Evening star., 1925-01-06

But meanwhile memories kept in
trudtng which I could not down. 1
kept thinking of the beauties of the
outdoor life I had enjoyed as a caddy
l remembered how 1 had succeeded
In winning a caddies' competition
And / recalled the words of the club
professional, who had watched me
eating quick, light lunch day after
day, so / could. take advantage Of the
privilege of practicing during the
noon hour-''Great guns, you'd sooner
play golf than eatr'
He. was right. I loved the game
and loved 1t. dearly. And though 1
was able to keep in touch with it out
side office hours. this was accom-
plished with difficulty. L began to
long 20 be more intimate with it
again.
Inside work was not suited to my
constitution either, so that when l
fnally approached my father on the
matter l found him in a receptive
mind
L understand" I told him, that
the professionals in golf do very well
financially, particularly if they rank
nigh. I'd love to get into the bust
ness"
The upshot was that we went out
to the Trafford Park course and in
terviewed the man who subsequently,
ID
able to play golf-T. q. Renouf And
he agreed to give me job as assist
ant when the opportunity offered
This agreement was clinched in a
, way unknown to American golfers.
My father paid Renouf a premium Of
f5 and consented that l should go
through the rigorous apprenticeship
the job of assistant entailed, which
included working after hours to learn
the difficult art of clubmaking In
return Renouf was to pay me a
weekly wage of S shillings-just half
that which 1 was getting in the stock
brokers Office. The agreement COW
cred a year.
In due time vacancy arose and /
was summoned to FIJI It, And thus
my career as a professional golfer
began.
Worked Long Hours.
My hours were long, but I got
plenty of frosh air and exercise-the
latter including a six-nl!le bicycle
RIDE between my home and the club
morning and eVening--and my physi-
cal condition grew steadily better
: As Renouf's assistant / got more
opportunities to practice and a fire.
quent chance to go around with mem
bers. My game picked up wonder
fully until the day arrived when
shot the SO which caused my brush
with Renouf
This incident aroused in me a de-
sire to get away from the Trafford
Park Club. l began to dream Of
new connection. Naturally, ! thought
ii would be a great thing If 1 could
get job at one of the big cham
pionship courses
Just about the time l reached this
mood friend of mine, a travelling
salesman for a golf goods concern,
, happened in. He was interested in
! me, and he said:
Say, if you ever want to make a
change can get you placed at Hoy
lake as assistant"
Holyake! championship course!
The very thing I wanted,
told him to fix things for me.
Learns ut HoyIake.
1t was at Hoylake that I really
learned to play golf. Jack Morris,
brother of the celebrated Tom Morris
and an old veteran of the game, and
Jack Youds were the professionals
But Morris was more or less mac
tive. He had been made an honorary
,member and had sold out his interest
IN the shop to Iouds, who hired me
as a clubmaker
V
ing with the older members, while
Youds, being deeply interested in the
profits of the shop, stuck rather close
ly TO 1t. My game being pretty
strong, he often sent me out to play
with the most expert members
OF course, l benefited from this
The British open championship was
played at Hoylake in 1918. IN the
qualifying round ! accomplished a
a W me- fn lI6
was a real future for me on the links.
At the end of the day ] stood second
in my section. Only Laurie Ayton
Tas ahead OF me. He had 1872 and
j 153. l finished ahead of George
Duncan, Harry Vardon, James Braid,
Harold Hilton and other well known
cracks, including my old friend,
1SeasUf.