Evening star., 1914-07-23
WHERE GOLF GETS
HOLD ON DEV0TEES
Its Sportsmanship, the Exer-
else and Open Air All
Appeal.
BRITISH TRIBUTE PAID
TO AMERICAN INVADERS
Excellent Golfers and Good Losers
Is Verdict Pronounced by the
London Times.

From rae Lond,n Times
Thoush the American invaders have
not Won our amateur championship. they
have shown themselves 20 be splendid
Golfers. and not least by the spirit of
good sportsmanshir with which they
have accepted defeat It is sportsman
shin such as theirs that tustiies the as
ce-daucy Of golf
e:necfaI Trains cohorts Of correspond
euts thousands of Unsuitable spectators
and millions Of readers and synpa-
rh!zers. all testify to the popularity OF
a game that less than thirty years ago
was the esoteric sport Of the Scots and
has since then conquereJ the civilized
world II ever IN some austerer future
an anti-gof crusade were TO be organ
izad and were to carry its point. strand
ed townIets now bursting with the pros
peritv it has brought them would sink
hack into stagnation. properties trans
formed by the ubiquitous pasthe ih,o
miniature gold mines would lapse INTO
their pristine prairie value. and mu4ti-
tudes OF men and women would mss one
of their main interests IN NE ana oe ~.
.erIy at a loss how to turn their leisure
hours to account. Golf is more than q
game; it is a social question-and one
that threatens to become more forlnl-
liable with every year that passes
Eats Into Days Routine.
No snort has yet been invented that
eats so fusidiously into the days rou-
tine or makes attention to business
and affairs seem so much to resemble
n churIish form OF asceticism by pleas
ing gradations the Saturday half hoh-
day of the beginner expands into a
round and then couple OF Iout.us s
Sunday: an afternoon is soon nlcneu
from the middle of the week; there loi-
lows the discovery that by leaving the
Office a little earlier IN the summer
months a game in the evening is ~
wavs possible: and as the spell is WOW
en- more closely and the conscience
hardens. a full day off o. a Whoie
week end becomes first contflFaple'
then natural. and finally thing to De
resented if it has to be 1oresone. suc1
is the faciie descent now beng trou
by thousands who twenty years ago
really worked and felt bound to apol-
oeize when caught in their chance
hours of relaxation; ana tnere aie
thousands more who think, play anu
worst of ALL talk golf from week TO
week and year to year
What is the secret of its fascination!
Probab bly, at bottom that It looks SO
easy and is So hard Nothlns San Wsn
seem simpler than hitting stationary
ball with a club. But in actual fact the
human body proves to be euriouslg
i'll adapted for any such task NatuIe
does not point the way: pfonc.ei'cS
in other games is no passport, There
are subtleties Of how to stand. how TO
swing back. how to obtain the proper
cooperation of body. arms and eye,
that have all to be mastered before
it can be satisfactorily accomplished.
The problem of dispa,ching that inso-
lent ball In the desired direction be
comes suddenly terrifying. Men wTes-
tie with it as with a refractory collar
stud. The most even tempers are rut.
fed by its perversities- Prodigies OF
resolution and will power in other
spheres cannot remember on the goif
links to keep their head down and their
eye on the ball. Weak little men Win
hardly an effort send it flying sixth
OF a mile. Huge, burly fellows with
blow that would shake St Pauls. MT
it thirty yards. 1t is the most BAT
ming. tan,alizing. vexatious of games
Even when the novitiate is passed
there are days of infinite tribuiation
when nothing will. go right. abysmal
lapses of form and loss of instinct such
as never afIlict one in any other sport.