The Washington herald., 1917-01-02

4, Newspaper comments, press reports anu
forecasts Of the coming meeting Of the
United States Golf Association convey
the impression that the national body
made q change In Its rules regarding the
amateur question at It's last meeting, but
such Il not the case. The bylaws OF
the constitution already contained the
following:
Section T. An amateur golfer II otse
who has not accepted. directly OF ndt-
rectly, any fee. grstuity, money or its
equivalent as . consideration for the per
formancs Of any act or service arisin g
4 connection with the game of golf and
10 Is not or has not been q professional
In any other branch of athletics Pro-
vided. however. that the above shall not
apply to whiting, editing or publishing 6
articles, magazines or books on golf, or
to laying out. constructing, supervising or
giving advice concerning the layout
construction or upkeep Of golf course or
any part thereof"
This section has not been changed and
all that was done at the last meeting
was simply that . definite Interpretation
OF the rule was made and that specific
acts which would bs looked upon by the
national body as violations were emu
merated tn order that there might Be no
doubt in the minds Of golfers as to ex-
actiy what they could and could not do
without affecting their status as an
chnateur. The following are considered
as violations OF the above rule:
L Playing or teaching the game of
eo6 for pay. This includes playing fo-
. money prlze, accepting travelling or liv-
fng expensSs for playing over a course
or for participating In q golf tournament,
contest or exhibition.
4 Personally making or repairing golf
clubs. golf balls or other golf articles foT
pay.
4 Serving after reaching the age Of ls
as q caddie, caddie master or green
keeper.
L Lending ones name or likeness for
the advertisement or sale Of anything
except as a dealer, manufacturer or in
ventor thereof IN the usual course of
business.
s. Permitting ones name to be adyI.
ttsed or published for pny as the author
Of books or articles on golf OF which one
Is not actually the author.
s. Accepting or holding any position ss
agent or employe that includes as part
Of its duties that handling Of golf sup
plies; or the engaging in any business
wherein ones usefulness or profits arise
because OF skin or prominence In the
garne Of golf
The last paragraph seems to be the one
that Is causing particular trouble and
unless II is amended at the coming meet
Ing II would not be at all surprising II
Ihsre was a small-sized rebellion on hand.
headed by the Massachusetts, Golf Asso-
citation and the Woodland Golf Club. Of
which Francis Ouimet Is member
Under the rules, Charlie King, mana
ger Of one OF our sporting goods firms
and one Of the most popular members of
the Columbia Country Club, has auto
matically made himself a professional
because his nrm sells sporting goods
out the golf association takes the stti-
Gude that he Is practically a beginner and
for q time at least Is no apt to do much
tournaInen. play away from his home
club and in view of tn fact his status
will not be questioned at this time
Should, however. his game improve
enough to warrant II. then and not un-
I'll then. Will the matter be officially
recognized by the golf authorities Golf
ers claim that the rule ts a poor one but
II II Is to be enforced at all there should
be no exceptions and the question OF the
golnng skill Of the player In question
should have nothing to do with the case.
II Is generally believed. however, that The
agitation OF this question has been bene-
fcial to the game in that II has served
30 make more widespread the knowledge
Of the amateur rule and this carries with
II an appreciation OF the reasons for it,
adoption and OF the necessity for tts
|strtct enforcement IL golf is to be main
|tained purely as a gentlemanly sport
NE sixth paragraph should undoubtedly
be amended and probably will In some
Ifew cases the enforcement OF the rules
VIII hit golfers rather hard and perhaps
3lntustly, but in the main II Is believed
that It will do the game a great deal
pr good by removing practically all forms
pr commercialized golf In Justification
pf It's action In permitting amateurs to
srfts golf articles or to construct golf
courses. the executive COMMITTEES has sx-
planned that golf Is one game In which
q technical or scientific points cannot
70 readily picked up by a non-player and
or this reason. In order for the articles
IDEAS on golf construction to be really
Forth while, they must come from the
rain or experience of someone who
nows what he Is talking about and who
|ouid know more about the game than
hs golfer himself.
The officers of the Departmental
ennis League are seriously thinking
again changing the plan of run
ng on its matches During the OPEN
lg season, matches were played on
pturdays only when three sets were