The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1916-1920, 1918-07-14
GOLF HAS DONE BIG
BIT TO WIN THE WAR
%. 900 Players in Service and
Huge Sum Donated to
Help Them.
by JOHN q. AMBER son.

Statistics of golf in war times make
interesting reading. After n rather OK
tensive period of inquiry there can be
presented now at practically the half
way mark in the seasons golfing num-
Der OF figures which are as accurate as
painstaking endeavor can make them.
Perhaps the most interesting is the
number of players who are now in the
service OF their country. This has been
computed before. and later advices have
not changed the previous estimates.
There are approximately 5000 golf clubs
in the country, hut 500 OF these are sum-
mer or what we might call transient
clubs whose membership is made up OF
the members OF many other golf clubs.
OF the $500 left 1t is a safe and con-
servative estimate to say thar 10 per
club Of their members have gone. This
makes a grand total OF $4,000 amateur
golfers
Frankly IL is wise TO err on the side
Of the smaller figures. but the temnta-
ton to put the figure at much higher
levels was strong when we discovered
that out of a total membership OF 100
in the Merton Cricket Club there are no
fewer than 400 who are performing
real service which entities them to be
considered in the list Of var helpers.
In the metropolitan section there is
scarcely n club that cannot show a ser
vice flag OF twenty-five stars, but we
must not forget the many small clubs
whose returns show one or three or five
members as the honored standard hear
ers. But there will be few who Will
deny that $4,000 amateur golfers con-
stitute a group which compares in the
highest of favorable degrees with any
other sport.
Fewer Rounds Played.
The number Of golfers who are play
ing the game as compared with other
seasons brings up the interesting fact
that while there are as many goifng
there are far fewer rounds played Re-
Gently | have received the count from
courses rear Boston, New York. Phila-
delphia. Chicago. 81. Louis and Atlanta
and in every instance 7 find that the
total number OF players per week has
fallen off from 10 to so per cent, while
the number OF different golfers has not
decreased more than per cent.
In other words. there has been a
steady influx of members taking the
places Of those who have gone to war.
but the play of the ones who remain has
been OF far less frequency.
On Saturdays and SUNDAYS the lists
at the first tees have been quite rs
! numerous but In the middle of III.
week where once there were seen fifty
golfers there are now seeu a srantS
score.
Surprise has been seen in the Coun,
tepances of listeners when they hav,
I been tod of the huge sums raised fo'
war purposes by the golf clubs o. tn.
country. To begin with, the Govern
| ment tax paid Will be no inconsidcra 81.
| figure, Taking the three thousa M
clubs as basis OF computation ant
| figuring that the annual dues will ruI
| this year about seventy dollars on tn,
average and that the membership 4
| loo we arrive al the figures s3l.500, 900
Ten per cent. of this total means tina
s3,l50.O00 is due the Government from
! members dues, When we add to Thu
, the 10 per cent which is collected from
each club guest who plays golf we hav,
! another s35 900
| rather fancy that ! have PLACED
| this too low, for some clubs in our owl
I district have one to three Thousand
guests per season, with n green's fee OF
! 50, which means that from each O
I these clubs there will be banded owe
! four to six hundred dollars