The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1916-01-21

T IKE the needy poor. the status. of
of amateur srortsmen is an ever
present question,
It is to be hoped in the interest of
uniformity that golfers Will come to a
thorough understanding with players in
such lines as tennis. shooting baseball.
football. rowing. With united front Of
tenders in one field cannot blithely hop
into another. Let the job be done
thoroughly, so that only minor modih-
cations to meet ever changing condi-
lions will be necessary for years to
come.
Some misguided souls have an idea
that the ruling Of the United States
Coli association last winter ended the
controversy, SO far as the roya1 ana
ancief7t game was concerned. 1t was
thea decided that an amateur might do
only two things for money-Wr1te ABOUT
the game and lay out courses
Amateurs Are Kept Busy.
Naturally If you dam up a river at
ALI except two points more water will
rush through at the places where there.
Is no obstacle. In consequence a num-
Der of amateurs are devot1ng practical
Iy all their time to golf architecture
and writing. Syndicate concerns the
country over tsre bundling out series
of articles. mostly of a technical sort,
supposed to be carried by the refu1-
gence of the authors name. 1t re-
minds one of the wholesale invasion,
two or three years ago. OF the news
naper columns and variety theater
stages by baseball players who speed
fly o'erleaped themselves, although no
such delicate question as amateurism
was involved.
1t is noticeable that the brazened de-
6ance of a few amateur offenders faded
into nothingness after the national
TaeS Tar
This season discussion has been occu-
pied principally with the problem as to
whether or not an amateur endangered
his standing by handling golf supplies.
excepting, of course, making or repair
fnsA clubs, which has heen specifically
forbidden. Sentiment, particularly
around Boston. which has often taken
the Initiative, has been crystallizing
against infractions of good taste in
that direction, but in one instance, at
least the central authority by reason
ing from a doubtful premise deduced a
conclusion that merely lodged the kerr
mel of the matter at issue.
President Woodward, soon after the
national samateur championship, spoke
as if golf was about the only sport still
wrestling with the amateur problem
and attributed most Of the trouble to
youngsters unfamiliar with the re-
strictions, when. as a matter of fact,
the chief Offenders have been goihng
for sixteen twenty years Just after
Mr.. woodward went on record five
well known Yale athletes were dis
qualified on the ground Of having play
ed summer baseball. The public does
not hear so much regarding violations
In golf as in other sports because it is
not q gate money recreation, therefore
it's Commercial ends are less apparent
Human nature Is such that in some
cases rules will always be fngenious4y
evaded. Accordingly. additional legis-
lation by way OF safeguard is fire.
}quentIy required to exclude the virus
of professionalism. The con1monestH
method of evasion in golf is through
wagering, which furnishes one reason
why gambling on the links is assaulted
Talking the other day. an authority
In amateur sports said: Originally
an amateur was a gentleman who pur-
sued sport for recreation and a pro-
fessional was a manual 1aborer who
practiced the same exercise for a live
Hhood The principal reason for max
ing the distinction was to protect the
man who did the thing for fun In his
leisure hours against the injustice of
being compelled to pit his strength and
skill against the one who made asbust-
ness OF doing it and consequently had
IAN unfair advantage over him.
"A secondary motive was to conf1ne
amateur sport to men of similar social
stations. at least such was the case