to interest
themselves in baseball or football,
were forced to fall back on the only
sport they knew which was adaptable
to their circumstances.
Now there are over 200 900 players,
and with customary enthusiasm the
American Is more devoted to it than
even its godfather, the Scetchman.
There are to-day 1900 regularly organ-
lied clubs with memberships ranging
from so to 1900, to say nothing of all
the private links scattered throughout
the country, for nowadays no rich
mans country place is complete with
out at least a nine-hole course.
All this has come about in five years.
The clubs and balls with which the
game is played are SO inexpensive that
n never thinks of the tremendous
amount of money annually spent on
this sport, nor of the amount of wood,
iron and gutta percha which is re-
quired to supply the demands Of a sea-
son, to say nothing of the sums in
vested in land and club buildings. A
few moments mathematics, however,
will serve to show that they are ire
mendous.
To begin with, there are easily 20O,-
600 players In this country. Each
player averages to carry with him
eight clubs, and he usually has at
least as many more at home. This
gives a grand total of 100000 clubs
in this country.
Accidents are constantly causing
shafts to break. Even the best of
wooden heads will give way In time,
and as there is no one in the world as
particular and changeable in all that
pertains to his clubs as a golfer, 1t Is
safe to assume that each of the 200,-
600 win acquire four new clubs a
year. This means 100000 clubs, and
as the proportion Of irons at $1.50
each is about equal to that Of wooden
clubs at $3.50 each. the clubs will aV-
erage So apiece, or $1,600,000
This is for the purchases of 1900
alone, the expenditures in obtaining
the original set having been $4,000, 600,
which brings the total for clubs to
date up to $4,000 600. Of these new
clubs 100000 are Of wood and 100000
Of iron. The wooden clubs will aver
age A inches in length, 81 that placed
end to end they would reach 22,0O0.000
inches, 1885, 1913 feet, GILL; III yards, or
347 miles. The 100000 iron clubs av-
erage 40 inches In length, would reach,
lie placed end to end, 100000 inches,
100000 feet. 1888 yards, or 1S9
miles. If the total number Of new
clubs that Americans will buy this sea-
son were, therefore. put end to end
they would reach $50 miles, or from
New York to Buffalo or a little be-
yond.
OF the 100000 old clubs in this
country, 100000 are Of wood and
100000 Of iron. Supposing they av-
erage the same length as the new ones,
although as a matter of fact they are
probably an inch longer, due to the
Vardon craze for short clubs. We find
that the old wooden clubs placed end
to end would reach 52,s00,O00 inches,
4,400,0 600 feet, 1,466 ,666 yards, or 834
miles. The old irons would reach 3d.
100000 inches, $780, 66 feet, 2,222,222
yards, or 1868 miles. The wooden and
iron clubs together, then, would reach
2097 mites. or from New York to Den
yer. Add on 536 miles of this seasons
clubs and you have a line which would
reach from New York to Salt Lake
City. At the present rate of speed 1t
would therefore take about eighty
hours, or three and a half days, to
make the trip by rail.
Clubs will be found to weigh on an
average fifteen ounces apiece. On this
basis the total number Of clubs al
ready on hand would weigh 100000
ounces, or 5000 900 pounds. a freight
car will carry $4,000 pounds, SO that
1t would take q train Of 1000 ears to
transport the weight. AS n engine
finds twenty cars a very tough load,
fifty would have to be attached to
this monster, and it would reach 1883
yards, or nearly N mile.
Tf the clubs were packed in boxes or
30. as it is usual for the manufactur-
ers to ship them, for they cannot fs
packed tightly enough to allow 10000
pounds weight of clubs being placed
In 4 car, the car would hold 21,000 APP
proximately. This would mean loz
ears with eight engines, giving a total
length of GOSO feet, or about n mile
and on~e-seYenth. To carry the 10000
clubs to be sold this year would re-
auire So cars, which would give o total
of 100 cars with 10 engines, which
train would reach 5000 feet, or a mile
and a half.
IF all the clubs u golfers will have
at the end OF the year We're made into
one big one it would be 166,S00,OOO
inches long, 100000 inches thick at
the thickest point. and 100000
inches wide at the widest. Reduced
- haze = o1rh IA Q00OGO. feet