Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1915-06-19

gd ne
good as anything one could ySisb 20 zee e
In that direction W see
quite as noteworthy az the advnnc. ~
tne american amateurs is the propress ~
tne professionals; Of the latter. tbA one
VINO has appealed to me most in recant
times Is Macdonald Smith. He is a fns
natural golfer, who, given good health. is
oOuhu '. 70 go long way. / am not losing
any or the sense Of proportion In savip1
that l have never watched any eolfsr ia
OF young, who hits his iron shots IN TO
the mole better than Macdonald Smith
D. NJ barnes Is another man OF Infnite
promises; he knows every shot in tbo
game. There are others; the Improvement
ls so OBVIOUS In so many cases that one
cannot estimate how many players stand
chance OF winning the championship.
wonder whether the caddies on An1eri-
can courses retain their old air OF detach-
ment and Independence. In a way. I all
most hope they do; they are exceedingly
engaging even IL they make one feel AZ
times, that they might be n little more
helpful. At home we have a queer mix
ture OF oaddies; some whole-hearted in
their attention to their employers game
ana others utterly unconcerned as to
what happens so long as they receive
their due reward for acting as light por-
ters of the links. do not think the Amer
lean caddie is often lacking in interest
although he is occasionally. At least, one
who carried for me in a match at Miami,
which l was particularly keen on win
ming, cannot have been very greatly af-
fected by my ambitions. Here" he said
In the middle of the round "hold these
clube and I'll go and kill snake for
YOU"
In the ordinary way, however. lofty in
dependence has struck me as being the
spirit in which the American caddie pur-
sues his calling. In Britain, II is an in
variable custom that the henchman shalt
clean the clubs at the end OF the day,
and the most laggard member of the
species makes tee for the drive unless
you tell him that you would rather make
1t yourself-which Is fairly often. During
my golfing travels in America. have
very seldom come across a caddie who
regards 1t as part of his duty to prepare
tee, and as for cleaning the clubs-well
that would be far beneath his dignity.
remember once asking n caddie to re-
move the mud from ball which had COL
lected some of that tenacious substance
as the result of visit to ditch. I told
him that i would use it hole or two
later when 1t was clean. He took it
without a word. In due course asked
him for 1t; he handed 1t to me with the
mud still sticking to it.
"Why, you haven't cleaned IT," pro-
tested.
Haven't had time" he said nonchal-
antly
There was no arguing with that youth.
he had nothing to do but walk along
carrying the clubs, so there was an end
of the matter.
EXPERIENCE WITH A HUNCHBACK
CADDIE.
Be II said, however, that we have our
monuments of uppishness among home
caddies. l shall never forget the boy
who carried for me in the first champion
ship in which l ever competed, which was
at Prestwick, Scotland, in. 1893. He was
n hunchbaek. no more than Il years of
age, and he took me so completely In
hand from the start of the competition
that soon realized that 1 was not eS-
pected to have a mind of my own. He
gave full instructions as to how to play
every shot that presented itself and Sc
lected the club for me-
Being deslrous of encouraging him to
help so far as lay in his power as every
good caddIe should assist his employer,
I obeyed him faithfully for long while.
At length, however, l had fancy for
shot which was different from the one
that he recommended and insisted upon
going my own way to work. Such indig-
hiblted I have never seen eaualed In
human being.
IAN right" he said severely, you can
have your own way now till the finish.
Don't ask me anything else"
From that moment I could not get an
other word out of him. every time we
came up to the ball he turned his back
on me and held the bag at arms length
for me to choose club. He kept that
up till the end. 1t was amazingly sus-
tanned anger and contempt.
THE MOST CRUSHING CRITICISM,
Truly are eaddies very entertaining oc-
casionally. There was one who carried
for me when first 1 visited America on
the course of the New York Athletic
Club, whittier went on Sundays for prac-
tice when in the city. AS these were pri-
vate games and we did not want to
arouse any attention, | was introduced
TO the club merely as "Mr. Smith," and
the eaddie in question, after accompany
ing me around several times, began to
evinee a deal of interest in my golf
"You know. you ought TO join this
club" he remarked one day.
"Why?" I inquired.
"Weil," he replied. they want players
for the team matches. and you'd do all
right"
would give me?" 1 asked
He reflected long and deeply Al length
he gave his verdict,
You'd nave IL.
That was about the most crushing crit
lcism that ever ! suffered,
Copyright. 1918 by the Wheeler Syndicate me-
This Is the second Of series Of articles
An golf that Mr.. YaFdon, the British cham
Mon. is writing specially for the Evening
ledger. The third article VIII appear hsA'
Saturday.