[GOLF.]
The object of the game of golf is to complete the round of eighteen holes in as few strokes as possible, starting for each hole from a place called the teeing ground, and hitting the ball with various clubs till the green is reached. Upon the green is a flag denoting the spot where a round hole with a diameter of four and a quarter inches and a depth of four inches, is cut. Into this hole the player must get the ball in as few strokes as may be. The distances between the teeing grounds and the greens vary at every hole. The game when played by two persons is known as a single, when by four persons, as a foursome.
The scores in medal play are kept upon cards provided for that purpose, each player noting the other's score, which is then marked down at the conclusion of each hole, the totals being added together at the end of the round, when the card must be signed by the scorer and placed in the score card box. Failing to sign a card entails disqualification. In match playing, the scores are reckoned by the terms, "the like," "the odd," "the two more," "one off two," etc., and the hole is won by the player who has holed in the fewest strokes. Being the person to lead off at the tee, is styled having the honour, and is a privilege accorded to either the player who has the least handicap, or to the winner of the latest match, or again to the winner of the last hole. In foursomes the strokes are played alternately by the partners, through the green and from the tee.
The ground played over is known by the name of the links, or the course, and covers an area generally from two, to three and a half miles for a full-sized or man's course, and very often much under this distance for what is known as the ladies' links, whilst the distances between the holes vary from fifty yards to 480 yards or more. The game is pursued over obstacles of all sorts, known as hazards and bunkers, till the green is reached. This is a beautifully kept piece of grassy lawn, some twenty yards in extent, either undulating, sloping, or sometimes quite level, in which the holes are cut. The term stance is applied to the position of the player's feet, when addressing herself to the ball. The term grip denotes either that part of the handle of the club covered with leather, which is held in the hands, or the grasping of the club itself, and the term lie, applies to the situation of the ball, good or bad. The further technical terms may be found in the Glossary (p. 382) or in any instruction book on the game, the most highly recommended of the latter being The Badminton Library on Golf, by Mr. Horace Hutchinson, The Game of Golf, by W. Park, jun., or Sir W. C. Sampson's The Art of Golf. But to the early history of our game.
The exact date of the founding of the Royal and Ancient game of Golf is still a somewhat disputed point. But we read that in Holland and also in Belgium, about the year 1353, a very popular pastime was then in vogue, styled Chole, and as far as can be ascertained from old documents, pictures, and the familiar and curious Dutch tiles of that period, the mode of play and the weapons used, although rather crude in many respects, were not at all unlike those of the present day. Some writers go so far as to tell us that this game rather resembled hockey, and that the ball used was about the size of an ordinary cricket ball. Others who have searched even more deeply amongst the archives of the royal and ancient game, relate that the aim and object used to be to strike the ball against stone posts, which appears to have corresponded with the later practice of holing out. Anyway we have it on good authority that the game was much played during the sixteenth century in Scotland.
In 1608 the Blackheath Club was formed in England, and in 1735 that of the Edinburgh Burgess Society in the north, although the game had been extensively played for some time before this. Closely following the institution of the Edinburgh Burgess Society Club, came those of The Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers in 1744, St. Andrew's in 1754, and Mussulburgh in 1774, followed again in the south by Old Manchester in 1818, and Westward Ho! in 1864, till at the present time there are links all over Europe, in America, India, Australia, New Zealand, and even in Egypt. Not content with this, we even have the Royal game on the West coast of Africa, in that spot of treachery and massacre, Benin. But of course, to Scotland the gratitude of the world will ever be due for having really been the home of the game, besides which for grandeur in natural hazards, and finest of fine turf, the north will ever bear the palm.
J. Ross. North Berwick.
MISS E. C. ORR.
(Winner of the Championship, 1897.)