Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-09-29
SOME CHANGES | HAVE
SEEN IN GOLF
BY TOM MORRIS ("Old Tom," of St. Andrews)
tAll Rights Reserved)

When any one has got well over the span
of four-score years. as have now done. the
changes that have been witnessed in al
most every phase of life must naturally be
of interest: and those | have seen come to
pass in the royal and ancient game are no
exception No matter what departmen mt of
golf l think Of I see great change when
l remember what it was like when | was
young; and l think it might be of interest
TO the present generation of golfers who
personally can know nothing of these good
old days. if l describe briefly the condi-
tons under which we played at that time
compared with those Of the present
There may be some-but few fear their
number-whO remember. l do, the golf
that used to be. but If any such read these
lines. l will take this opportunity of shak-
ing the hand with them in spirit, for the
sake of "auld lang syne."
The Progress of Golf Implements.
First and foremost l will take up the diff
ferences in the clubs and balls Clubs, l
fear there Will be a great many players
nowadays who will not recognize the clubs
which constituted a full set in my young
days-driver, long spoon mid spoon. short
spoon, baffy spoon. driving wooden putter.
with or without brass sole. a cleek and
sand iron. All wooden it will be observed
except the last two. Nowadays these rela-
tive positions are almost completely
versed. Many good players now carry only
three wooden. and as many as seven or
eight iron clubs in their bags-an article
by the way. we did not think of in those
days. The different spoons in the old set
mentioned above corresponded pretty much
to and did the work of the present mashie
the different irons and the plepk hut hpy
were not nearly SO hard on the turf as
these later implements are-there was not
nearly so much divot-lifting then.
The shape of the wooden club heads was
very different then. The driver was long
and narrow. now it is short and broad or
almost round, we might say. / should per-
haps add here that although the latter de
scrption of club has been in vogue many
years now. and for cOnsidera lie time be-
fore l gave up playing regularly, l never
took to the newer, Short-headed wooden
club at all, always preferring to use one
with the old-fashoned long narrow head
OF the two iron clubs in the old SET the
cleek was not unlike that OF the present
day, except that the head was perhaps
longer. but what we called the sand iron
has now gone out of use: it was something
of the shape of a modern iron, but very
much broader, longer and heavier, and was
a formidable weapon. but good and very
useful 1t would. of course, be superfiuous
to say anything of the up-to-date set, they
well known, the difference between the
two is very marked.
Three Eras of Golf Balls.
During my lifetime l have seen three eras
of golf balls: the feather the gutta and the
rubber core l ought to know about balls,
for l was a maker of them in my youth.
first in the workshop of my friend and
partner in many foursome, the famous
Allan Robertson, and afterward on my own
account When 1 first started of course it
was with the feather balls. and as the art
of making has gone completely out of eX-
istence, 1t may be interesting to briefly ex-
plain how they We're made. The cover was
In the form of little bag or pouch Of bulls
hide, specially cured and prepared with
alum and into this We put many feath-
ers as We could. with the instruments We
had for the purpose; these little bags held a
wonderful lot of feathers when tightly
packed: then, when the cover would hold
no more, we sewed up the opening and the
ball was complete.
1t while I was yet working with
Allan Robertson that the gutta came in,
and special reason. too l have of remem-
bering its advent for it was the cause of
my leaving my friends employment. One
day, while playing a match. a gentleman
lent me one OF his new balls to try, and I
found 1t very good. spoke highly of its
merits: some one told Allan of this, and he.
as feather-ball maker having a special
antipathy to the innovation. We had words
when next we met, which ended in my
leaving him and starting on my own ac-
count.
How "Gutta" Ball Was Made.
The gutta ball appeared with a perfectly
smooth surface; 1t was shortly found that
they flew better after they had number of
hacks and dents from the club upon them
and this fact gave to some one the idea of
hammering them. This was done by the
hand with a small heavy hammer, shaped
at the reverse side like chisel. With this
tiny channels on the ball were made, the
latter being, during the process, held by
the left hand and turned round In small [
wooden cup f1xed in front of the worker
and very neat patterns, too, used to be put
on the ball in this way After time the |
corrugated mold. in all its varieties, was |
brought into use, and superseded all other |
methods So we have had the feather and |
then the gutta ball. and now We have the |
rubber core, but what further changes are |
yet in store In this direction for the golfer |
of the future no one can say. 1 have used |
the rubber core but seldom, for my regular |
playing was well-nigh over when it came |
into the field Such then are the alterations l