The St. Louis Republic. [volume] (St. Louis, Mo.) 1888-1919, 1900-10-21

he Is taller than ne really is. |: he sent his
! soarer he would lean on his iron and wait
for the champion to play the odd 10 him.
"Then he Is a fearful comluter Of strokes.
hole he went on one side Of a hog-hack, L
on the other. I was on in two and down in
five; He got In bad ground. weeds. and
worked his nihlick as a WISE nSin lumber
ally holed ont.
"How many?' ! asked.
"'Same az you he cried. though he really
did not know how many I had taken.
Another baneful. practice which exists
hsreahouts" remarked the first speaker;
never raped TO this trick until recently.
never thought of such a trick, in fact.
One day playing a tourney l saw a player
fifth stroke into the middle Of II. Now he
could not have hoied out in less than six.
and TO do that he would have been obliged
70 hole n leo-yard mashle shot. Next day
l saw the printed report Of the match and
noticed that he had 4 very good score. in
deed. / looked at the holes and found he
! had four strokes for the pond hole. 1 saw
him play five into the lake myself. You see
they computed il this way: His opponent
went Gown in three and won. So they put
four down for the loser.
That same day l played with a man who
in Vail called low figures to the scoring
he would make it four to five. If six to
seven, five to SIX. 1t would have made
quite a difference IN the scores. Now. l am
what Is the satisfaction to be gained by
such tricks. We blame pugilists and jockeys
! golfers who will fake Tor fun or worse"
Well" remarked the wise man of the
group. we ought to DO to such people
what is that asked The Duffer..
,"Expel them from the club and blacklist
them on all the links Of America"
Il knew Of a nice young fellow In Boston
once" said another member OF the party.
who had TO qui, the country for Just such
a trick; He was playing a match for q
his ball while addressing a brassie shot.
| Now. l do not think he did It purposely.
word about it-iust played his second. Not
a word was said about it then. Very short
ly the boy received a note from the chair
| him to appear and defend himself against
! the accusation OF unfair dealing. lie did
not dare face the music. but Immediately
went abroad and did not return home for
/ three years. When he did return he appar-
entity forgot or thought others had forgotten
! all about the little incident. He was mis-
TAKEN. Once more he received a sharp note.
this time reminding him of his offense and
forbidding him the club and grounds. even
as a visitor. Yet he was a nice young man.
thoughtless and careless. and l never
thought he really meant to cheat; Just was
SO interes- ID in the game that he forgot
the rule. 1t was pretty hard punishment
for such an offense-Dractical exile from
home,yet Who will say 1t was not right
at was right" said a third player. who
Joined the party In time TO hear the story.
II have lost a friend myself BY Just such a
trick. only worse. l used to play a lot
were quite chummy. One day We were play
ing just for a ball or so. L happened TO no
tice him drive an agrippa from the tee. My
attention was attracted 20 it by a sharp
iron cut on its surface. He sliced into long
grass. We both sought the hall for som,
Here it is and played his second. / never
suspected anything until 1 stood watching
his put Then / saw the bail was a per-
not say anything. After We got through I
went back to where that ball had been lost
right, with its peculiar cut. 1 never mem
toned the fact to any one. and 1 mention
no names now: but l have never willingly
abide to do So"
Let US go out and finish that foursome."
said the graybeard. fitting his glass on his
nose. "a man thar will cheat in golf ought
not to live. Every one who plays golf p!ay -
ii for the personal satisfaction he gets out
Of II: and a man who can get personal sat;
eligible candidate for the gallows."
six out of ten of the innumerabie golf
clubs that have come into existence dur
ing the past few years have got to go by
the board" said n weIl-known local golfer
yesterday: Golf is going the course OF the
bicycle. When the fever for this game of
ours caught on the public went mad over
1t. Every one wailted to play golf. and as
a result. a golf club sprung up in every
III a At" ytdNS nearly III
clubs were organized. mainly throughout
the Eastern States. and 1G0 of these have
assumed more than local significance. Row
j have been a club official for many years,
and have made a study of what you might
call the temperament OF club life. In the
minds of the mass of men and women there
Is a great deal of ideality about club life and
It Is one person In a hundred who stops 10
look at the awful practical side of such a
the frenzy OF the golf fever / saw this nrtn-
ciple being carried out In a dozen directions,
In their wild desire to be In line with Others
a certain number of men would have a
meeting. would report that some desirable
land could be leased for so much, a smaI
clubhouse could be erected for so much
more ard the expenditure involved in lay
Ing out a golf course would bring the total
sum up TO a figure that was quickly covered
hy willing subscriptions To keep the club
certain increase In membership. which ia
them seemed the simplest feature of the en-
and was duplica an.ss I R1o eeorns o wa 5oi 2 TYPE
hoods. and clubs sprung up like mushrooms
l felt sure then that when the fever sub,
sided and the interest in golf settled down
TO a solid basis any number of these pane
edifices would go under.
The game of golf IS rapidly approaching
a permanent level as a national snort. out
OF every score Of persons who took II mn
In the beginning on an average two have
kept up their enthusiasm. Those who have
c'ung to the game have become more or
less expert. and If they are not satisfied
with the nakeshift course OF their own
| club they seek the best course in the neiah-
borhood. In this wa the poorer course
are suffering at the expense OF the better
ones. The few golf clubs out OF the many
to survive are those which combine the
best course with moderate dues and good
clubhouse facilities. A few more wears.
two at least. will tell the story. Then the
public Interest In golf will have reached
rock bottom and our local golfing popula-
ton will cease to fuctuate in a manner
calculated to give the present club gov
ernor nervous prostration."
Says the Chicago Times-Heraid: Can
Arson surrendered to golf yesterday. The
| capitulation of the veteran OF Americas
national game took place on the links at
Wheaton during the race between Harry
Vardon and J.. II. Taylor. Cap says the
against II and ridiculed 1t ever since It
| began to get the people. Arson knows
Charles s. Cox. Vardon's manager. and
accepted an invitation yesterday morning
TO look in on the game. On the links he
| baked at the proposition OF walking four
| miles in one trip around the course. but
! he lined up with the crowd to see Fardon
| drive off. The ball went higher than
| any fly Pop eyer saw In his life. It sailed
22o yards. Arson was first to start the
applause, with a Good by. She's a
| homer Then he led the gallery to the
| first green. He was putting when he pulled
up az the eighteenth hole, but he felt bet
ter than IL he had stolen second base. I'd
| like to take a crack at that golf ball. he
said. you can put me down for a trial
the first chance 1 get. Wouldn't mind
| logging up in kits Just to give the Prince
- v-r-- AN ~,r - hsa