Not long ago golf was regarded as an occupation for elderly gentlemen whose time and energies were at the service of any respectable game. With much impressiveness they used to traverse the links decked in red coats, the brilliancy of which signified the extremity of the danger to which the unwary onlooker was exposed.
But a few years have changed all that. Now for one elderly, impressive, red-coated gentleman to be found, there are many young men who cannot afford red coats and maidens in plenty who wouldn't wear them if they could. To this last class our puzzle poem was addressed, not by way of advice but as a sympathetic intimation that we know all about the game in which they so freely indulge.
Naturally enough the title was frequently rendered "To a golfer," and after much serious consideration we decided to accept it. This being so, some who did not receive prizes will possibly wonder why. The explanation is simple enough: our ruling left us with so many claimants for the five guineas that we set aside those who did not trouble to indent the lines properly.
We wonder how many of the solvers who wrote "helpless" in the first line really discovered that the p was less than the other letters. It is also to be observed that the ball in the same line was much smaller than the others in the puzzle and therefore was intended to be designated "little." Hence the rhythm required the word "very" in the fifth line—s—very small. So many solvers failed to notice these points that it is necessary to call attention to them.
It was not even right to leave out the "little" and the "very," because then the rhythm of the first verse would not coincide with that of the second.
Authorities differ as to the spelling of by-and-bye; apparently the more modern ones prefer it without the e, and of course we accepted both ways as correct.
The statement in line thirteen does not seem to have been universally understood. When you are playing golf you do not "put" the ball into the hole—unless no one is looking!—but you putt it in, which is a very different matter. Curiously enough, not one solver who wrote "put" pointed out that the reading involved a mistake in the line.
If any of our readers would like a puzzle on any particular subject or subjects, let them mention it. Their wishes shall certainly receive consideration and very possibly fulfilment.