Incidentally, the question of the expense of the game has been touched on in this notice of the new balls. There is no doubt that the balls themselves tend to a greater economy, not only because of their own superior durability but also because, as a consequence of their greater resiliency, they are not nearly so hard on the clubs, and the clubs themselves being perhaps made of better material than used to be given to their manufacture, the total effect is that a man’s necessary annual expenditure on them is very small indeed even though he plays pretty constantly. Four or five rounds are not more than the average of golfers will make an india-rubber cored ball last them, so that the outlay on the weapons is very moderate. On the other hand the expenditure of the clubs on their courses has increased and tends to increase. Demands are more insistent than they used to be for a well kept course, for perfectly mown greens, renewed teeing grounds and so on, and probably the modern golfer is a good deal more luxurious in his clubhouse wants than his father used to be. This means a big staff of servants and workers on the green, and to meet this a rather heavy subscription is required. Such a subscription as five guineas added to a ten or fifteen guinea entrance fee is not uncommon, and even this is very moderate compared with the subscriptions to some of the clubs in the United States, where a hundred dollars a year, or twenty pounds of our money, is not unusual. But on the whole golf is a very economical pastime, as compared with almost any other sport or pastime which engages the attention of Britons, and it is a pastime for all the year round, and for all the life of a man or woman.
Glossary of Technical Terms used in the Game.
Addressing the Ball.—Putting oneself in position to strike the ball.
All Square.—Term used to express that the score stands level, neither side being a hole up.
Baff.—To strike the ground with the club when playing, and so loft the ball unduly.
Baffy.—A short wooden club, with laid-back face, for lofting shots.
Bogey.—The number of strokes which a good average player should take to each hole. This imaginary player is usually known as “Colonel Bogey,” and plays a fine game.
Brassy.—A wooden club with a brass sole.
Bulger.—A driver in which the face “bulges” into a convex shape. The head is shorter than in the older-fashioned driver.
Bunker.—A sand-pit.