Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1910-06-26
GAUDY GOLF toes ARE CONE
No More is Pink Coat to Be Seen on
the Links.
ECCExTR1CITEs YET REMAIN
Engiishmsn is Prejudiced Against
Comfortable Sweater One
Player Wears stiff white
Shirt.

Shirt.
LONDON, June 25I-Golfing costume is no
longer the gaudy affair 1t was in the old
days There are those who still cling to the
punched shoe laces at the instep. designed
to keep the dew off in early morning play,
but apparently the red coat Is not to en-
dure like the pink" coat OF the huntsman,
The extinction Of the red coat came so
gradually that it is now rather difficult. in
looking backward, to assign any precise
reason for it. Some of it's unpopularity
may be due to the fact that many clubs.
not content with a simple red, insisted on
adding facings Of various and glaring colors
and buttons bearing elaborate devices. Not
only was the coat often made hideous, but
by dint Of all this unnecessary fuss it be-
came also ridiculous. There was-long
enough ago for 1t to be now almost forgot
ten-a vague feeling that a player should
attain a certain standard before poisoning
into scarlet; enthusiastic beginners would
declare that as soon al, they could 80 round
under 100-a rarer feat then than 1t is today
they really would buy a red coat. The
small Elton boy who ecstatically casts away
his "scug' cap Of ugly blue and black
stripes for his color. may well be par
doned IL he exaggerates the Importance Of
the occasion; but stout, middle-aged per-
son toiling and moiling round the links with
the object of wearing a coat of one color
rather than OF another is a cause for legiti-
mate mirth. Possibly IL the standard re-
quired by the unwritten law had been q
high one, the absurdity would not have
been SO patent, since many grown men are,
at the bottom Of their hearts, by no means
unsusceptible to the variety of colors. AS
It was, however, just as the number OF
beginners steadily increased, SO did the
custom of wearing red coat fall into dis
repute.
Liberty in Game.
Golf is really almost the only game in
which there is any considerable latitude for
the personal predictions of the player in
the matter Of clothes. A cricketer might be
privately OF opinion that he would feel
more at his ease in knckerbockers, but he
would be bold man to appear SO attired at
Lords, or, indeed, on any but the more
primitive OF village greens. The golfer, on
the other hand, owes scarcely any obed-
ience to custom; he has cast from him the
only garment which savored of uniform,
and can please himself, Consequently, he
has ample scope for developing opinions,
sometimes highly fantastic, as to what gar
ments do and do not enable him to hit the
ball.
There is one man occupying prominent
position In the golfing world who, on the
morning OF a match, deliberately arrays
himself In a white shirt with a large and
adamantine front and, in addition, the
tallest collar he can find. Nor is this
player unique; for there was q few years.
ago a golfer who came within an ace OF
representing his university and invariably
adopted the same attire, with the modi-
fication that on the Interest winter day
he would take off his coat and play in
snowy shirt sleeves To most golfers
stiff shirt would be sheer agony, and they
would declare IL to be impossible 10 take
more than the very shortest of swings.
Yet the man referred to, although no
longer what Sir Walter Simpson would
have described as "swank youth" ap-
pears TO have no difficulty in executing
full swing. and, indeed, according to his
own account, only manages to keep his
swing within bounds by this rather drastic
regulation Of his attire.
Dress for Freedom.
Those players who dress themselves with
the set purpose OF curbing exuberance Of
movement are few indeed compared with
those who are forever seeking the MAXI
mum of freedom; but the former have not
a little wisdom their side. Walter de
zoete, an accurate golfer. who plays all
too seldom nowadays, used always TO tie
silk handkerchief as tightly as possibly
round his waist when playing In a high
wind, in the belief that the feeling OF
restraint enabled him to keep his body
still This is an admirably theory If this
feeling Of restraint does in fact induce a
restrained method OF hitting. Even braces
present an insuperable obstacle 20 the pro-
per hitting OF the ball with many golfers;
but this must be attributable to the inn
agination. unless indeed, the braces be OF
most rigid and unrelenting type. II is
TO be observed that the professionals, who
certainly do not suffer from a lack Of
the right kind OF freedom, wear braces
his book solemnly warns hts readers
against the seductive but delusive proper
ties OF belt.
In England golfers are never seen TO
play In sweater, which would seem an
almost ideal garment for cold winters
day. There was once a golfer at Cam
bridge who always played IN one. but
when IL came 10 the match against OK
ford public opinion was too strong for
him. and he submitted 70 wearing an
orthodox coat.
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