Honolulu star-bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1912-2010, 1914-06-20
GOLF GOSSIP

That the American golfers who In
vaded England made a splendid I'M
pressicn on their golfing cousins
across the pend. is indicated by the
general tenor Of the British press.
The following from the London Times
Is a fair sample Of the good fellowship
evidenced: -
Though the American invaders have
net won Cur amateur championship.
they. have shown themselves to be
splendid golfers, and not least by spir-
1t OF good sportsmanhsip with which
they have accepted defeat. II Is
craftsmanship such as theirs that JUS
titles the ascendaney OF golf. Special
trains, cohorts OF correspond nts.
thousands Of Unsuitable spectators.
and millions OF readers and sympa-
thizers, all testify to the popularity
Of game that less than 80 years ago
was the esoteric sport Of the Scots
and has since then conquered the CIV
ilized world II ever in some austerer
future an anti-golf crusade we're to be
organized and were to carry It's point,
stranded townlets now bursting with
the prosperity Il has brought them
would sink back into stagnation. prop
critics transformed by the ubiquitous
pastime into miniature gold mines
would lapse into their pristine value.
and multitudes of men and women
would miss che OF their main interests
in life and be utterly at loss how to
turn their leisure hours 70 account
Golf Is more than a game; Il Is a so
cial question: and enc that threatens
to become more formidable with every
year that passes. No sport has yet
been invented that eats so insidiously
into the days routine or makes atten-
tion to business and affairs seem so
much to resemble a churlish form Of
asceticism. BY Bleas;ng gradations
the Saturday half-hpliday Of the be-
ginner expands into round and then
a couple Of rounds on Sunday; an al
ternocn Is socn filched from the mid
die CT the week; there follows the dis
covery that by leaving the office q
little earlier in the summer months
a game IN the evening Is always posi-.
Bile: and IS the spell Is woven morp
closely and the conscience hardens. 4
fun day off or q whele weekend be.
comes first contrivable, then natural.
and finally thing to be resented II
II has to be f0rgOne Such Is the Ia
Gle descent now being trod by thou.
sands who 90 years ago really WORKED
and felt bound to aDologize when
caught in their chance hours of relaxas
ton; and there are thousands more
who think. play. and. most Of all. talk
golf. from week to week and year to
year.
What is the secret OF It's fasclna.
ton? Probably at bottom that it looks
so easy and Is so hard Nothing can
well seem simpler than hitting sta
tionary ball with club. But In actual
fact the human body proves to be GU
riously ill-adapted for any such task.
Nature does not point that way pro-
fieiency in other games is no pass.
port There are subtleties Of how to
stand, how to swing back. how 10 Sc
cure the proper cooperation Of body,
arms and eve. that have all to be
mastered before it can be satisfactory
" accomplished. The problem nf a is
patching that insolent BAN in the de-
sired direction becomes suddenly ter.
rifying. Men wrestle with It as with
refractory eoIlar-stud. The nest
even tempers are ruffled by its per-
yersities. Prodigies OF resolution and
will power in other spheres cannot re-
member on the golf links to keep their
head down and their eye on the ball.
Weak little men with hardly an ef.
fort send it flying a sixth Of a mile
Huge. burly fellows, with blow that
would shake St Paurs, hit It 80 yards.
1t is the most battling, tantalizing, vex-
atious of games. Even when the no
yitiate is passed, there are days OF In
finite tribulation when nothing viii go
right, abysmal lapses of form and loss
of instinct as never afflict enc in any
other sport. H.. .&feIs ~
But If the sorrows Of golf are great,
so also are its rewards. There is a
feel and a glow about clean-hit drive,
or an approach that dribbles UP to