Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1933-01-10
CLUBS, BALLS, DUES,
BETS NOW MODEST
Days of $1OO Wagers Gone
and Probably for Good
of the Game.
BY w. r. McCALLUM.

DIS a ITCH HAL pdSIllliS.
Y The boom days of the
decade between 1920 and
1880, when prices of golf equip
ment were boosted to the skies
and the gent who didn't have a
$45 set of wooden clubs in his bag
was a back number, are gone,
perhaps never to return.
The day Of the 65-cent golf ball is
back with us, and every article Of the
game from the most expensive clubs
even down to the wooden tees that are
universally used nowadays has taken a
severe cut. Club dues generally remain
at the old level, but initiation fees have
been slashed to point where the man
with modest piece of money to lay
on the line for initiation fee purposes
can get into a club which in the old
days charged initiation fees ranging
from 500 up to $500. Indeed, a few
of the local clubs have cut out the iri-
tiation fee entirely and are taking i'll
members without payment of such fees.
THE Professional Golfers Association
i tells us that the costs of golf now
adays are 80 per cent lower than
this react in individual cases? In those
DAYS we bought golf balls at S2.25 for
three. or SO a dozen. Nowadays, not
withstanding the tax on sport goods,
you can step into any golf shop and
buy golf balls at 50 for three, or at the
rate of So a dozen. Some pros will sell
them for $3.50 a dozen. The same rate
Of reduction holds true for golf clubs
Of the better makes. Clubs which used
to sell for $3.50 apiece in sets of 10
now sell for $50 by the set or IS each.
Wooden clubs which used to retail for
s45 the set now sell for $50 for three, a
reduction Of 33ls per cent. Imported
balls which used to sell for dollar now
can be bought for IS cents, although
one imported pill still commands dol
lar price. Needless to say. 1t isn't i'm
mensely popular. Even wooden tees
box of 10 now can be bought in differ
ent brands for as little as 10 cents for
q bag of 100. It's hardly worth re-
trieving them at that price.
|yLUB and ball costs during 1882, the
~ P. G. A. says, were reduced under
the cost of manufacturers produc-
ton by the liquidation of stocks OF the
old larger and lighter" golf ball and
the distress club stocks Of "woodshed"
manufacturers who were brought into
golf by the Tom Thumb or miniature
course craze Of 1880. Private club ex-
penses were sharply reduced by cur
tailment in club house operating forces
and reduction in the number of men
employed in course maintenance. Fur
ther money has been saved to clubs at
the cost of fine grooming of courses by
elimination Of close attention paid to
rough, trap maintenance and other sec
ondary course features.
All in all. it is a certainty that golf
costs have been very materially reduced
under the 1890 figure. Even wagers
have been cut. The old "two-dollar
Nassau" has become "a dollar Nassau -
and the days when some players
match have gone. Perhaps it is all for
the better, for the day when golf re-
turns to the simpler form Of the game
and does away with elaborate club
house and more attention to the game
itself will be better day for golf
After all, the chief enjoyment Of the
golfer is that he gets out of hitting the
ball. Palatial club house equipment
does not reduce his score.
Golf club dues showed a steady rise
during the prosperous years from 1921
to 1890. But since the year following
the stock market crash there has been
no increase in club dues around Wash
ington. On the other hand, there have
been few decreases, and these have
mostly come in reduction of initiation
fees.
THE golf courses around Washington
i were Just getting back, into fine
condition when along came heavy
rain to make them soft again. Over
the week end they were in first-class
Winter shape, soft enough so the greens
would hold pitched ball and yet not
too soft for comfortable walking.
Now, several more days of wind and
sun will be necessary to dry them out
But even so, golfers of the Capital have
no legitimate complaint. Barring the
two weeks when snow covered the
ground, the Winter has been open and
a lot Of golf, has been played every
where. All the courses were thronged
over the week end