Healthful Sports for Boys

by A. R. Calhoun

CHAPTER XXI

THE OLD SCOTCH GAME OF GOLF-SOMETHING ABOUT HOCKEY AND SHINNY

In Scotland, where the game comes from, golf has been pronounced "goff" for more than five hundred years.

Now that our President and other great men have taken to golf, everybody reads about the popular game, but very few know anything about it but the name. To such, the following facts may be of use. The game is interesting, and its rules can be soon learned, but like everything else we do for pleasure or profit, it takes a good deal of practice before one can pose as an expert. Boys take to golf and soon excel their seniors.

The equipment for golf consists of a large field, called "the links," to play in, a set of sticks or clubs with which to make the strokes, and a ball to be hit at.

The start is made from a point called "the tee." The player's purpose is to send the ball, which may be rubber or gutta percha, and is about one and three-quarter inches in diameter, into a small hole. This hole may be from twenty to a hundred or more yards away, and the skill consists in doing the trick with the fewest possible number of strokes. The player who makes the most holes with the fewest strokes wins the game. This sounds very simple, and it is simple to understand, but not so easy to do.

THE LINKS

Many of the best links are laid out where the soil is sandy and the grass sparse and stiff. Such links dry quickly after a rain, and the ball is easily played and seen. The course in this country for the regulation game is sometimes three miles long; shorter courses can be laid out for informal work and practice. The links do not extend in a straight line. It is much better to have them wind about and end near the start. By carefully planning the curves, a golf course may be made to occupy limited grounds.

It has become a rule to make eighteen holes constitute a full course. In the United States, however, comparatively few courses have more than nine holes, and good practice can be had upon a course with even a fewer number. The starting-point is called "the teeing-ground," and is marked by two whitewash lines at right angles to the course, forming a parallelogram with the side lines of the course five or six yards in length by two or three in breadth. Within the parallelogram the player places his ball upon a tee or small hill of sand or earth from a half to three-quarters of an inch high.

The holes are about four inches in diameter, and are lined with iron— condensed milk cans or similar vessels may be used—and the ground for seven or eight feet on all sides is more level than the rest of the course and is known as the "putting green." The holes are placed at distances varying from three hundred to twelve hundred feet apart, and are marked by little red flags, which are removed when the player approaches.

As a match game consists of thirty-six holes, eighteen holes gone twice over give the required number; so will nine holes gone over four times, or six holes six times, or four holes nine times, or three holes twelve times. So you see that if your ground is limited you need have but three, four, six or nine holes, and the fewer the holes the fairer becomes the game for strangers, because in going over them so often they learn the ground, and that puts them on an even footing with the home players.

THE CLUBS

The golf clubs are something like shinny sticks in shape, but modified and better made, as the ball must be driven more accurately and much farther. The heads are made of wood or iron. There are a great variety of them, but the beginner does not need more than four or five.

The driver, a large club with a long shaft; the head is wood. It is used to start and when the ball is on the tee.

Let me add here that when the luxury can be afforded, it is usual to employ a boy, known as a "caddy" to carry the bag or receptacle in which the different clubs are kept.

The brassie is much like the driver, except that it has a brass head or plate on the hitting part. It is used for a good send when the ball is in a favorable place.

The cleek and lofter are iron-headed clubs, and are used to drive the ball far and low. A hundred and twenty yard stroke is good, but not unusual.

The golf ball, as I have said, is made of hard rubber, but in learning the game any hard ball of medium size will do, and one club will be enough with which to practice.

Hazards are obstructions in the way of the ball. A bunker is a hazard, such as a fence, wall, hedge, depression, or trees.

The ground between the holes should be cleared as far as possible of all obstructions. Hazards are not objected to by good players, as they add to the sport.

The game called "singles" is where two players, each with his own ball, play against each other.

A "foursomes" is when two players play against another two, each side having a ball and the partners playing alternately.

Often a skilled player will match himself against a number of inferiors; this is called a three or four ball match.

SHINNY

Of course every boy who can wield a stick has played at this fine, simple old game. One does not need many tools for this sport. A stout shinny stick, curved at the business end, like the best walking sticks, and a ball, or even a chunk of wood, if not too heavy, and large, will do.

The game is played between chosen sides under the lead of properly selected captains. Two goals, from ten to a hundred yards apart, are marked out, and between these the ball is placed.

This done, the captains display their skill by stationing their men in such a way that they may guard their respective goals if their opponents are driving that way.

The captains start the ball a-rolling; all are free to dash in and strike, taking care to guard their own heads and not to hurt the heads of the enemy, for this is a contest, not a battle.

Each party must keep on its own side, and each goal gained is a game.

HOCKEY

does not differ much from shinny. In this game the ball is called a hockey, and it does not matter what you call the curved sticks.

The goals are selected, and the sides chosen as in shinny, but in this game the captains toss up for first strike. When the ball is struck, the opposite side tries to stop it, and the contest is on.

When the ball is sent over the opponent's goal line, the game is won.