The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1905-03-19
THE CHEAPENING or GOLF.
Americans Have saved Money for the Play.
ers and Improved the Game.

There Ia a marked change in the views
regarding the expenditure for golf con-
sequent on the introduction Of the rubber
cored balls. As the first cost is double that
Of the old solid ball, there was an outcry
at the start that the new ball was making
the game too expensive. Not a few on
this account hung on to the guttA balls
content 10 save in pocket at the loss Of
dignity by being outdriven. Time has
brought a change in this idea. Now the
new bah Is conceded TO have cheapened
the game, and there is a vast array Of facts
10 back up the opinion.
The balls, while they cost more, are
cheaper in the end because they last much
longer. Besides, even with beech heads
they get OF 80 lightly and quickly that the
clubs are not battered up as they used TO BE-
But there are now no signal advantages
in the use Of beech, which has been super
seded by the American woods, dogwood and
persimmon, for the heads. These clubs
are not injured by wet weather and, through
the American improvements in pattern and
in machinery, they are fully one-third
cheaper at first cost than the old sort, while
incaloulaby superior In durability and IN
driving power. The foreign makers have
been forced into initiating the American
clubs and meth DDS Of manufacture 10 hold
their trade, OF else TO import our clubS
America exports nearly as many golf clubs
TO Great Britain as are made there.
The introduction Of socket clubs. which
did away with the glue and cord splice,
has been among the important methods
introduced by the Americans, with the turn
ing Of the heads and shafts by machinery.
The increased output has made possible
the great increase Of the game throughout
the world, for the demand could not have
1haav,lxr ntrr,T,liaA NV handmade
clubs turned out in the traditional way
at the shops. The new patterns, II Is con-
ceded are improvements on the old ones
in most cases. There j. still field for the
expert club maker, however in the selec-
ton OF heads and shafts, whether wholly
machine made OF only finished in the rough,
and in putting them together to suit the
need Of a player whose game and style
they thoroughly understand This fitting
Of a club TO an individual remains a dis
tinct art, similar TO fly rod making OF the
finishing Of shotgun for an expert wing
shot, and those who are adopts at this work
may still command as high prices for their
clubs as they received in the old days.
They have lost, though, the former steady
income from minor repairs which Is pro-
portionate saving to the players.
Il was not unusual in the early days Of
our golf, when the best players used only
imported clubs and insisted on beech
heads, to have the face smashed completely
in by the recuTrin g accuracy Of the blow
always in the centre OF the club before
the hrst round was finished, Then the
damaged face had 10 be replaced by hard
piece Of leather. This item, with the re-
pair OF fractured horns and regluing the
whippings, was costly to the player and in
creased the first cost OF the club. This
tax no longer eXists-a CLUB now may be
kept in repair by any caddte competent
10 rewrap and tie the grip.
In a recent article Field notes the increaeed
durability Of the clubs as a factor IN cheap
ening the game. The article states In part:
"The feature Of durability, which is 50
noteworthy to-day In the case Of the club,
is equally remarkable in the new American
ball. Though the modern ball Is double
the cost OF the glItta, its life on the links
has been prolonged as a servtceable factor
in the game far beyond that OF any previous
golf ball. It was a usual In cident OF ordinary
match play with the gutta 10 use up two
and three balls in the course OF round,
but 1t was found as a matter OF experience
that the gutta ball lost the major par
Of its elasticity after playing six OF nine
holes. With the universal use Of the Ameri-
can ball, on the other hand, this defect has
boon completely obliterated. Many players
will show their golfng friends rubber ere
balls which have been played with day after
day in rounds Of the links which total well
nigh a hundred or more, and the pleasing
feature Of such an Improvement In modern
ball manufacture Ia that despite all kinds
Of hard usage the ball appears 20 be little the
worse for wear except that its coating o.
paint has become a little smlrohed and
ragged. But it's elasticity and flying prop
critics remain undiminished, and the owner
Of such hall has very keen CONSCIOUSNESS
that in having become possessed OF such
an article he has carefully obtained greater
value for his money.
"The modern golfer therefore Is in
far better position compared with his TEL
lows in the early history Of the game as 10
the better quality Of his clubs and balls.
II the original cost Of each seems more 70
support the theory that the game has be-
come dearer, instead Of cheaper, II has 10
be remembered that the set-oh is much
greater saving Of incidental charges IN
general maintenance. Proof Of this Is
seen in the general slackness OF club work
shops attached to the majority. Of private
olubs and in the tendency Of club and ball
manufacture to settle, by the working
Of a we'll known economic Law. in the hands
OF those firms who control a large turnover
by well equipped machinery. The only
direction in which golf may be said 10 have
become dearer for the general body 81
modern players is in the payment Of large
subscriptions and entrance fees in order
70 Join good private clubs in the neighbor-
hood Of large towns. That, however, was
an inevitable development as soon az i be-
came recognized that the popularity OF the
game had become permanent, that the
quantity OF land available for the pastime
IN tne nelEnDOrnOOd OF towns was ntct~-
sarily limited and also that the private
golf course must become the course OF the
future. But in all other respects there il
no gainsaying the truth Of the statement
that the trend OF modern improvement
is all in the direction OF making the playing
Of the game cheaper"
The American player is more fortunate
than his British rival in having at hand
near each large city and at the summer
and winter resorts, a wide range Of links
that are not made expensive through the
club dues. SO far the need Of clubs eE-
clusively for golf which Is noted in Fi65,
has not been developed in this country
The tendency IL the other way, to broad~l
out and widen the recreations and pastimes
as correlative amusements, with the result
that the club members now obtain their
polo, tennis, squash OF curling for the sane
dues that they paid formerly Tor golf alone.
The important part filed by the country
club in American social life may be at
tributed directly to golf, but IL would not
have existed had the clubs adhered strict
10 the one game.
The increase in ks has cut down he
cost Of reaching thCm, and In this country
the travelling eXpe- SIS arc no longer a
n1fh "a