Evening star., 1913-11-21
FOR GOLF|NG
SWEEPING COUNTRY
Expert Says Players Number
1000, 900 and Spend $780,
000,00O Yearly on Sport.

NEW YORK, November 2O-Switching
the calcium from the gridiron to the tees
and putting greens, one discovers there
are more golfers than base bali players
in the United States today. and that the
golfing fever is sweeping through the
nation.
One also discovers that the 2,OO0,OO0
golfers of both sexes in this country
spend approximately $500 100000 a year
in pursuit of the little white bail, stag
Aering. almost unbelievable total. yet
one which is arrived at after the COM
pilation of the most accurate statistics
from unquestionable sources.
There are more than 1900 clubs in the
country now where the membership Is
composed very largely of golfers.
New clubs are springing up each year.
The membership of the clubs now in ex-
istence runs from 100 to 1000. Averag-
ing the goling members Of each club at
only POO, it means that there are 100000
men and women who are devoted to the
Scotch game.
There are at the very least 100000
persons in the country who play golf
but do not belong to any clubs. They
play most of their games on public links
which the big cities have established. al
though they often play on club links with
friends who are members of the clubs.
The average golf course rent club
member must pay is SO. His dues. at
the most conservative estimate, are SO.
Even the most careful regular golfer will
use up one ball a week, which means
about forty balls year, averaging the
golfing year at forty weeks. although it
very often exceeds that figure.
Forty balls will cost the golfer $40 at
the very least, as the most expensive
balls are 80 cents each. Carrying charges
average from 90 to rs cents for eighteen
holes, which means about SO more a
year. Most of the regular golfers get a
new set of clubs each year, at a cost be-
tween S25 and $40. But assuming that
they get a new set only every other year
means an average outlay for clubs each
year of about $40.
Railroad fare to and from the club is
another big item of expense. At the
very lowest the average is 81 a round
trip Adding 30 cents for incidental ex-
penses of each trip and allowing one
trip a week means that the golfer doles
out $50 each year for transportation.
Money Spent by Golfers.
All of these figures are extremely con-
servative, yet they show that each club
golfer spends about $175 yearly. which
makes a grand total Of S235 100000 that
the 1, 400, 900 club golfers spend each sea-
son.
The cost to the non-club golfer is some
what less. He does not have to pay the
club fees or for rental of the links. His
than the clubman who usually Journeys
far into the country. And he does not
play quite as often as the clubman, thus
reducing by about one-third the cost of
caddying and new balls.
Placing the yearly average expenditure
Of the non-club golfer at only $40. it
means that the 100000 non-club players
spend a total of $45.OO0OOO yearly.
To the items already enumerated must
be added the cost of special golf toggery.
Woman golfers must wear special golfing
skirts and special shoes to prevent their
slipping on the green's. Men also must
wear spiked or cleated shoes. Some club
men don complete golfing attire every
time they play the game.
The total spent each year by all the
golfers simply for golf togs mounts up
to around S20.O00,OO0 and brings the grand
total of expenditure up to the three-hun-
dred million dollar mark
And American golf is only in its in
fancy today 1t was first introduced
into this country about twenty-five years
ago. For fifteen years there was about
as much interest in 1t as there is today
in chess. Then. of sudden, the game
began to jump forward in popularity by
leaps and bounds until it has swept the
country like tidal wave.