The Ocala evening star. [volume] (Ocala, Fla.) 1895-1943, 1914-07-10
GOLF ISN'T A
GREAT GAME
At eIast Such is the Opinion Of the
Leading Cricket Player
of England

New York, July, 10.-Golf tends
to selfishness AMI Ill temper, and de-
stroys character, if you wish to take
the word OF B. j. T. Bosanquet OF
London, for it.
Bosanquet, who is one of the great
est cricket players in the world in
addition to being an all-around ath-
lete, and who has become quite pro-
ficient in the game of golf, says:
Golf has none of the essentials OF
a great game. 1t calls for none of
the essential qualities of great
game, such as pluck, endurance, ply
steal fitness, agility, unselfishness,
esprit de corps, quickness of the eye
or judgement. 1t is merely a pleas
ant recreation and an inducement
to the INDECENT people to take exer-
else.
Golf destroys rather than builds
UP character. 1t tends to selfishness
and ill-temper. It develops no quail
ties OF manIiness or lighting ability
that are Of assistance in the more
serious pursuits of life.
of course, golf brings pleasure
to thousands and the game deserves
some credit for that. But to say
that the game is great, to say that
the game is hard to play and hard
to master, or to feel proud or boast
full over ones accomplishments at
the game is folly. 1t is a simple
game to learn and a simpler one to
play, as is shown the world over by
the fact that mere youths, who usual
~ start as caddies, become scratch
players within a year Show me any
other game in which a player can be-
come top-notcher in a year or two
years, or even three.
4 have played golf very often and
no one is more grateful ito the game
for many pleasant hours than I, nor
does any one appreciate the charms
AMI intricacies of the game more than
4 do. But there is charm and in
tricacy in a game of lawn tennis or
croquet. There is charm and intri-I
cacy in every game that is played,
whether indoor or out, and so no real
credit should be given to golf be-
cause of the fact that it is a charm
ing game, or that it presents intri-
cacies for the players to master.
The game does not demand any
real pluck or physical courage; it
demands nothing like cricket, polo,
football or the other games demand,
and as I view the situation, golf is a
game that is more for women than
for men,
Chick Evans. of Chicago is the
greatest amateur golfer in America,
in the opinion of Harry Vardon, the
English wonder, who has played
against the brightest American stars
at one time or another.
Evans understands every shot
that's one of the big reasons for his
greatness writes Vardon, in Every
lbody's Magazine. He plays every
club WE'LL is cool and brainy, and
plays his best game when hard press
ed. Ouimet is a good player, and
! has wonderful nerve. Travers is a
mighty good man, too, but neither
| in my opinion, compare with Evans
He is the best amateur in America. >
Vardon in handing out advice to
| American golfers says:
The Americans make labor of
golf Hundreds OF Americans will
go out and play forty-fve holes of
golf a day. That is bad-yery bad.
To play SO many holes in one day
ruins the benefits that can be deriv-
ed from golf.
The biggest fault with the Ameri-
can beginner is that he plays more
than he practices. 1t should be Just
the opposite. Practice makes per-
feet. Of course, some Americans in
cline to the belief that by playing
they get practice, but it is not the
same in perfeeting their play. If
one spends long time practicin g
shots at which one has a natural
weakness, ones game will develop
much sooner.
/ TITS really surprising how little
practice of the right kind will make
a good player. If one practiced con-
sistently for an hour each day at the
hard shots, it soon would end in
near perfection. But the trouble
with Americans is that they don t
care to practice. It seems like work
to them and it doesn't give them the
tpleasure that the playing of the game
itself does.
But if they just, curbed their de-
sires to play the game itself and
spend some time practicing they soon