AT THE FIRST HOLE.
The start of the course, as it is at present laid out, is made from the first tee over comparatively level ground for 175 yards, starting near the fence that divides the central school property from the land which lies north of it. The barbed-wire fence which crosses this links forms an undesirable obstacle, but it will be removed in the spring and replaced by a short bunker.
The second tee begins the next link in a northerly direction, in a parallel line with the country road, or the Old King's Highway. This road is the one which was traversed for several decades by the mail-stages from New York to Washington. The ground sinks some eight feet at a distance of 140 yards in this second link of 304 yards, ending with a running brook some nine feet wide. The ground from the brook to the second hole rises slightly.
From the third tee to the third hole, a distance of 282 yards, the ground falls and rises considerably, the brook in this link proving a difficult hazard, as the south side of the bank is several feet higher than the north side. The rise from the brook to the third hole is but a light one. From the fourth tee to the fourth hole, 187 yards, the drive is comparatively good, the brook proving an insignificant hazard to the good driver, but a troublesome one to the beginner who, "topping" the ball, finds that here, as perhaps at no other part in the course, a resort must be made to "dropping" the ball. Indeed to the novice the fourth hole is a trial to the temper.
THE LAWRENCEVILLE SCHOOL GOLF LINKS.
To the right of the third hole stands a farm-house; the course leading to the fourth hole might be across the miniature pond indicated in the plot plan. The ground falls gradually to the brook from the fifth tee, 241 yards, and beyond the brook the ground rises abruptly some 15 feet. The last link, 326 yards long, is the longest in the course, and is one of the most trying. At present it leads over a low hay-stack, which will be removed shortly, and before the hole is reached a bunker must be encountered. The fields are traversed pretty completely in making the course, 1¼ miles in length, and the sixth hole brings the player almost home.
The course has been made several times by the instructor in 27 strokes, and a few of the better players among the boys in 36 strokes, Griggs in 29. The majority of the boys, however, content themselves with some number between 40 and 50. In the course of a few months some twenty or thirty of the boys will be singled out and given more specific instructions, so that the tournaments to be held in the spring may be well played.
The announcement which came to us from New Haven some few days since, that the Hillhouse High-School would not put a track-athletic team into the field this year, brings up the question again of uniting the various athletic associations of the State. The football association of the Connecticut schools is a different organization from the track-athletic association, although both are made up of about the same schools. The football association is financially prosperous—in fact it came out some $400 to the good this year after paying all expenses, and this money is now doubtless drawing interest in the savings-bank.
The track-athletic association, however, is not so great a success from a financial point of view, and is now in debt, or, if not, it has been until very recently. This state of affairs is probably due to the fact that the expenses of a track-athletic meeting are heavy, and there is only one meeting a year, to which the small admission-fees charged are not sufficient to defray all the expenses.