Evening star., 1932-02-12
HIT LESS THAN ANY
| OTHER DURING 1881
Number of Rounds Surpasses
Base Ball, Grid, Boxing
Total Attendance.
by FRANCIS J. POWERS.

N1AANhSO, FCpl udIy Il. -
III There were 93,519,4
~ rounds Of golf played in
these United States dur
ing 1881, according to the ouija
board of Herbert Grains, the lead
ing statistician of the game
While that tremendous total rep
resents more participants than
the combined spectator attend
ance at base ball, foot ball and
boxing contest, there was quite a
decline in golf play as compared
with 1880.
The 1850 1s-hole courses Of the
country provided falrways and greens
for 68,796,0o0 of the total rounds,
while the other 24.723,4Oo were played
over our 3,341 9-hole layouts. Com
parative figures show that the play
over l8-hole courses YVES off II per
cent from $780, but that there was a
decline of only 4 per cent on the g.
hole clubs.
Business conditions largely were re-
sponsible for the decrease in golf play,
but the tremendous heat wave that
swept the country last year also had
its effect and many professionals re-
ported that for several weeks In Mid
summer courses were practically de-
serted. Regardless Of the reasons,
there was less Of q decline in golf
through 1881 than in any other sport.
TRAFFTS' statistics show a stagger-
" ing total of $3.50 O39,298 invested
IN golf courses, club houses and
other appurtenances in this country.
OF that amount s732, ,746,45o is invested
IN l8-hole clubs, an average of s311.-
BOT. while $91,302,848 represents the
assessed value Of the 9-hole courses.
There also are lis clubs with extra
hole facilities, that range from 81 to 80
holes, with an added value OF SIS, ,99O, 900.
A conservative estimate places the
number OF active golfers in this coun-
try at 2,072,614. OF those 640,8l4 are
members OF private clubs with 18 or
more holes. The private 9-hole courses
showed a total membership of 477.750.
with some $4,000 more holding what is
known as social membership in some
sort OF private club. The 632 I8-hole
daily-fee courses produced sos 200 more
players, while the GIL 9-hole, pay-as-
you-play links contributed 2l3.s5O.
These figures include only regular play
ers and it is estimated there were at
least 100000 others who played only
intermittently.
IT Is further approximated that $1,000
men and women found employment
with golf clubs OF this country, dur
ing the operating season. Definite fig
ures on the number Of caddies employed
were not available, but from caddy
masters records it Is probable that the
total was slightly above 300 1000. About
$50, 100000 is paid these boys annually
by the Nations golfers. Which brings
COLTS total labor bill well above $780,
0C000 annually.
The totals for the annual mainte-
lance Of golf clubs develops another
sum that is tremendous. Eighteen hole
courses spent S38, ,594,5 ,556, while the up
keep Of the nine-hole clubs cost So
308 ,025, total OF s47,902 582.' of which
3,53l ,807 was expended upon labor.
The annual income of the private
clubs for 1881 is placed at $161, All, ,13s
and q little mathematics on the fore
going figures will definitely prove that
golf Is the United States greatest game.
New York leads all Of the States in
the number Of courses with 452, OF