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diff --git a/old/44623.txt b/old/44623.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d4aab63 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/44623.txt @@ -0,0 +1,7850 @@ +Project Gutenberg's The Golf Courses of the British Isles, by Bernard Darwin + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Golf Courses of the British Isles + +Author: Bernard Darwin + +Illustrator: Harry Rountree + +Release Date: January 8, 2014 [EBook #44623] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK GOLF COURSES *** + + + + +Produced by KD Weeks, Greg Bergquist and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This +file was produced from images generously made available +by The Internet Archive/Canadian Libraries) + + + + + +Transcriber's Note + +This version of the text is unable to reproduce certain typographic +features. Italics are delimited with the '_' character as _italic_. +Bold font is delimited with the '=' character as =bold=. Words printed +using "small capitals" are shifted to all upper-case. + +The illustrations were each presented with a full page caption, and +were separated from the text by blank pages. In this text, these +illustrations were moved to fall at paragraph breaks and appear as, +for example: + + [Illustration: SUNNINGDALE + _The tenth hole_] + +Please consult the transcriber's notes at the end of this text for any +additional issues. + + + + + THE GOLF COURSES OF THE + BRITISH ISLES + + [Illustration: ST. ANDREWS + _Looking back from the twelfth green_] + + + + + THE GOLF COURSES + + OF THE + + BRITISH ISLES + + + BY + + BERNARD DARWIN + + + ILLUSTRATED BY + + HARRY ROUNTREE + + + LONDON + DUCKWORTH & CO. + 3 HENRIETTA STREET, COVENT GARDEN + + + _All rights reserved_ + + _Published 1910_ + + + + +CONTENTS + + + CHAPTER PAGE + + I. LONDON COURSES (1) 1 + + II. LONDON COURSES (2) 23 + + III. KENT AND SUSSEX 44 + + IV. THE WEST AND SOUTH-WEST 68 + + V. EAST ANGLIA 93 + + VI. THE COURSES OF CHESHIRE AND LANCASHIRE 111 + + VII. YORKSHIRE AND THE MIDLANDS 130 + + VIII. OXFORD AND CAMBRIDGE 147 + + IX. A LONDON COURSE 158 + + X. ST. ANDREWS, FIFE, AND FORFARSHIRE 165 + + XI. THE COURSES OF THE EAST LOTHIAN AND EDINBURGH 181 + + XII. WEST OF SCOTLAND: PRESTWICK AND TROON 202 + + XIII. IRELAND 215 + + XIV. WALES 231 + + INDEX 250 + + + + +LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS + + ST. ANDREWS _Frontispiece._ + + SUNNINGDALE _To face p._ 4 + + WALTON HEATH " 12 + + WOKING " 18 + + MID-SURREY " 24 + + STOKE POGES " 28 + + CASSIOBURY PARK " 30 + + SANDY LODGE " 32 + + NORTHWOOD " 34 + + ROMFORD " 36 + + BLACKHEATH " 38 + + WIMBLEDON COMMON " 40 + + MITCHAM COMMON " 42 + + SANDWICH " 44 + + SANDWICH ("HADES") " 46 + + DEAL " 50 + + PRINCE'S " 54 + + LITTLESTONE " 56 + + RYE " 58 + + EASTBOURNE " 62 + + ASHDOWN FOREST " 64 + + WESTWARD HO! " 70 + + BUDE " 78 + + BURNHAM " 80 + + BROADSTONE " 84 + + BOURNEMOUTH " 88 + + BEMBRIDGE " 90 + + FELIXSTOWE " 94 + + CROMER " 98 + + SHERINGHAM " 100 + + BRANCASTER " 102 + + HUNSTANTON " 106 + + SKEGNESS " 108 + + HOYLAKE (1) " 112 + + HOYLAKE (2) " 116 + + FORMBY " 120 + + WALLASEY " 122 + + LYTHAM AND ST. ANNE'S " 124 + + TRAFFORD PARK " 126 + + GANTON " 130 + + FIXBY " 134 + + HOLLINWELL " 138 + + SANDWELL PARK " 142 + + HANDSWORTH " 144 + + FRILFORD HEATH " 148 + + WORLINGTON " 154 + + ST. ANDREWS " 166 + + CARNOUSTIE " 178 + + GULLANE " 182 + + MUIRFIELD " 184 + + NORTH BERWICK " 190 + + MUSSELBURGH " 196 + + BARNTON " 200 + + PRESTWICK " 204 + + TROON " 212 + + DOLLYMOUNT " 216 + + PORTMARNOCK (1) " 220 + + PORTMARNOCK (2) " 222 + + PORTRUSH " 224 + + NEWCASTLE " 228 + + ABERDOVEY " 232 + + HARLECH " 238 + + PORTHCAWL " 244 + + SOUTHERNDOWN " 246 + + + + +CHAPTER I. + +LONDON COURSES (1). + + +Some dozen or fifteen years ago the historian of the London golf +courses would have had a comparatively easy task. He would have said +that there were a few courses upon public commons, instancing, as he +still would to-day, Blackheath and Wimbledon. He might have dismissed +in a line or two a course that a few mad barristers were trying to +carve by main force out of a swamp thickly covered with gorse and +heather near Woking. All the other courses would have been lumped +together under some such description as that they consisted of fields +interspersed by trees and artificial ramparts, the latter mostly +built by Tom Dunn; that they were villainously muddy in winter, of an +impossible and adamantine hardness in summer, and just endurable in +spring and autumn; finally, that the muddiest and hardest and most +distinguished of them all was Tooting Bec. + +All this is changed now, and the change is best exemplified by the +fact that although the club has removed to new quarters, poor Tooting +itself is now as Tadmor in the wilderness. I passed by the spot the +other day, and should never have recognized it had not an old member +pointed it out to me in a voice husky with emotion. The ground is now +covered with a tangle of red houses, which cannot be termed attractive, +and such glory as belonged to it has altogether departed. Peace to its +ashes! it could never, by the wildest stretch of imagination, have been +called anything but a bad course, and yet it held its head high in its +heyday. Prospective members by the score jostled each other eagerly on +the waiting list, and parliamentary golfers distinguished the course +above its fellows by cutting their divots from its soft and yielding +mud. I still recollect the thrill I experienced on first being taken +to play there; it was a distinct moment in my golfing life. It was +exceedingly muddy, but it was not so muddy as the course at Cambridge +on which I usually disported myself, and on the whole I thought it +worthy of its fame; people were not so difficult to please in the +matter of inland golf in those days. + +Tooting is no more, but there are many courses like it still to +be found, most of them in a flourishing condition, near London. +Meanwhile, however, a new star, the star of sand and heather, has +arisen out of the darkness, and a whole generation of new courses, +which really are golf and not a good or even bad imitation of it, +have sprung into being. Here are some of them, and they make an +imposing list--Sunningdale, Walton Heath, Woking, Worplesdon, Byfleet, +Bleakdown, Westhill, Bramshot and Combe Wood. The idea of hacking and +digging and building a course out of land on which two blades of grass +do not originally grow together is a comparatively modern one. The +elder 'architects' took a piece of country that was more or less ready +to their hand, rolled it and mowed it, cut some trenches and built +some ramparts, and there was the course. They did not as a rule think +of taking a primaeval pine forest or a waste of heather and forcibly +turning it into a course; if they had thought of it, moreover, they +would not have had the money to carry it out. Now the glorious golfing +properties of this country of sand and heather and fir-trees have been +discovered; its owners too have discovered that they possessed all +unknowingly a gold mine from which can be extracted so many hundreds of +pounds an acre, and the work of building courses out of the heather and +building houses all round it goes gaily on. + +These heathery courses are, for the most part, very good, and so +indeed they ought to be. They have, in the first place, the priceless +gift of youth. Those who have laid them out have been able to study +both the merits and the faults of the older courses, and then, with +the advantage of all this accumulated mass of knowledge, have set +themselves to the work of creation. This science, for so it may now +be fairly called, of the laying out of courses on carefully discussed +and thought-out principles, is itself comparatively modern; the very +expression 'a good length hole,' which is now upon all golfers' lips, +is of no great antiquity. Those who laid out the older links did not, +one may hazard the opinion, think a vast deal about the good or bad +length of their hole. They saw a plateau which nature had clearly +intended for a green, and another plateau at some distance off which +had the appearance of a tee, and there was the hole ready made for +them; whether the distance from one plateau to another could be +compassed in a drive and a pitch, or in two drives, or perhaps even two +drives and a pitch, did not, I fancy, greatly interest them. In some +places nature, being in a particularly kindly mood, had disposed the +plateaus at ideal distances, so that a St. Andrews sprang into being; +but people as a rule took the holes as they found them, and were not +for ever searching for the perfect "test of golf." + +Gradually, however, the more thoughtful of golfers evolved definite +theories as to what were the particular qualities that constituted +a good or bad hole, and longed for an opportunity of putting their +theories into practice. One such great opportunity came when it was +discovered that heather would, if only enough money was spent on it, +make admirable golfing country, and the architects have made the +fullest use of it, lavishing upon the heather treasures of thought, +care and ingenuity which the non-golfer might say were worthy of a +better cause. Nothing can ever quite make up for the short, crisp turf, +the big sandhills and the smell of the sea; seaside golf must always +come first, and inland second, but the best inland golf can no longer +be reproached with being a bad second. + + [Illustration: SUNNINGDALE + _The tenth hole_] + +Of all these comparatively young courses, the two best known are +probably Sunningdale and Walton Heath. Sunningdale was designed +by Willy Park, who is an architect of very pronounced characteristics, +though Sunningdale is not perhaps quite so clearly to be recognized +as his handiwork as are some of his other courses, such as Huntercombe +or Burhill. It was laid out in what proved to be the last days of the +gutty ball, though there was then no whisper of the revolution that was +coming to us across the Atlantic. It was a long course--really a +fearfully long course for an ordinary mortal. The two-shot holes were +doubtless two-shot holes--for Braid, but they had a way of expanding +themselves into two drives and a reasonable iron shot for less gifted +players. I cannot help thinking that the coming of the "Haskell" was +a blessing for the course, and that it may be said of Sunningdale, as +it can be said for perhaps no other course in Christendom, that it was +improved by the rubber-cored ball. + +The holes are still quite long enough, and if we accomplish any +considerable number of them in four strokes apiece we shall be +justified in a modified amount of swagger, but we need no longer risk +an internal injury in trying to reach the green with our second shot. +Of all the inland courses Sunningdale is perhaps the richest in really +fine two-shot holes, where a brassey or cleek shot lashed right home on +to the green sends a glow of satisfaction through the golfer's frame. + +Almost as surely as the two-shot holes constitute its strength, the +short holes are the weakness of the course. Really good and interesting +short holes add a crowning glory to a golf course, and that, I think, +Sunningdale lacks. It resembles in that respect another fine course, +Deal, where the longer holes are admirable and the short holes are +almost totally wanting in distinction. The short holes at Sunningdale +are, however, much better than they used to be, for there was a time +when they might have been rather scathingly dismissed as consisting of +two practically blind shots on to artificial table lands, and a third +entirely blind shot on to a bad sloping green; but this third reproach +at least has now been entirely wiped away. + +Let us now begin at the first tee and duly admire the view over a vast +expanse of wild, undulating, heathery country, with more houses on +it now than anyone except the ground-landlord would like to see, and +clumps of fir-trees here and there, one especially on a little knoll, +which makes a pleasant landmark in the distance. The next thing to do +is to hit the ball, which should be a comparatively easy task, for +there is plenty of room at this first hole, as there always should +be, and nothing but an egregious top or a wholly unprovoked slice is +likely to harm us. It is really, from the point of view of the greatest +happiness of the greatest number, a wholly admirable first hole, since +not only is there no great opportunity for disaster, but the hole is +a long hole and so enables the couples to be despatched quickly and +without undue irritation from the tee. It is just a steady, easy-going +five hole--two drives and a pitch--a mere prelude to the beginning of +serious business at the second. + +This second is a really good hole. The tee-shot has to be played at an +unpleasantly difficult angle, and if we slice it we may find ourselves +in some innocent householder's front garden, while in endeavouring to +avoid such a trespass, we shall most probably pull it into a region +of ruts and heather. If we avoid both forms of errors, we have still +the second shot to play, long and straight and of an aspect most +formidable, for the avenue of rough down which we drive narrows as it +approaches the green, and there is an indefinable temptation to slice. +Altogether a fine hole, and on the easiest of days we may be thoroughly +pleased with a four, a figure we ought to repeat at the third. This +third is of no vast length, but is an excellent example of those holes +whereat there is much virtue in the placing of the tee-shot. There is +a bunker that "pokes and nuzzles with its nose" into the left-hand or +top edge of the green, and he who pulls his drive ever so slightly will +have a most difficult pitch to play over this bunker on to a somewhat +slippery and sloping green that runs away from him. On the other hand, +the man who has had the courage to skirt the rough on the right-hand +side of the course--very bad rough it is, too--will be rewarded by a +fairly simple run up shot, and moreover, the slope of the green makes a +cushion against which he may play his shot boldly. + +The fourth is a short hole on a plateau green some way above the +player. The plateau is reasonably small and well guarded, and the shot +in a cross wind is sufficiently difficult, but the bottom of the pin is +out of the player's sight, and he needs much local knowledge to be sure +whether he is ten yards short or stone dead; a better hole than it +was, maybe, but not quite worthy of Sunningdale yet. + +The fifth and sixth are beautiful holes, and the tee-shot to the fifth +sends the blood coursing more briskly through the veins. There is an +exhilaration in driving from a height and rushing thence down a steep +place on to the course which cannot be gainsaid. The more scientific +may point out that there is no justification for such emotion and that +we have far less on which to plume ourselves than if we had struck our +tee-shot from the flat. The fact remains that hitting off a high place, +if it be not done too often and we are not too scant of breath, is +wholly delightful; the difficulty is that we are so intoxicated with +the situation that we hit much too hard and the ball totters feebly +down the hill-side, suffering from a severe wound in the scalp. + +The drive from this particular high place having been safely +accomplished, there is an accurate second shot, which varies greatly +in length according to the wind, to be played between a pond on the +right and a bunker on the left. Some will pitch it and pitch into the +pond; others will run it and run into the bunker, and Mr. Colt will +play a peculiar low, scuffling shot straight on the pin and win it from +us in a four, which will very nearly be a three. Another wonderfully +good two-shot hole is the sixth, where the green lies in the angle of +a wood, and we must hold our second shot well up to the left so that +the ball shall trickle slowly down the sloping green towards the hole; +that is supposing we have hit a straight tee-shot, a thing by no means +certain, for there is a horribly attractive clump of fir-trees to the +left which catches many and which once proved particularly fatal to +Jack White in a big match against Tom Vardon. + +The seventh is a bone of contention, some averring that it is a fine +'sporting' hole, while others have no names too bad for it; when not +alluded to with profanity it is generally known as the 'Switch-back' +hole. Those who like a blind tee-shot and a blind second will admire +it, and those who don't wont, and there is the whole matter in a very +small compass. The eighth is quite a good short hole now (it used to be +bad and blind and stupid); and the ninth we may skip, although there +is a fine straight tee-shot needed, and then from the tenth tee we +drive down another steep place into the lower country. Those who make +a loud outcry when they drive "a perfect tee-shot, sir, straight on +the pin," and find it in a bunker, may here have cause for annoyance. +There is no bunker on the straight line, but there are bunkers to right +and left and a somewhat narrow space between, and a shot that is very, +very nearly well hit sometimes finds a resting-place in one or other +of them. It is a poor thing, however, to demand perfect immunity for +any respectable drive, and the shot that is placed where it ought to +be gives the chance for a really fine second shot between more bunkers +on to a green of fascinating but fiendish undulations. At the back of +the green is a hut, where live ginger-beer and apples and other things, +and he who has done the hole in four fully deserves them. This tenth +hole will be celebrated in golfing history for a truly tremendous +second shot played by Braid out of the left-hand bunker in the final +round of the _News of the World_ tournament, his opponent being Edward +Ray. Braid calls it in his book the most remarkable bunker shot that +he ever played, and that is praise indeed. Poor Ray! He had a perfect +tee-shot and a perfect second, laid his third stone dead, and yet lost +the hole, for Braid, having driven into the left-hand bunker from the +tee, gallantly took his iron for his second, reached the green with a +terrific shot, and completed the roll of his infamies by holing his +putt for a three. + +Provided we do not top our tee-shot into a formidable sandy bluff, the +eleventh should be done in four, with a chance of a three; and the +twelfth should be another four, if only we can be straight enough from +the tee. This is a hole to be approached warily and in instalments, and +the prudent man generally takes a cleek or a spoon from the tee, and +even then breathes a fervent thanksgiving if his ball lies clear, since +the fairway narrows down to a horribly small point. + +The thirteenth, as I said, was once one of the very worst holes in +the world, and is now a thoroughly attractive one; the player must +produce some stroke whereby the ball shall sit resolutely down on a +slanting green surrounded by bunkers, and stay there. The fourteenth is +a two-shot hole for Mr. Angus Hambro, and rather more for most other +people, save under favourable conditions. Then comes another short +hole--I should have said there were four and not three--but this is +a long short hole; a wooden club shot is often needed, and when that +wooden club shot has to be held up into a stiff right-hand wind, the +difficulties of the situation are not easily to be overrated. + +Then we face homewards with three good long holes, all of which may be +done in fours, though most people would thankfully strike a bargain +with Providence for two fours and a five. The most difficult of the +three, as is only right and fitting, is a seventeenth hole, and here +Mr. Colt has worked a great transformation and turned a hole that once +possessed no merits whatever into a thoroughly good one, with a most +difficult second shot--one of those shots which produce an instinctive +and fatal tendency to slice. After that two good, straight, steady +shots should get us safely on to the home green, and we have finished +at last; if we have done a score which is perceptibly lower than 80, we +have done well. If we have not been too frequently 'up to our necks' +in untrodden heather--nay, even if we have--we ought to have enjoyed +ourselves immensely. + +From Sunningdale we go to =Walton Heath=--a thing far easier to +accomplish in the imagination than by a cross-country journey, and +there we have another fine, long slashing course laid out in the grand +manner, especially to suit the rubber-cored ball. + +The course is the work of Mr. Herbert Fowler, who is perhaps the +most daring and original of all golfing architects, and gifted with +an almost inspired eye for the possibilities of a golfing country. +He is essentially ferocious in his methods, and there is no one else +who is quite so merciless in the punishing of shots that are quite +respectable, that are in fact so nearly good that the striker of +them, in the irritation of the moment, calls them perfect. This fell +design he will accomplish either by trapping the long shot that is +almost straight but not straight enough or by planting his green amid +a perfect network of bunkers. The result is that there will always +be found some to call down maledictions upon his head, and in truth +some of his devices are almost fiendish, but they are nearly always +interesting. + +The trend of modern golfing architecture is all against the +old-fashioned cross-bunkers, which used as a matter of course to be +dug at regular intervals across the fairway, but, curiously enough, +the cross-bunker plays a not unimportant part at Walton. Two holes in +particular come to mind, the long seventh and eighth, where bunkers +have to be crossed and cannot be circumvented, while the crossing of +them in the proper number of strokes is a very essential matter, since +the necessity of playing short often involves the loss of a whole +stroke. + +Wild and bleak and merciless the course looks--a vast tract of +wind-swept heather. In truth it is a very long one, and the casual +visitor often brings against it a charge of monotonous length, but when +he has played there more often he will probably discover that each +of these long holes has a very distinct character, and that each is +interesting in a way of its own. Some courses impress themselves very +quickly on the memory so that each hole stands out quite distinctly, +while others leave only a vague and blurred recollection, nor is it +merely a question of the holes being absolutely good or bad. When a +man has once played the first six holes at Sandwich he is likely +to remember them all the days of his life, even if he has avoided +the Sahara and the Maiden; whereas he may retain only the haziest +recollection of St. Andrews after two or three days' play. So it is +with the long holes at Walton Heath; they have in reality plenty of +character, but it is hard at first to distinguish one from another. + + [Illustration: WALTON HEATH + _The second shot at the seventeenth hole_] + +The short holes, on the other hand, make a vivid and lasting +impression, and, as I think at least, give to the course its chief +distinction. There are four of them, and all four are good. Of these +four the sixth is by common consent the best and most difficult; so +difficult as sometimes to be paid the high compliment of being called +'impossible.' When the professionals were playing at Walton in the +_News of the World_ tournament, and playing with their wonderful and +monotonous accuracy--shot after shot clean, long, and straight as an +arrow through the wind--it was pleasant to find that there existed in +the world quite a short hole which could show them to be vulnerable. +I stood on the first day watching a succession of couples play this +sixth hole, and though there was usually one ball safely on the green, +there were never two; it was really a most cheering and satisfactory +spectacle. + +Even on the stillest of still days the shot is one which can scarce be +approached without a tremor. The distance can be compassed with a firm +pitch with an iron club of moderate loft, and the green is undeniably +of adequate size, but it is ringed round, save immediately in front, +with a series of bunkers very deep and horrible, and, to increase +our terror, the ground 'draws' unmistakably towards them. Often as we +stand on the tee in a frenzied attitude, trying to steer the ball to +safety with vain gesticulations of the club, we see it light upon the +turf, and breathe a sigh of relief. Alas, we were too hasty! The ball +trembles and totters for a moment or two, in a state of indecision, and +then, as if magnetically drawn towards Scylla on one side or Charybdis +on the other, slowly disappears from our sight. Once in the bunker +there is nothing to do but employ the 'common thud' of Sir Walter +Simpson, and we ought with ordinary fortune to get out in one, but the +ball must be made to drop wonderfully dead and lifeless, scattering +showers of sand as it goes, or else it will run quite gently and +deliberately across the green into the bunker on the other side. It is +one of those holes at which, were the fates amenable to a compromise, +many a stout-hearted player would write down four on his card and +proceed to the next tee with the ball in his pocket. + +Another hole of similar character, but a degree or two less formidable +and by just so much the less fascinating, is the twelfth. Perhaps it +would be just as terrible were it not that the prevailing wind is here +behind the player, whereas at the sixth it seems to blow persistently +across. With the wind behind the hole is brought within the compass of +an ordinary, straightforward, inartistic thump with a mashie, and that +shot, which is the _bete noire_ of all but the truly great, the push +with the iron, is not brought into requisition. + +The other two short holes, the fifth and the tenth, are never very +short, and, when the wind blows strong in our faces, too long for us to +entertain any great hopes of reaching the green. In any case, unless +the ground be abnormally hard and fast, we had better behave with due +humility and take a wooden club. At the fifth our chief care must be to +hold the ball well up to the right, a task usually made more difficult +by a strong pulling wind. There are many chronic and many occasional +slicers in the world, but there are few who can deliberately hit the +ball to the right and make it hold on its way when they want to: +wonderfully few who can do so without a disastrous loss of distance. +It is the chief beauty of the hole that it calls imperatively for this +most difficult of shots, since the slope of the green is from right to +left and a series of graduated horrors await the pulled ball: a mere +bunker for the moderate sinner, a tract of wet ruts and hoof-marks +for the rather more criminal, and a waste of heather for the utterly +depraved. Nor is it sufficient merely to hit the ball somewhere out to +the right. Good intentions by themselves are not enough, and there is a +bunker lurking on the right-hand edge of the green; if we go so far to +the right that this bunker lies between us and the hole, we shall have +to employ all the arts of a Taylor if we are to be within reasonable +putting range next time. + +Now we must leave the tenth, though an excellent hole, especially as +played by Braid with a vast, low skimming cleek shot, and look at some +of the longer holes. Of these there are three which fix themselves +in the memory, the second, seventeenth and eighteenth. A hole more +satisfactory to do in four than the second it would be hard to +imagine, since both the drive and the second must be long and straight +and the second must almost inevitably be played from a hanging lie. +We may, if we like, approach it in cowardly instalments and play our +tee-shot deliberately short of the sloping ground; if we do, we may +possibly escape a six, but by no means shall we get a four. It is the +hole for a man brave and skilful who can use his wooden club when the +ground is not flat, neither is the ball teed. + +It is the duty of every golf course to have a good seventeenth hole, +and the seventeenth at Walton certainly need not fear comparison +even with the Alps and the Station-master's Garden. We must begin by +hitting a long, straight drive between bunkers on the right and some +particularly retentive heather on the left, but that is, comparatively +speaking, an easy matter. The second shot is the thing--a full shot +right home on to a flat green that crowns the top of a sloping bank. +To the right the face of the hill is excavated in a deep and terrible +bunker, and a ball ever so slightly sliced will run into that bunker +as sure as fate. To the left there is heather extending almost to the +edge of the green, and, in avoiding the right-hand bunker, we may very +likely die an even more painful death in the heather. + +After this glorious hole the eighteenth seems simple enough. Two lusty, +straightforward drives, with a big bunker to carry for the second; +it is a hole that presents few terrors to the professional, since he +always hits his wooden club shots, yet even for him there are some +bunkers at the edge of the green which are not to be despised. For +humbler people everything connected with the hole is very far from +despicable. + +Besides the greens, which are big and true and fraught with undulations +difficult to gauge, there is one feature which calls for special +mention, and that is the deepness of the bunkers. It is part of Mr. +Fowler's ferocity that he does not intend us to run through his +bunkers, if he can by any means prevent it, while, when we are in them, +he does not mean us to do more than get out with a niblick. Braid can +sometimes hit prodigious distances out of them, but then he has been +round the course in a score under 70--a thing that no respectable man +should do. + +Before quitting the heathery courses, we must take a glance at +=Woking=, which is the oldest and still one of the best of them. +Indeed, although my judgment may not be strictly an impartial one, +I think it is still the pleasantest of all upon which to play, and +the golf is undeniably interesting. It does lack something, however, +of the bigness of Sunningdale or Walton Heath, which have been laid +out on an altogether grander scale. The two-shot holes at Woking do +not always require quite two shots. When the ground is at all hard a +poorish drive does not do a great deal of harm, and a long one means a +comfortable second shot with an iron club. Still, continuous brassey +play is not everything: it is apt to grow monotonous, and whatever +charge can be made against Woking, I imagine that no just critic would +call it dull. The keenest golfer among my acquaintances said to me the +other day that, whatever anybody might say, Sandwich and Woking were +the two pleasantest places for a game of golf, and though there is no +resemblance between the two courses, I think his verdict was a sound +one. + +Woking has certain, almost unique, distinctions--or disgraces, +according to one's point of view--among golf clubs. It has but one +medal day a year, and it possesses no Bogey. Any innocent stranger +visiting Woking and enquiring the bogey score for any particular +hole will be greeted with a glare of such withering contempt as +seriously to impair his day's pleasure. Another curious, and I think +a blessed, circumstance about Woking is that the bunkers, which are +many and cunningly disposed, are the work of one benevolent autocrat. +Unconscious of their doom, the members disperse for their summer +holidays and when they return they find that the most revolutionary +things have been done. Upon greens that were formerly flat and easy +have sprouted plateaus and domes and hollows. Hillocks have risen as +if by magic in the middle of the fairway; 'floral' hazards bloom at +the side, and bunkers have been dug at that precise spot where members +have for years complacently watched their ball come to rest at the +end of their finest shots. Even now as I write I believe there is a +gigantic project in view at a certain hole, which I would rather die +than reveal. All these things happen at the instigation of a very small +secret Junta, and after a little grumbling, such as is only right and +proper, the members settle down and admit that the alterations are +exceedingly ingenious and the course more entertaining than ever. It +appears to me to be the ideal way in which to conduct a golf club, +but it is an ideal that can very seldom be attained. + + [Illustration: WOKING + _Looking back to the sixteenth green_] + +Over one of the revolutionary things done at Woking controversy still +rages, or rather it no longer continuously rages, but spirts every now +and again into flame. This is the famous bunker at the fourth hole, of +which the traveller may get a fine view as he is being whirled towards +Southampton by the South-Western Railway. This hole was originally +a very ordinary 'drive and a pitch' hole. You drove straight down a +fairly broad strip of turf between heather on the left and the railway +line on the right. Then you jumped over a rampart on to a nice big +green and there you were. The soul of Mr. Stuart Paton, however, soared +far above so lamentably unimaginative a hole, and he set to work upon +it. First he removed large portions of the cross-rampart, so that it +became possible to play a running instead of a pitching shot from +certain positions, and then in the very centre of the fairway, at just +the range of a good drive from the tee, he dug a small but formidable +bunker. In shape it bore a resemblance to the Principal's Nose, while +in position it was rather like that of the bunker which lies in the +middle of the course going to the ninth hole also at St. Andrews. By +means of this bunker a clear-cut and distinct problem has to be faced +on the tee. We must decide whether to drive safely away to the left, +and so have a pitch to play, which is sometimes rather difficult, or +whether to take a risk and lay down the ball between the bunker and +the railway line. The danger of pushing the ball out a little too +much, and so going out of bounds, is considerable, but the reward is +considerable also, for an easy running up shot should give us a putt +for three. + +The number of discussions which I have heard as to this one little +bunker would fill a large but not an interesting volume. The form of +the discussion is nearly always the same, and is something like this: + + A. "You can't persuade me that it is right to have a bunker bang + on the line to the hole, exactly where a good drive should be." + + B. "If there is a bunker there, then that cannot be the line to + the hole. Your drive was not a very good one, but a very bad one." + + A. "It was not a bad one. It was a perfect shot--hit in the very + middle of the club." + + B. "You should use your own head as well as the club head." + +After this the conversation becomes unfit for publication. + +There are also some bunkers situated actually in the putting greens +which used to cause annoyance. There is one at the sixth and two at +the seventeenth, one of which is affectionately called "Johnny Low," +after that sternest of bunker-makers, who invented it. To these, +however, everybody has long been reconciled, and both holes afford good +instances of how much can be done in the way of making a player place +his tee-shot, by digging a comparatively small bunker in the green. + +Another clever and interesting piece of golfing architecture is to be +found at the seventh hole. The hole can be reached from the tee with a +moderate iron shot, and in former days, so long as one did not slice or +pull very egregiously, one could recover from a most indifferent shot +by laying a long putt dead on a flat easy green. Now, however, a most +ingenious range of mountains has been introduced, which has had the +effect of dividing the green into two compartments. If a shot be at all +crooked a three is still well within the bounds of possibility, but the +approach putt, instead of being easy, has to be made over a series of +most perplexing curves. The straight player's ball, on the other hand, +is lying close to the hole, for the hills, which are the enemies of the +crooked, are as a rule the allies of the accurate, and have rewarded +his virtuous ball with a kick from their friendly slopes. A somewhat +similar architectural feat has been tried at the other short hole--the +sixteenth, where we have to pitch over a pond--but there, for some +reason, it hardly seems to have been so successful. + +I am afraid I may have given the idea that Woking has been laid out +in a spirit of impish mischief, but such an impression would be an +entirely wrong one. There are plenty of opportunities for fine, +straightforward hitting, although wild, erratic slogging will nearly +always be punished. There are some really beautiful two-shot holes, +which are at their best when there is not too much run in the ground. +The fifth, for instance, where there is a wonderfully pretty green +lying in a semi-circle of trees, and the eighth, a really gorgeous hole +when there is any wind against one. Twelve and thirteen again, though +not quite so long, are both beautiful holes, and the fourteenth, which +brings the golfer right up to the club-house and tempts him to lunch +before his time, requires two of the very longest and straightest of +hits. + +Taking them day in and day out I think the greens at Woking are the +best that I know to be found inland--Mid-Surrey excepted. They are +often very nearly perfect, and are practically always good. They are +not as a rule alarmingly fast, nor so slow as to convert putting into +mere hard physical exercise, but of a nice, easy, comfortable pace, +that reflects enormous credit on Martin, who is one of the best of +green-keepers. I can only end as I began by asserting that there is no +more delightful course whereon to play golf. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +LONDON COURSES (2). + + +Now leaving the heather, we must turn to some of the other substances +upon which Londoners play their weekly golf. On the course of the +Mid-Surrey Golf Club in the Old Deer Park at Richmond there are +probably more rounds of golf played throughout the whole year than +on any other golf course in the three kingdoms. You may go down to +Richmond on any day of the year, on which it is not snowing, and be +sure of finding a good many people who have managed to get a day +off and are spending it in playing golf. The business of the world +presumably goes on in spite of their absence, and indeed the week-day +crowd on a golf course points the moral that we are none of us +indispensable. + +The =Mid-Surrey= course is in a park, and must therefore be classed +among the park courses, but it is hardly typical of its kind. The trees +stand for the most part as occasional and isolated sentinels guarding +the edges of the rough. We do not drive down whole avenues of them, +nor, as on some courses, do they play the part of gigantic goal-posts +through which we must direct the ball. The country is more open and +more sparsely timbered than the typical park, but, if the big trees +only interfere with us now and then, there are several peculiarly +odious little spinneys which are almost certain to thrust themselves +upon our notice. + +The Old Deer Park is a pretty spot, but the course does not at first +sight look attractive; its disadvantages may be summed up in two +adjectives--'flat' and 'artificial,' nor do the course's enemies forget +to make the fullest use of them. Flat it is--as flat as a pancake, as +may be seen at a glance, and the bunkers, which are now innumerable as +the sands of the sea, have been raised one and all by the hand of man. +So much is certain, and on such a course there is a limit to our powers +of enjoying ourselves; we cannot hope for the exhilaration that is born +of sea and sandhills and, in a minor degree, of fir-trees and heath. +On the other hand, of the joy that comes from a well-struck brassey +shot--a joy that has been sadly diminished on most courses by the +rubber-cored ball--we can taste in abundance. The last nine holes in +the Old Deer Park repay really long straight play with the wooden clubs +almost as well as any nine holes that can be mentioned, wherefore the +Mid-Surrey course, if it be not quite 'the real thing' itself, provides +at least an admirable training ground. + + [Illustration: MID-SURREY + _The tenth hole_] + +There is but one thing lacking for the player's perfect education in +brassey shots, and that is an occasional bad lie or bad stance; he +will constantly be taking his wooden club through the green, but the +ball will always be sitting up on a perfect lie and obviously +requesting to be hit, while his stance will be of the smoothest and +flattest. When he leaves this smooth and shaven Paradise and fights the +sea breezes amid hummocks and hollows, he will find that considerably +more is asked of him, and may possibly re-echo the dictum of the +celebrated Scottish professional, that it is necessary to be a goat in +order to stand to his ball, and a goat, moreover, qualified with no +uncertain epithet. + +In this matter of perfect lies and stances Mid-Surrey is apt to pamper +and over-indulge its devotees; and the same may be said of the greens, +for they are as near perfection as anything short of a billiard-table +could possibly be. Much care and money and a transcendent genius among +green-keepers, Peter Lees, have combined to make them a miracle of +trueness and smoothness. Some greens that are extraordinarily good, +true and easy, yet afford no particular pleasure, since they are too +slow and soft; a perfectly true Turkey carpet might lead to the holing +of many putts and yet the player would soon long for some barer, +harder, more untrue substance. The necessity of hitting our putts very +hard covers many little deficiencies in our execution, but it is poor +fun compared with the art of stroking the ball up to the hole. + +The Mid-Surrey greens are open to none of these reproaches, since they +combine perfect trueness with plenty of pace, and we must strike the +ball a delicate, subtle blow; the methods of the bludgeon are equally +unsuitable and disastrous. There are plenty of little ripples and +ridges and hollows in the greens, though few bold slopes, and there is +therefore scope for considerable nicety of putting; above all, there is +the cheering knowledge that a putt has but to make a good start in life +to ensure its turning neither to the right nor to the left and ending a +blameless career at the bottom of the hole. + +Thus we have perfect lies, stances, and greens, and it is clear that +we shall have none but the most futile excuses for our errors. If we +hit the ball we ought to do a good score, and, especially on the way +out, nothing but our own folly should prevent a long and gratifying +sequence of fours; that is to say, we ought to do six fours, two threes +at the short holes, and a five, which we may fairly allow ourselves +at the second. This green can be reached in two shots; Robson did +reach it in two in the _News of the World_ tournament, but to have +seen him do it was enough to prevent our own vaulting ambition from +o'erleaping itself once and for all. They were indeed two stupendous +shots, and if we carry the big cross-bunker safely in two and then +play a nice straight run-up on to the green, we shall have done all +that can be reasonably expected of us. Of the other holes on the way +out the third is perhaps the most engaging, since we must employ our +heads as well as our clubs. There is a spinney--a detestably, almost +mesmerically attractive spinney--to the left, and if we pull our drive +we shall be confronted with a shot wherein the ball must rise abruptly +to a considerable height and at the same time traverse a considerable +distance. If, however, we have pushed the tee-shot well out to the +right, we shall have our reward in a simple approach shot, a steady +four and a consciousness of virtue. + +As far as the turn, then, we may progress in an average of fours, but +we shall be lucky if we do not considerably exceed it on the way home; +we shall need a series of lusty second shots and even so shall be +none the worse for a wind behind us at all the holes, which is alas! +impossible. There is no one hole that stands out particularly from its +fellows, but the one we are likely to remember best is the twelfth, not +so much for its intrinsic merits, which are considerable, as for a fine +cedar tree, which fills us with joy till it has entirely and hopelessly +stymied us from the hole. + +The bunkers are many and cunningly devised, and there is also rough +grass, but the lies in the rough are not very bad, and if we are going +to make a mistake we shall be well advised to do it thoroughly; thereby +we shall be so crooked as to avoid the bunkers, while brute force and +a driving iron may extricate us from the rough with but little loss. +This, of course, is not as it should be, but the difficulty is an +insuperable one on many inland courses. + +Not far off are two nice courses, Sudbrook Park and Ashford Manor, but +from Mid-Surrey we will voyage to another park course, the newest of +its kind, at =Stoke Poges=. Stoke Park is a beautiful spot, and there +is very good golf to be played there; the club is an interesting one, +moreover, as being one of the first and the most ambitious attempts in +England at what is called in America a 'Country Club.' There are plenty +of things to do at Stoke besides playing golf. We may get very hot at +lawn tennis or keep comparatively cool at bowls or croquet, or, coolest +of all, we may sit on the terrace or in the garden and give ourselves +wholly and solely to loafing. The club-house is a gorgeous palace, a +dazzling vision of white stone, of steps and terraces and cupolas, with +a lake in front and imposing trees in every direction, while over it +all broods the great Chief-Justice Coke, looking down benignantly from +the top of his pillar and gracefully concealing his astonishment at the +changes in the park. + +Never was there a better instance of the art of forcibly turning a +forest into a golf-course than is to be found at Stoke Poges. The +beautiful old park turf was always there, cropped from time immemorial +by generations of deer, who little knew what service they were doing to +the green-keeper, but in every direction there stretched thick belts of +woodland, and yet a golf course was going to be made and opened in less +than no time. I saw the place in its pristine state, and the holes, +as they were pointed out to me, with an eye of but imperfect faith. +Thousands of trees, as it seemed, bore the fatal mark that signified +their doom, and yet the thing appeared almost impossible. One hole was +particularly impressive. All that was then to be seen was a pretty +little brook running innocently between its banks, which were thickly +covered with trees, while on one side the ground sloped gently upwards +to a path through the woods. It was a spot to conjure up visions of +dryads or fairies, "Green jacket, red cap and white owl's feather"; of +anything in the world except a narrow, catchy, slanting green and +a half-iron shot. Yet an inspired architect had fixed on it as the site +of one of his short holes; the trees were to be cut down, the sloping +bank was to be turfed and the brook promoted to the fuller dignity of a +burn. I went my way full of admiration--and of doubt. + + [Illustration: STOKE POGES + _The sixteenth hole_] + +A few months after I returned to find that the romantic little wood +had vanished, and there was a short hole in its place--a hole that +any course might be proud to own, and a putting green that the deer +might have grazed for centuries. I never saw a more daring bit +of architecture, except perhaps at Stonham, the new course near +Southampton, where Willy Park has actually built a putting green over +a stream. Apart from this one hole, belts of wood had disappeared in +all directions as if by magic, and had been replaced by turf; yet +there were so many trees left that no one could reasonably complain. +There was the course ready to be played on, and a very good course it +is--long, difficult, and for the most part entertaining. + +The turf is good and springy, and where it is intended that the player +should get a good lie, he gets an excellent one; where it is intended +that he should be in trouble there is likewise no mistake about it. He +may lie in a wood, though this is only the penalty for a very heinous +crime, and the trees are for the most part kept skilfully in reserve +as a second line of defence. He may at one or two holes lie in a lake; +and he will often, if he be crooked, lie in a compound of bracken and +long grass, which will adequately test his powers of recovery. There +are also bunkers, though these, with commendable wisdom, have been put +in but sparingly at first, and, at the moment of writing, the foozler's +cup of anguish is not yet filled to the brim. + +As is increasingly becoming the fashion with modern courses, there are +a good many one-shot holes; there are, to be precise, four, or, if +we can drive a quite abnormal distance, we may include the tenth and +say there are five. Of these the seventh hole over the brook before +mentioned is the best: indeed it is quite one of the most charming of +short holes. Its special virtue is to be found in the fact that we have +to approach it at a peculiarly diabolical angle, so that the green +becomes exceedingly narrow; a slice takes us into the brook, a pull +into a road, and, in short, nothing but a good shot will do. Of the +other short holes the most superficially terrifying, to those at least +who sometimes drive a little lower than the angels, is the sixteenth, +where we must stand on a little peninsula that juts out into the lake +and carry some hundred or more yards of water. + + [Illustration: CASSIOBURY PARK + _The new eighteenth hole_] + +Of the longer holes, all need sound and straight play, and some are +thoroughly interesting. There is perhaps just a tinge of monotony about +the sequence of long holes that begin after the eleventh; they are all +good holes, but we might reasonably yearn for a little break in the +middle. The twelfth is perhaps the best of them, since not only is it +narrow, but it has the peculiar quality, granted to some holes, of a +terrifying appearance. There is really plenty of room; the trees and +the lake to the right are, in fact, a long way off, and ought to be +omitted from our calculations, but it is hard not to keep one eye +on them--and off the ball. The seventeenth is another difficult hole, +especially as it comes on us before we have fully recovered from the +watery terrors of the sixteenth. There is a fine carry for the second +over a stream that runs just in front of the green, and the brave man +goes for his four, and haply takes six, while the coward plays his +second with an iron and a measure of contemptible prudence, trusting +thereby to secure a steady five; let us hope that he hits his pitch off +the heel of his club and takes six after all. + +Of all the race of park courses, it would scarcely be possible, in +point of sheer beauty, to beat =Cassiobury Park=, near Watford in +Hertfordshire. Neither by laying too much emphasis on its beauty do +I mean to cast an oblique slur upon the golf itself, a great deal of +which is very good. Of course you will not think it good if you hate +trees, because there are a great many trees; and you will probably be +at least once or twice hopelessly stymied by them in the course of the +round. Even the most confirmed tree-hater, however, might find his +heart softening, because these particular trees are so very lovely. +There are the most glorious avenues, elms and limes and chestnuts and +beeches, that stretch across the park, and a fine day at Cassiobury +comes within measurable distance of heaven. It is even beautiful on a +wet day, and the last day that I spent there was wet, quite beyond the +ordinary. I remember it very well from the circumstance of having to +wade breast high into drenching nettles after a ball which my wretched +partner had put there. This occurred at the third hole--a hole which +is rather a remarkable one in itself, and was never more remarkably +played than on that occasion. + +The green can be reached easily enough with one honest blow, but there +is a huge tree immediately to the right of the green, and a still more +huge and infinitely more alarming pit immediately under the tee. The +pit is very deep and its sides precipitous, and it is altogether a very +formidable affair. Our opponents drove off, I remember, and perpetrated +an ordinary 'fluff' or foozle, which left the ball on grass, it is +true, but at the very bottom of the pit. + +"Now," said I to my partner, no doubt foolishly, "here is our chance." +By way of answer he struck the ball violently on some portion of the +club that lay far behind the heel. The ball dashed away at a terrific +pace in the direction of square leg, came into collision with the +branch of a tree some fifty yards off the line, whence it bounded back +into the bed of nettles before mentioned. By some miracle the ball was +dislodged from the nettles, and joined its fellow at the bottom of the +pit. Then began a game the object of which an intelligent foreigner +would probably have imagined to be the hitting of the ball up the bank +in such a way as it should roll down exactly to the place whence it +started. Ultimately, for I must pass over the intervening events, I +missed a short putt to win the hole in eight. + + [Illustration: SANDY LODGE + _The first green, looking towards the club-house_] + +If this third hole is the most terrifying to the habitual foozler, the +more mature golfer will be a great deal more frightened of the fourth +and tenth, which were really very good holes indeed. That drive at +the tenth down a pretty glade between the trees is, as far as +appearances go at least, one of the narrowest I know, and the second +shot is a good one too, though by no means so long as it used to be, +with a gutty. After this tenth comes another capital 'two-shotter,' +which has been made by the expedient of running two poorish holes into +one, and in this case two blacks have emphatically made a white, for +the second shot over another pit, only a little less disastrous than +the first, is excellent. + +There are several more long, slashing holes on the way back, and at +one of them I recollect that our adversaries in this same adventurous +foursome lost their ball within four yards of the tee, and, in spite +of the most arduous and unremitting search, had to give up the hole. +I must add that the drive was neither a high nor a straight one, and +that the grass at the edge of the course, or as I once heard an Irish +green-keeper call them, the 'sidings,' were distinctly long. + +One good point about Cassiobury is the smooth and velvety surface of +the green. They are a little slow and easy perhaps, but very true and +soothing to putt upon, and have been wonderfully improved of late +years. Time was when the very springy park turf seemed determined never +to settle down into a good putting substance, but unremitting care and +hard work has changed all that. Finally, I ought to add that owing to +the taking in of some new land and the abandoning of some of the old +holes, the course is practically in a transition stage, and so I must +be pardoned if I have used the antiquated numbering of the holes. + +Of the courses to be reached from the Baker Street end of London, +such as =Northwood=, Chorleywood, Harewood Downs and Sandy Lodge, +Northwood is perhaps the best known, and there we come upon a somewhat +different kind of golf; perhaps it would be more accurate to describe +it as a mixture of two different kinds of golf. There are holes among +the gorse, and there are holes of a more agricultural character among +the hedges and ditches. Regarded in the abstract, gorse-bushes, or, +as I ought to call them, whins, are not an ideal hazard. It is often +impossible to play the ball out of them, and still more often unwise +to make the attempt without a suit of armour, while the local rule, to +be found on some courses, that the ball may or even must be lifted and +dropped under a penalty is thoroughly unsatisfactory. + +If, however, whins are from their nature a bad hazard, they have +nevertheless very distinguished sanction. They are to be found on links +of undoubted eminence, and were found on many more till they were +literally hacked and hewed out of existence by the niblick shots of +their infuriated victims. Moreover, say what we will, they are rather +entertaining, and the very fact that a serious error will almost ruin +us gives a poignancy which is lacking in any but the most desperate of +sand-pits; we trifle pleasurably with our terrors and snatch a fearful +joy. Certainly there is a great deal of amusement to be extracted from +the Northwood whins, and our achievements or disasters among them +are those that remain graven on the memory. Yet there is one hole in +the county of ditches and hedges (such colossal hedges as those +at Northwood were surely never seen before) that leaves as vivid an +impression on the mind as the spikiest of gorse can leave elsewhere. +This is the eighth, which rejoices, I believe, in the appropriate name +of 'Death or Glory.' It supplies a standing refutation of the theory +that a hole cannot be a good one if it is of that mongrel length +known as 'a drive and a pitch,' or, as it has been brilliantly though +indelicately expressed, 'a kick and a spit.' + + [Illustration: NORTHWOOD + _'Death or glory' (the eighth hole)_] + +We walk to the very brink of destruction without knowing it, for there +is nothing particular to mark the drive; we have but to hit moderately +straight, as it appears, over a flat and somewhat muddy space towards +a bunker in the distance. Then as we walk up to the ball the full +horror of our situation bursts upon us. We have to pitch over a bunker +straight in front of the green, but that is mere child's play, and +only the beginning of our task. On the left-hand side, eating its way +into the very heart of the green, is another bunker, very deep and +shored up by precipitous black timbers, and the very slightest pull on +our approach shot will land us in it. The obvious thing to do would +appear to be to push our approach out to the right at any cost, but +that will not do either, for on a bank on the right hand side grows a +perfect thicket of thorn bushes, where there is very snug lying for +the ball and great scope for the niblick. It is surprising and rather +humiliating to find how difficult it is to play a perfectly ordinary, +straightforward mashie pitch, if only there are enough difficulties +to strike terror into the soul. Were there more holes like this, the +reproach implied in the term 'a drive and a pitch' would very soon +disappear. + +From Liverpool Street Station the municipal golfer of London takes +his way either to Chingford, where he plays in a red coat under the +auspices of the Corporation, or to Hainault Forest, where the County +Council has recently made a playground for him. The best known, +however, and probably the best of these Essex courses is =Romford=, +which was for a good many years the home green of the great Braid. +Indeed even now 'J. Braid (Walton Heath)' looks just a little +unfamiliar to me; I still feel as if Romford ought to be the word +inside the brackets. I recollect that almost the first time I played at +Romford was in an open amateur competition, for which there was a very +good and representative entry of London amateurs. I think it shows how +much the general standard of amateur golf has gone up, that the winning +score was 164 (84 + 80) by Mr. Mure Fergusson. Certainly Mr. Fergusson +was not in his best form, but this score was good enough to win, and +to win quite comfortably. There was, as far as I can remember, nothing +amiss with the weather, and even making every allowance for gutty +balls, it does seem extraordinary that so many people should play so +supremely ill. It would be far less likely to happen to-day. + + [Illustration: ROMFORD + _The sixth green_] + +Nevertheless Romford is not a course that one would choose for the +doing of a low score, for it is neither short nor easy, and is a great +deal better golf than it looks. Its appearance is not particularly +attractive, because in the first place it is flat, and in the second +there are hedges and trees to be seen. Braid himself speaks of +it in Nisbet's _Golf Year Book_ as a "very good park course." The +adjective may well be allowed to pass, but to call it a 'park' course +conveys a wrong impression, to my mind at least; it is too open for the +description to be quite appropriate, though I admit I can think of no +better word. + +If a course has really good putting greens and demands that the ball +should be hit consistently far and straight, then there is a good deal +to be said for it, and these virtues must be conceded to Romford. You +must hit straight or you will be in a bunker, or 'tucked up' behind +a tree; you must hit far or you will not get up to the green in the +right number of strokes. The fourth and fifth are two as long holes +as come consecutively on any course, except Blackheath, and the fifth +is an especially good one. Better than either I like the seventh with +its narrow tee-shot between the trees and that out of bounds territory +that comes creeping in to catch you on the right. It is a hole that, in +colloquial language, 'wants a lot of playing.' + +There are really quite a lot more fine holes--the tenth, for instance, +with a tremendous carrying second over a pond, and the fourteenth, +where the player is fairly hemmed in with trees and hedges, and must +drive as straight as an arrow. When Braid was there he accomplished +some ridiculous scores in the sixties, but ordinary people will find +that anything in the seventies is quite good enough for them, and that +many a hole that ought to be done in four will, in fact, be done in +five or more. Especially is this the case when the going is at all +heavy, for Romford can on occasions be just a little soft and muddy. +It is probably, like a great many other inland courses, at its best in +spring or autumn, for then the putting greens are really a pleasure to +putt upon. + +Now we come to the links of the Royal =Blackheath= Golf Club, which +is very justly proud of the fact that it was instituted in 1608. +That is indeed a great record, and, as we hack our ball along with a +driving mashie out of a hard and flinty lie, narrowly avoiding the +slaughter of a passing pedestrian, we feel that we are on hallowed +ground. Moreover, though we may speak flippantly of the bad lies and +the numerous live hazards on the course, the golf is good golf--far +better and more searching than is to be found on many smoothly shaven +lawns covered with artificial ramparts. If we desire to test our real +sentiments about any particular course, it is no bad plan to imagine +that we have to play a match over it against some horribly good +opponent--an enemy whom, even in the moment of our most idiotic vanity, +we admit to be our superior. Out of this test Blackheath comes well, +for I can hardly imagine that anyone would choose to play a match with +Braid, for example, over those famous seven holes if he had any other +battle-ground open to him. + + [Illustration: BLACKHEATH + _Signalling 'all clear'_] + +There are but seven holes; but of those seven, two are of a truly +prodigious length, and, to make the matter worse, they are consecutive. +Some idea of the length and difficulty of the course may be gleaned +from the record score for the twenty-one holes, which constitute a +medal round. People have been struggling round since the reign +of James I., and the record stands at 95, which, according to my +arithmetic, is eleven over an average of four a hole. The record of +nearly every other well-known course in the kingdom is under an average +of four. To accomplish a score of under 100 at Blackheath is something +to be proud of, and in the gutty days, in which I sometimes struggled +round the historic course, an average of five a hole was considered, +not without reason, quite good enough to win one's match against highly +respectable opponents. + +They let us down easily to begin with at Blackheath with quite a short +first hole, only a good cleek shot being required to carry a sort +of shallow pit that has very poor lying at the bottom of it; so we +ought to have one three to reduce the average of the sixes and sevens +that are sure to follow. The second and third are longer, but yet not +hideously long, and we play them reasonably well, if we do not come +into collision with public highways and the posts and rails that guard +them. We may possibly have to thread our way through two teams of small +boys playing football, and there are almost certain to be a nursery +maid or two in the way, or an old gentleman sitting on a seat, blandly +unconscious that his position is one fraught with peril to himself and +annoyance to us. However, as we are forcibly clad in red coats for a +danger-signal and preceded by a fore-caddie, as if we were traction +engines, we may with luck and patience do fairly well. + +After the third we are confronted with the two long holes, and the +piling up of our score begins. It is now some time since I played them, +and they are, besides, too long to describe in detail. I have a vision +of reaching, after several shots on the flat, a deep hollow on the +left, and spending some further time in hacking the ball along its hard +and inhospitable turf, finally to emerge on to the flat again and reach +the green in a score verging upon double figures. The fifth hole may be +described as the same, only not quite so much so, and the round ends +with two holes of a somewhat milder character, but neither of them in +the least easy. Then off we go over the pit again for our second round, +and there is yet another one left to play. To play three rounds over +Blackheath on a cold, blustery winter's day is a man's task. + +It is sad that there was no contemporary chronicler to do for the old +golfers of Blackheath what John Nyren of immortal memory did for the +cricketers of Hambledon; but the club has not lacked its _vates sacer_, +and in Mr. W. E. Hughes' book is a store of pleasant and interesting +history. Most golfers know the delightful picture of the gentleman in +a red coat with blue facings, gold epaulettes and knee-breeches, who +stands in so dignified an attitude, his club over his shoulder. It is +dedicated to the "Society of Golfers at Blackheath" with "just respect" +by their "most humble servant Lemuel Francis Abbott," and, like the +artist, we too salute with just respect a venerable and illustrious +society. + + [Illustration: WIMBLEDON + _On the common_] + +The Royal Wimbledon Club was founded some two hundred and sixty years +after the Royal Blackheath, and yet golf is still so young a game in +England that the two appear of almost equally hoary antiquity. There is +an old-fashioned air about the golf at =Wimbledon=--an atmosphere +of red coats and friendly foursomes made up at luncheon, which is +exceedingly pleasant--nor is the actual golf on Wimbledon Common by +any means to be despised. It has at least one supreme virtue--that of +naturalness; those great clumps of gorse and the deep ravines where +the birches grow were put there by the hand of Nature herself, who, if +she be not so cunning, is at any rate infinitely more artistic than +any golfing architect. When Mr. Horace Hutchinson wrote the Badminton +volume he wrote of the golf at Wimbledon that it was almost "an insult +to the game to dignify it by the name of golf," adding that he would +rather call it a "wonderful substitute for the game within so short a +distance of Charing Cross." It is perhaps a just criticism, but what +would Mr. Hutchinson say of the hundred 'mud-heaps' that have sprung +up within a short distance of Charing Cross since these days? He would +probably keep silence lest he should fall a victim to the law of libel +and an unsympathetic jury. + +Certainly the lies at Wimbledon are not good; they are hard and flinty, +and at certain places, in particular the long second hole, they +have seemed to me at times almost the worst in the world. But there +is this measure of compensation in hard turf, that it always bears +some resemblance, however dim and remote, to the 'real thing'; it is +infinitely more inspiriting than the soft and spongy lawns, which may +be truer and smoother, but are removed by a far wider gulf from the +golf that _is_ golf. + +If the Royal Wimbledon golfer dislikes a crowd or a red coat, or +if, being a very wicked man or a very busy one, he wishes to play +on Sunday, he need nowadays only walk out of the back door of his +club-house instead of his front door, and he is on his own private +course at Caesar's Camp. A wonderful place is this new Wimbledon course, +for as soon as we are on it all signs of men, houses and omnibuses, and +the other symptoms of a busy suburb disappear as if by magic, and a +prospect of glorious solitary woods stretches away into the distance in +every direction. Only at one place, where the new course verges on the +Common, do we see such a thing as a house, and our friend Charing Cross +might be a hundred miles away. Like the egg, the course is good in +parts: very good as long as we are among the whins on the hard ground +which is the ground of the Common: rather soft and muddy when we are +on the meadows lower down. Taking the two courses together, the men of +Wimbledon have much to be thankful for. + +There is still one London course that assuredly deserves mention, that +of Prince's Golf Club on =Mitcham Common=. Roads and lamp-posts and, +ugliest of all, tramways have not added to its loveliness. But it is +still a delightful place, with a good deal of solitary beauty left. +There is abundance of gorse here too, but the impression produced is +quite different from that at Wimbledon. The ground is flatter, and one +can take in a greater stretch at one glance; it is not broken up, as it +were, into districts by gullies and ravines, and one misses the pretty +birch trees of Wimbledon. + + [Illustration: MITCHAM + _The seventh green_] + +Courses that are not protected by a ring-fence of privacy are not +as a rule notable for the goodness of their greens, since every now +and then a cantankerous commoner is apt to drive a waggon across them +by way of asserting his rights. At Prince's, however, they have really +beautiful greens, big and rolling and grassy, which are a joy to putt +upon, and there is a further distinction between Mitcham and other +common courses, that the making of artificial bunkers has been allowed +to supplement Nature in an unobtrusive measure. + +There are plenty of good two-shot holes where, if we do not quite need +the brassey for our second shot, we must yet give the ball a downright, +honest hit with some iron club that is not too much lofted. + +The first, seventh, fifteenth, and seventeenth--to mention only +four--are all good holes, the drive at the fifteenth being rendered the +more alarming by a pond which traps a hooked ball. The twelfth hole +also has a rather frightening tee-shot over the corner of a garden--a +sort of Stationmaster's Garden in miniature--with the possibility of +slicing into what was once a manufactory of explosives. + +Mitcham is essentially a course for the leisured golfer. It is +comparatively useless to the busy man, since he may not play there on +Sunday, and to do so on Saturday is a vexation of spirit. Granted, +however, a reasonably dry day in mid-week, and there is certainly no +pleasanter golf to be found within so short and easy a journey from +London. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +KENT AND SUSSEX. + + +There is always something stirring in a roll of illustrious names, and +for the mere sensual pleasure of writing them I set them down in order +at the beginning of the chapter--Sandwich, Deal, Prince's, Littlestone, +and Rye, in the counties of Kent and Sussex. Each of the five has +devoted adherents who will maintain its merits against the world in +heated argument, but there can be little doubt which has the right to +come first. It would be showing a sad disrespect to golfing history, +very recent history though it be, to begin otherwise than with the +links of the Royal St. George's Golf Club at Sandwich. + + [Illustration: SANDWICH (1) + _The 'Sahara'_] + +For a course that is still comparatively young--the club was instituted +in 1887--=Sandwich= has had more than its share of ups and downs. It +was heralded with much blowing of trumpets and without undergoing +any period of probation, burst full-fledged into fame. For some time +it would have ranked only a degree below blasphemy to have hinted at +any imperfection. Then came a time when impious wretches, who had the +temerity to think for themselves, began to whisper that there were +faults at Sandwich, that it was nothing but a driver's course, that the +whole art of golf did not consist of hitting a ball over a sandhill and +then running up to the top to see what had happened on the other side. +Gradually the multitude caught up the cry of the few, till nobody, who +wished to put forward a claim to a critical faculty, had a good word +to say for the course. Then the club began to set its house in order, +lengthening here and bunkering there, not without a somewhat bitter +controversy between the moderates and the progressives, until the +pendulum has begun to swing back, and poor Sandwich is coming to its +own again. + +Throughout all this controversial warfare one fact has remained +unchanged, namely, that, whatever they may think of its precise merits +as a test of golf, most golfers unite in liking to play there. The +humbler player frankly enjoys hitting over his sandhill largely because +of the frequency with which he hits into it: the superior person may +despise the sandhill and may be utterly bored with it anywhere else, +but he retains a sneaking affection for it at Sandwich. It attracts him +in spite of himself and his, as some people think them, tedious views. + +Sandwich has a charm that belongs to itself, and I frankly own myself +under the spell. The long strip of turf on the way to the seventh +hole, that stretches between the sandhills and the sea; a fine spring +day, with the larks singing as they seem to sing nowhere else; the +sun shining on the waters of Pegwell Bay and lighting up the white +cliffs in the distance; this is as nearly my idea of Heaven as is +to be attained on any earthly links. "Confound their politics," +one feels disposed to cry, "frustrate their knavish tricks! Why do +they want to alter this adorable place? I know they are perfectly +right, and I have even agreed with them that this is a blind shot +and that an indefensibly bad hole, but what does it all matter? This +is perfect bliss." Of course Sandwich is capable of improvement, and +will doubtless be improved; whatever happens, the larks will continue +to twitter, the sun will still be shining on Pegwell Bay: the charm +can never be gone. It is at any rate very delightful now, and so let +us go and play the first hole and enjoy ourselves without being too +desperately critical. + +One great characteristic--I think it is a beauty--of Sandwich is the +extraordinary solitude that surrounds the individual player. We wind +about in the dells and hollows among the great hills, alone in the +midst of a multitude, and hardly ever realize that there are others +playing on the links until we meet them at luncheon. Thus, on the first +tee, we may catch a glimpse of somebody playing the last hole, and +another couple disappearing over the brow to the second, and that is +all; the rest is sandhills and solitude. + + [Illustration: SANDWICH (2) + _Playing on to the green from 'Hades'_] + +And now we must positively cease from our reflections and get off +that first tee, with a fine raking shot that shall carry us over the +insidious and fatal little hollow called the 'kitchen.' If we are clear +of it, another good shot will take us home over a deep cross-bunker +on to the green, big, smooth, and beautiful, as are all the greens at +Sandwich. At the second we have a bunker to carry from the tee--it +was sometimes a terrible carry for a gutty--and then a pitch on to a +plateau green, the sides whereof slope down steeply into hollows on +either side. This shot was once a great bone of contention, and in +truth success was formerly somewhat a matter of luck, for the ball +pitched on a hog's back and kicked sometimes straight on to the hole +and sometimes to the right or left. Now, however, the hog's back has +been smoothed and flattened, and if we play the proper shot we shall +get a four to hearten us up for the drive over the Sahara. + +When a name clings to a hole we may be sure that there is something in +that hole to stir the pulse, and in fact there are few more absolute +joys than a perfectly hit shot that carries the heaving waste of sand +which confronts us on the third tee. The shot is a blind one, and we +have not the supreme felicity of seeing the ball pitch and run down +into the valley to nestle by the flag. We see it for a long time, +however, soaring and swooping over the desert, and, when it finally +disappears, we have a shrewd notion as to its fate. If the wind be +fresh against us, we must play away to the right for safety, and the +glorious enjoyment of the hole is gone, but even so a good shot will +be repaid, and every yard that we can go to the left may make the +difference between a difficult and an easy second. + +On the very next tee another bunker of terrible aspect lies before us, +this time a towering mountain of sand, and the ball is soon out of +sight. However, at the second shot we get a good view of the green, +away in the distance perched up on a plateau hard up against a fence. +There is rough to the right and a bunker almost in the line to the +left, but a good shot will carry it, and, after the ball has vanished +for a moment, it will reappear, trickling gently along the plateau to +the hole side; it is really a grand two-shot hole. + +At the fifth the sandhills begin to close in upon us, but a fair +straight drive should land the ball safely in the valley; this hole is +now in the melting pot, and is being transformed from a three into a +four. We will, therefore, avoid a painful controversy and tee our ball +before the famous 'Maiden.' Few bunkers have a more infamous reputation +than this Maiden, but the new-comer to the Sandwich of to-day will +think that she has done little to deserve it. There stands the Maiden, +steep, sandy, and terrible, with her face scarred and seamed with +black timbers, but alas! we have no longer to drive over her crown: we +hardly do more than skirt the fringe of her garment. In old days the +tee was right beneath the highest pinnacle, and sheer terror made the +shot formidable, but the tee-shots to the fifth endangered the lives +of those driving to the sixth, and the tee had to be put far away to +the right. The present Maiden is but a shadow of its old self, and the +splendour of it has in a great measure departed. + +My pen has run away with me over the first six holes, as I knew it +would, and there still remain twelve more holes to play. 'Hades' will, +no doubt, deserve its name if we top our tee-shot, though otherwise +it is a reasonably easy three, but the ninth is in reality a far more +formidable affair. The hole will doubtless be called the 'Corsets' +for ever, but the second of these two famous bunkers now plays but an +inconsiderable part, for the reformers have moved the green far on and +away to the left and, it must be admitted, have made a good hole out of +a very bad one. + +We may still drive into the first Corset, however, and if we do, Heaven +help us! We shall be playing a nightmare game of racquets against its +unflinching sides, and the other man will win the hole. + +With the turn at Sandwich the nature of the course begins to alter, +and in place of doing threes--or perchance sevens--among the hills, +we shall be travelling over the flatter ground in a series of steady +fives, with, let us hope, an occasional four. There are plenty of good +holes--better, perhaps, than some on the way out--but they do not make +the same appeal to the imagination, nor are they so characteristic. +One, at least, deserves a special word of mention, the fourteenth, or +'Suez Canal,' where many and many a second shot has found a watery +grave. Those who love the hopes and fears of a lucky-bag will enjoy the +seventeenth, where the hole lies in a deep dell with sharply sloping +sides. Man can direct the ball into the dell, but only Providence can +decide its subsequent fate, and whether it will lie stone dead or a +round dozen of yards away is a matter of chance. There is no chance +about the last hole, where we must hit two good, long, straight shots; +it is a fine finish, and will leave us with happy recollections as we +take our way to one or other of the neighbouring courses. We are in +the midst of a perfect tangle of courses, since within easy reach are +Deal, Prince's, Kingsdown, and St. Augustine's, at Ebbsfleet. + +The =Deal= course is little more than a stone's throw away from +Sandwich. It is the same kind of country, the same, or very nearly the +same, kind of turf, and yet the general impression produced by it is +quite different. + +There is this difference to begin with, that it is less remote and +solitary. The club-house stands on a high road and the outskirts of +the town come creeping out to the edge of the links. Men, women and +children, butchers' and bakers' carts pass and re-pass along the road: +there are live creatures to be seen engaged in other avocations than +golfing, and, altogether, as compared with Sandwich, the scene is one +of business and bustle. The links themselves are more open: one might +almost say more bleak of aspect; there are not so many little secret +hollows and valleys between the hills; Deal is altogether less snug (I +can think of no better word) than Sandwich. + +To say this is to make no comparison of the merits of the two courses, +which is an unnecessary and invidious thing to do. It is quite enough +to say that the golf at Deal is very good indeed--fine, straight-ahead, +long-hitting golf, wherein the fives are likely to be many and the +fours few. There are those that contend that it is almost superhumanly +difficult, but unless there be a high wind, I think that they +exaggerate a little. The difficulty lies in hitting far enough, and not +so much in the intrinsic terrors of the holes. If we can hit far enough +to carry the hummocky country and attain the region of good lies: if, +in short, we are long drivers, we need fear no particularly subtle +devilry, but the driving has to be something more than merely decent. + + [Illustration: DEAL + _Playing the 'Sandy Parlour'_] + +It seems a topsy-turvy procedure, but a description of the Deal course +ought to begin with the last four holes, for they are its particular +joy and pride, and have attained a fame equal to that of the last +four holes--the 'loop'-at Prestwick. Certainly they make a spirited +and exciting finish to a round, for they need good play and--this +with bated breath--good luck. The difficulty of the fifteenth lies in +the second shot, which must be played with a measure of accuracy and +fortune on to the crest of a ridge, from which it will totter slowly +down a sloping green to the hole. Play the shot the least bit too +gingerly and the ball will refuse to climb the ridge; too hard and +it will inevitably race across the green into rough grass, while the +chances of recovering from a faulty second with a little pitching shot +from off the green are not great. Certainly it is a difficult hole, +and so is the next; indeed, with the wind in the right quarter, this +sixteenth hole is one of the finest imaginable. We see the flag away +there in the far distance, waving upon a small plateau. Immediately +below the plateau to the left lies a little valley of inglorious +security, but away to the right and beyond the green are ruts and long +grass, and the second shot has to be as accurate as it is long. That +is supposing that we can get there in two at all, but alas! that is +often impossible, and therein, to my thinking, lies a certain weakness +of the hole. A particularly elastic tee or series of tees seems to be +needed so that the hole can be made a two-shot hole, even when the +wind is adverse. At present the longest driver must often be content +to reach the green with a pitch for his third, and is denied the +crowning triumph of a critical second shot successfully accomplished. A +wind against us at the sixteenth diminishes sensibly the sum total of +enjoyment of the round, for that second shot is such an inspiring one. +The green stands there waiting to be won, defying us to reach it, and +to abandon the attempt without a struggle is sad work. + +Of the seventeenth I feel bound to say, with all just respect, that +it appears to be one of the very luckiest holes--in the matter of +approaching--that ever was made, but the eighteenth is a noble hole, +with that little narrow plateau green that will yield to no mere rule +of thumb approaching. If we pitch the ball on the face of the slope, +nothing will induce it to go further, while if we pitch on the green we +are almost inevitably too far. He reaps a rich reward who can play a +low, skimming shot which shall pitch on the flat and then run on full +of life and clamber up the hill. It is _the_ hole _par excellence_ for +the man who learned to approach at St. Andrews. + +There are many holes at Deal which are in every respect as good as the +last four, if indeed they are not better. What could be finer than the +second, where we travel almost from tee to green along a ridge that +kicks away to right or left anything but the perfect shot--what, too, +of the sixth, where, with a great shot and a big wind at our backs, +we may hope for a three, but where far more often we must play the +cunningest of pitches on to the most slippery of table-lands in order +to get a four? What a jolly view there is from that green with the sea +close beneath us and perhaps a glimpse of a big liner in the distance! + +The fourth hole, 'The Sandy Parlour,' had for some years a great name, +but, like some other blind short holes, has come gradually to live on +its reputation. The shot is a blind one over a big sandy bluff, and we +shall now have a far more difficult shot at the reformed fourteenth, +wherein we can see from the tee exactly where we have to go in order +to avoid a very great deal of trouble. When all is said, however, the +short holes at Deal are not its strong point, and it is those long, +raking holes which we ought to have done in fours that leave the +pleasantest memories. + +Close to the links of Sandwich, so close that in trying to carry the +Suez Canal we may slice to within its precincts, lies another very +fine golf course, =Prince's= to wit, the newest among the select band +of really first-class seaside courses. Here is a course upon which as +much care and thought and affection have been spent as on any in the +world, and they have certainly not been spent in vain. It was laid out +with the very highest of ideals; it was to be the good player's course, +and was to trap and test and worry that self-satisfied person till he +became doubtful whether he was a good player at all. A first glance at +the course shows that strict attention to business is meant. Here are +no fascinating mountains, no spacious water-jumps: but there is fine +golfing country, broken and undulating, with smooth strips of fairway +showing here and there amid the rough grass and the myriad pot-bunkers. + +Those who laid out the course at Prince's kept one aim very steadily +in view, that of compelling the player to place his tee-shot. "It is +not enough," they said in effect, "for him to keep out of the rough; +not only must he be on the course, but he must place his ball sometimes +to the right-hand side of the course, sometimes to the left. He must, +if he desire to play the holes as well as they can be played, often +greatly dare, but his great daring shall have its due reward." Now the +best plan, in order to give a practical shape to this high ideal, is to +make the hole, to use a familiar expression, 'dog-legged,' that is to +say, the player does not drive his first ball straight at the hole, but +has to turn at an angle to play his second shot. A hole so devised can +give a great advantage to the long and daring driver who is likewise +straight. The bunkering can be so arranged that he who takes great +risks and hugs the rough more closely shall have an easy and an open +approach, while the man who either from over-caution or insufficient +accuracy has merely gone straight down the middle of the course is +confronted by a more difficult second shot over a formidable array of +bunkers. For this reason we find at Prince's the apotheosis of the +'dog-legged' or 'round-the-corner' holes, and some, nay nearly all of +them, are about as good as they can be. + + [Illustration: PRINCE'S + _The drive from the eleventh tee_] + +There is something of the dog-leg about the very first hole, where we +drive at an angle over a ridge covered with bents. The third needs two +fine shots, and the pot-bunkers rage furiously together in innumerable +quantities. Then at the sixth we have one of the most charming two-shot +holes to be seen anywhere, with just a suspicion of a bend in the +narrow strip of fairway, a wilderness of sandhills on the right, and +rough to the left. At the eighth we need not place the shot with quite +such dreadful accuracy, but instead we must hit prodigiously hard and +far, for after we have hit the tee-shot a steep hill rears its sandy +face between us and the hole, and a really fine carrying brassey shot +is needed if we are to be on the green. It is more like a Sandwich hole +than a Prince's hole, and might perhaps feel more at home on the other +side of the boundary fence, but after all variety is a pleasant thing, +and this eighth brings back memories of the mighty Alps at Prestwick, +and has a splendour and a dash about it which makes an instantaneous +appeal. The eleventh is another good hole, where, if we push our drive +far enough out to the right over the big hills, we may hope to put our +second on the green, where it nestles amid a guard of hummocks. Nor +must we omit some mention of the short holes, all excellent in their +different ways and all fiercely guarded, where a shot has got to be +something more than decently straight, since--and this applies to the +approaching in general--the ball does not run to the hole unless it is +hit there, and the ground falls away towards the edges of the greens. + +Now after this very exacting golf we may turn to something rather +easier and more straightforward and take our tickets for New Romney in +order to play at Littlestone. + +New Romney is a pleasant, quiet, sleepy spot with a fine old church, +once a thriving seaport, now left high and dry a mile or more inland. +=Littlestone= consists of a long and somewhat unprepossessing terrace +of grey lodging-houses, arranged with mathematical precision along +one side of a straight, flat road. On the other side of the road is +the sea, and this is the saving clause at Littlestone. It is not +beautiful--very far from it--but we are right on the edge of the sea; +we snuff it fresh and salt in our nostrils, and can almost believe that +one wave, just a little larger than the others, could overwhelm the +road and the terrace and the very links themselves. + +Yet, though we are so near the sea, and there is as much sea and sand +as anyone could wish, the course itself has just the suspicion of an +inland look. The fairway is so beautifully flat and shaven and runs so +straight and so precisely between two lines of thick tufty grass, which +might at certain seasons be irreverently called hay. The soil itself at +the first two and last two holes is not altogether above the accusation +of being clay; it can be rather muddy in winter and terribly hard in +summer. No; I cannot get it out of my head that Littlestone does look +like one of the trimmest and smoothest of inland courses picked up by +some benevolent magician and dumped down again by the sea. + + [Illustration: LITTLESTONE + _The carry from the seventeenth tee_] + +However, we have all been taught that we ought not to judge by +appearances, and that people cannot help their looks. Bearing this +in mind, we shall find that the appearance of Littlestone does not +do it justice, and that there is in fact very good golf to be played +there. Moreover, it is much better golf than it used to be, since with +Braid, as the villain-in-chief, and Mr. F. W. Maude, as second +conspirator, a vast number of pot-bunkers have been scattered about +the course, and Littlestone is no longer the paradise it once was for +the erratic slogger. If the course has a weakness now it is no longer +a lack of bunkers; rather is it something, that no human ingenuity can +alter, a uniform flatness of stances and lies. Shot after shot has to +be played from a perfectly smooth, flat plain; there are none of the +little hills and hummocks that add so much to the fascination and the +difficulty of Deal and Rye. + +Still if there are no little hills, there are, at any rate, some +alarmingly big ones, and the holes that we remember best are those that +are mountainous and more than a little blind. At the second, after +driving down a shaven avenue, we have an imposing second shot to play +over a big hill, which is made the more terrifying by two bunkers in +its face. The sixteenth is another fine slashing hole, where we have +to make a momentous decision, whether to try heroically for a four or +ingloriously for a five. In old days it was really a case of Hobson's +choice. It was hopeless to attempt to carry over that cavernous bunker +cut in the face of the hill, and there was nothing for it but to play +a dull, safe second, and hop over with the third shot. Now, however, a +short cut, a kind of north-west passage, has been cut through the rough +ground to the left, and two shots, perfectly steered and perfectly +struck, will see the ball disappear over the hill-top to lie in safety +on the big, flat green beyond. + +These two are of the more flamboyant order of hole, but there are +others less imposing, but quite as good. At the eleventh there is one +of those uncomfortable tee-shots, which are so excellent. There is a +canal, a nasty, insidious serpentine beast of a canal, which winds its +way along the left-hand side of the course, and it is our duty, in +order to gain distance, to hug it as close as we dare; yet if we show +ourselves the least bit too affectionate towards it, this ungrateful +canal will assuredly engulf our ball to our utter destruction. To +push the ball too far out to the right is to make our second shot +unpleasantly long, and it is a hard shot, one that we desire to make +as short as possible. Bunkers guard the corners of the green, and the +putting is billowy and difficult; in fact, a four is far more likely to +win the hole than to halve it. There are plenty more good holes: the +ninth, a short hole, which demands the most accurate of iron shots, and +the fourth, with its green on a sloping, narrow neck among the hills. +The lies at Littlestone are flat and easy, but they will not be a bit +too easy for some of the shots we shall have to play from them. + +"Kent, sir--everybody knows Kent--apples, cherries, hops and women," +observed Mr. Jingle, and to-day he might properly add "and golf +courses"; but now we must leave Kent and cross the Sussex border to +get to =Rye=--and there are surely few pleasanter places to get to. +It looks singularly charming as the train comes sliding in on a long +curve, with the sullen flat marshes on the left and the tall cliff +on the right, while straight in front are the red roofs of the town +huddled round the old church. We have only a few yards to walk along +a narrow little street; then we twist round to the right up a +steep little hill and under the Land Gate and we are at the Dormy +House, old and red and overgrown with creepers. Rye is such a friendly, +quiet spot; never in a hurry, and never with the least appearance of +being full, save, perhaps, for a short time in the summer, when it is +infested with artists. It is the ideal place for the golfer who is +wearied out with a fortnight's fruitless balloting at St. Andrews, +which has resulted in his once drawing a time, and that at 12.30. + + [Illustration: RYE + _The fifteenth green_] + +At Rye we just loaf down, without the least anxiety, to the little +steam tram which is to carry us--with a prodigious deal of panting +and snorting--out to the links at Camber. This, indeed, is the one +disadvantage of Rye, that the golf is not at our front door-step. Rye +still stands upon a cliff, but it is a cliff that the waters have long +ceased to trouble, and Camber, where the links are, is two miles away. +However, when we do get there, the golf is as good, or very nearly as +good, as is to be found anywhere. + +The two great features of golf at Rye are the uniformly fiendish +behaviour of the wind and the fascinating variety of the stances. The +wind presumably blows no harder than it does anywhere else, but the +holes are so contrived that the prevailing wind, which comes off the +sea, is always blowing across us. With a typical Rye wind blowing, it +may be said that there is but one hole where it blows straight in our +teeth, and one--and that a short one--where it is straight behind us. +At the other sixteen holes the enemy persists in making a flanking +attack upon us, and we never have a perfectly straightforward shot +to play. For the few who are artists in using the wind, Rye is a +paradise; for the majority who are not, it is a place of trial and +disillusionment. + +Disillusioned too will be they who imagine that they know all that +there is to be known about wooden clubs, because they have attained +to some certainty in hitting a ball that lies teed on a smooth, level +plain. At Rye they must be prepared to hit brassey shots--and long, +straight brassey shots, too--with one foot on a hummock and the other +in a pit. If they cannot do it, they must be content to take five far +more often than they like. + +For these two reasons it is a fine course on which to give strokes, and +an ideal battle-ground for golfing giants, from a spectator's point of +view, since it is scarcely possible, even with the most perfect golf, +to avoid two or three shots in the course of a round which shall be +difficult enough and unusual enough to be intensely interesting. + +The subtlety of the short holes is the thing that will probably +impress the advanced student, while the more elementary will retain +vivid recollections of the knotted horrors of the Sea hole and the +utter hopelessness of the eighteenth bunker. Certainly that eighteenth +bunker--we never ought to get in it--is a pit of desolation; its +sides are so steep and so smooth that wherever the ball may pitch +down it will roll to the bottom, ultimately to repose in a footmark. +To the man who has a good medal score in prospect, it looms vast and +uncarryable--a thing against which it is useless to struggle. So +appalling is it that at one time some tender-hearted people thought +that it was refined cruelty to keep such a horror till the last; so +they shuffled the course round and turned the eighteenth hole into the +ninth, in order that, if a man was fated to ruin his score, he should +be put more quickly out of his agony. This was rightly considered, +however, to be mistaken kindness, and the big bunker is still kept as a +crowning joy or misery. The three short holes are certainly things of +beauty and of the three the best and the most paralyzing is the eighth. + +To see Mr. de Montmorency play this hole against a wind with a hateful +little club which he calls his 'push-cleek' is to see iron play at its +highest; to attempt to play it ourselves is to realize how far we fall +short of that standard and to what a state of impotency and terror it +is possible to be reduced by the surrounding scenery. The appearance of +the hole is so frightening that the ball is as good as missed before we +address it. The distance on a still day can be compassed with a nice, +firm shot with the iron, but the green looks so small and the sides of +the plateau on which it stands so steep and unpleasant; the angle at +which we approach it is so awkward and the wind blows so persistently +on our backs that something is almost sure to go, and does go, wrong. + +The fourteenth is another good and difficult short hole, built in +pious imitation of the eleventh at St. Andrews, as is also the fourth +hole at Worplesdon, and the imitation is carried so far that it is not +uncommon, after the tee-shots have been struck, to hear the agonized +cry go up to Heaven, "I'm in the Eden!" This is, unfortunately, the +one hole where the wind does not do its best for Rye, since it blows +for days together straight behind the player and makes the stopping of +the ball upon the green too much a matter of luck. + +There are so many other good holes that it seems invidious to +distinguish between them. There is the first, with its narrow, curly +tee-shot between a stream and a road and its little square box of a +green protected on every side; there are the fifth and sixth, good +holes both, and one cannot leave out the third, commonly called the +'Dog-leg.' Then, coming home, what could be better than the eleventh, +with its uncompromisingly small green, guarded night and day by a deep +bunker and most magnetic cabbage-garden; or the sixteenth, with its +long hog-back? Surely there can nowhere be anything appreciably better +than the golf to be had at this truly divine spot. + + [Illustration: EASTBOURNE + '_Paradise_'] + +Leaving Rye we may glance at two other Sussex courses of quite a +different kind--Eastbourne and Ashdown Forest. =Eastbourne= is, like +Brighton and Seaford, to name two other Sussex courses, a seaside +course only in name. It is one of the fairly numerous clan of down +courses, of which the main features, as a rule, consist of chalk, +thistles, steep hills, and perplexing putting greens. It may be because +I played on it at an early and impressionable age, but I think that +the old nine-hole course was better golf than the present full-sized +round. The best holes now to be found at Eastbourne were all among +the original nine, and the newer holes exaggerate the vices of the +old ones, while lacking some of their virtues. There was an old +Eastbourne golfing saying which Mr. Hutchinson has quoted, that "the +ball will always come back from Beachy Head," which, being interpreted, +means that there are certain slopes at Eastbourne so long and steep +that it is impossible to play the ball too much to the left or right, +as the case may be. No matter how crooked the shot, down will come the +ball, trickling, trickling, till it lies close to the hole. Now that +is not a very skilful or amusing or in any way good sort of golf, and +there is a good deal of it in some of the newer holes. The old ones are +not perhaps wholly free from the taint, and the putting is infinitely +deceitful, but still there is less of the deplorable use of the +side-wall. + +Perhaps the two chief features of the course are Paradise and the +Chalk Pit, and with an unfortunate prodigality nature has so disposed +of them, that we have to encounter them at one and the same hole. +Paradise is a pretty wood, traversed by a public road and adorned by +one of those sham Greek temples which were beloved of our ancestors. +The chalk pit explains itself, and it is only necessary to add that +it is an extremely deep one. We drive over the pit, and a good drive +will go bounding down a hill a prodigious distance, leaving us with an +iron shot to play over Paradise wood on to a horse-shoe shaped green +in the neighbourhood of the temple. How it may be with rubber-cored +balls I do not know; probably everyone pitches jauntily and easily +enough over Paradise, but it was something of a feat to carry the wood +in the consulship of Plancus, and many a reasonably stout-hearted +golfer would sneak round the corner and, giving the timber a wide +berth, make reasonably sure of his five. One of the very finest shots I +ever saw was played at this hole by Mr. Hutchinson with a horrid, hard +little ball called the 'Maponite,' long since consigned to a deserved +oblivion. His ball lay upon the road, whence he hit it with a full shot +against the wind right over the wood on to the green. + +The other hole at Eastbourne which leaves a vivid impression on the +mind is the seventeenth--a long hole that is skirted closely on the +right throughout its whole length by the grounds of Compton Place, a +house that belongs to the Duke of Devonshire. The tee-shot gives a +great opportunity for the ambitious driver who can carry just as many +trees as he has a mind for, and thus make the hole a good deal shorter +and easier; but the second is never a very easy one, with a spinney on +the left and a sunk fence on the right guarding closely the side of the +green. + +To putt at Eastbourne is an art of itself. It is not that the greens +are not good, for they are often excellent, but the hidden slopes +in them are like Mr. Weller's knowledge of London, "extensive and +peculiar." For the stranger, the safest rule is that he should take +a great deal of trouble in determining where to aim, and then aim +somewhere else. To add to the piquancy of the situation, the course is +visited by a persistent and violent wind, rendering the golf eminently +healthy, but almost exasperatingly difficult. + + [Illustration: FOREST ROW + _The fifteenth green_] + +The =Ashdown Forest= course lies in that most delightful but alas! +most rapidly built-over country near Forest Row and East Grinstead, +and not very far from Crowborough, where is another very charming +course. Like Eastbourne, it can boast of some very curly and puzzling +putting greens, but there the resemblance ceases. It lies not upon the +downs, but upon the forest, which means among the heather, and alone +of all the heathery clan, indeed almost alone among golf courses, it +is as nearly as may be perfectly natural. The greens, I take it, are, +some of them, in a measure artificial, but there is no such thing as +an artificial hazard to be seen. Nature has been kind in supplying a +variety of pits and streams to carry, and so we certainly do not notice +any lack of trouble or incident. It is only at the end of the round +that we realize with a pleasurable shock that there is not a single +hideous rampart on the course, or so much even as a pot-bunker. + +Nature is really a wonderfully good architect, when she is in a +painstaking mood, and she has made few better two-shot holes than the +second at Ashdown. First comes a sufficiently frightening tee-shot over +a big pit, and then a really long second on to a small green, guarded +in front by a stream and on either side by small grips or ditches, +beyond which again is the heather. The short and humble player, or +the long driver who has perforce to be humbler because of a misplaced +tee-shot, can play short in two, and so home in three, but that is +but poor fun; we must go for that second if we are to extract a full +measure of joy from the round. + +A fine slashing hole again is the sixteenth, where the green is guarded +by a grass ground ditch and a low wall of earth, which one would take +to be an artificial bunker that has fallen into disuse, except that it +dispels the illusion by looking infinitely less ugly and more artistic. +When the wind is not too strongly against us, here is a grand chance +of hitting out with the brassey and reaping a due reward. Then again, +for sheer terrifying splendour of appearance, what could be better than +the tee-shots at the thirteenth, commonly called 'Apollyon,' and the +home hole? In both cases we drive from one hillside to another, and in +both cases there flows at the bottom of the valley a stream that shall +engulf the feebly struck ball, to say nothing of heather and bracken +and other things. + +Probably, however, the best-known hole at Ashdown is the 'Island' hole, +although it must be admitted that the recent alteration--and vast +improvement--of the fifth hole has robbed the Island of some of its +terrors. The green, which is divided into two terraces, is surrounded +on all sides by streams that have clayey and precipitous banks. It +can be reached from the tee with a pitch of a very modest character, +and, as the hole is played now, so long as the ball is hit reasonably +straight there is no such pressing need for nicety of judgment in +strength. It was a different matter from the old tee, when the angle +from which one played was such that the green was fairly broad but +alarmingly short. A measure of crookedness went unpunished, and a +certain pusillanimous shortness was not always fatal, but many a fine +bold straight shot overpitched by the merest fraction of a yard found +a watery grave. Moreover, it was fatally easy to lift under a penalty +from one ditch only to plump into another, and so on for ever and +ever. This hole has the further unique distinction of being the only +endowed hole in the United Kingdom. Some time ago a member of the club +settled a sum of L5 upon this hole, and the accumulated interest is to +go to anyone who shall do the hole in one at the Easter, Whitsuntide, +or Autumn meetings. So far the feat has been too much for the skill +of the members, and the bait has apparently not grown great enough to +tempt them from the paths of truth, for the interest on the L5 is still +without a claimant. + +No account of Ashdown would be complete without some mention of the +great golfing family of Mitchell. It is very curious how artisan golf +will make great strides upon one course and be non-existent at another, +with no apparent reason to account for the difference. There seems no +particular reason why it should flourish so greatly at Ashdown Forest, +and yet the Cantelupe Club, which is the local workmans' club, can +put an extraordinarily strong team in the field, and in their annual +match with them regularly give the Ashdown Forest Club to the dogs and +vultures. Of this team some seven or eight are usually Mitchells. One +or two of them have become professionals, but the amateur members of +the family, who stay at home and work at their ordinary avocations, are +also redoubtable players, and successfully to beard the Mitchells in +their own den, on the tricky, sloping Ashdown greens, would want a very +good side indeed. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +THE WEST AND SOUTH-WEST. + + +It would clearly be unbecoming to treat the western and south-western +courses in strict geographical order, because there is one honoured +name which must come first, that of =Westward Ho!=--the oldest seaside +golf course in England. The Royal North Devon Club was founded in +1864, and when the golf at Westward Ho! was in its infancy it was +fostered and encouraged by Mr. George Glennie of St. Andrews celebrity, +who played much of his golf at Blackheath, so that the famous flinty +old course on the heath may claim to be a kind of god-parent to the +sandhills and rushes of Northam Burrows. + +To go to Westward Ho! is not to make a mere visit of pleasure as to +an ordinary course; it is, as is the case of a few other great links, +a reverent pilgrimage. Was it not here that Mr. Horace Hutchinson and +J. H. Taylor, besides a host of other fine players, learned the game? +and surely, it may be added in parenthesis, no golfing nursery has +ever turned out two infant prodigies with such unique and dissimilar +styles. Has it not the tallest and spikiest rushes in the world, and +the biggest bunker to carry from the tee? and, lastly, has it not +lately been remodelled and reformed and made so difficult that many +will compare it, not even with bated breath, to St. Andrews. Therefore, +the stranger, as he jogs along in the little train from Bideford and +looks out at the white horses in Barnstaple Bay, may be pardoned if he +is in a state of suppressed excitement and full of the highest hopes. +In truth, it is a splendid course for which he is bound, and not only +is it wonderfully difficult and wonderfully interesting, but it has a +charm that is given to but few links. It looks more like a good golf +course than almost any other course in the world. Not perhaps when we +first emerge from the club-house, for the first three holes lie upon a +rather flat and marshy piece of ground, but as soon as we get to the +fourth hole it is obvious that the burrows were ordained by providence +for no other than their present purpose. From the high tee to the fifth +hole we get a view of a perfect stretch of golfing country, broken and +undulating with the sandhills on the left and a vast expanse of rushes +on the right, for, in spite of much pruning and uprooting, there are +still plenty of the famous rushes left. It is a sight to make glad the +heart of man, and at the same time to fill him with gloomy doubts as to +whether he is quite good enough to play upon such a course. + +Another great attraction about Westward Ho! is its supreme naturalness. +It looks for all the world as if some golfing adventurer had merely +had to stroll out with a hole-cutter, a bundle of flags, and perhaps +a light roller, and had made the course in less than no time. Many +bunkers have been cut, of course, but with one exception they look +quite inartificial, and do not take away from the wonderful impression +of naturalness made by the greens. Sometimes the hole is on a plateau +or in a hollow, and then it is obvious that Nature and not any human +architect has been at work; no man could have devised those jutting +promontories, those little irregular bays, which are so alluring. +Sometimes, again, the greens lie flat and open, and then they blend +so imperceptibly and harmoniously with the surrounding country that +it is impossible to say where the green ends and "through the green" +begins, for the turf is quite beautiful. Some years ago a pestilence of +weeds seized upon it, and the lies and greens of Westward Ho! were in +grave danger of losing their reputation, but with infinite patience and +trouble the weeds have been removed and the turf is once more itself +again, crisp and smooth, and withal full of life and run. + +It has often been said and written that the feature of the golf at +Westward Ho! is that the ball must be placed with each shot, and it +is, I think, on the whole, a sound criticism. It is often possible to +hit the ball very crooked without being immediately punished, but in +nearly every case the next shot will be an exceedingly difficult one. I +do not know the course quite as well as I could wish, but the seventh +hole comes into my head as a good example. Here it is possible to +pull considerably from the tee without getting anything but a perfect +lie, but then, between the player and the hole, close to the green, +there stretches a phalanx of pot-bunkers, whereas the man who has +played well out to the right over the guiding flag, has an easy and +open approach. At the ninth, again, there is vast prairie into which to +drive, but it is only by keeping well out to the right that we shall +be able to hook the ball round on to that cunning plateau green; that +little pot-bunker in the face of the plateau will most effectually put +the man who has hooked from the tee, into a quandary. + + [Illustration: WESTWARD HO! + _The carry at the fifth tee_] + +It is not perhaps quite justifiable to include wind in a list of the +permanent difficulties of any course, but, as far as my experience +goes, it is always blowing hard at Westward Ho! I am told that when +Braid did his 69, he had a still day, and I certainly believe it, for +the reason that no human man could play such a round in a high wind; it +is almost incredibly good in a dead calm. Personally, however, I have +never found anything but a fine fresh wind blowing, a wind from the +west that causes one to slice woefully on the way out and hook horribly +on the way home. I revisited Westward Ho! after a lamentably long +absence of some ten years, and found the same wind still blowing, and +it brought vividly back to me the recollections of how for one solid +week I had sliced my tee-shots twice daily at the fourth, fifth, sixth, +and seventh holes. + +No course ever had more convincing testimony paid to its difficulties +than did Westward Ho! at that Easter of slicing memory in 1900. There +was a team of the Royal Liverpool Club with Mr. Hilton to lead it--Mr. +Ball and Mr. Graham were not there; there was a strong team of the +Oxford and Cambridge Golfing Society; and there were all the local +champions. Yet out of that field Mr. Horace Hutchinson won the Kashmir +Cup with a score of 179, which represents, unless my arithmetic be at +fault, but one under an average of five strokes a hole. It was in truth +the most desperately difficult golf, and there was but one player who +seemed able to triumph over it. That was the late Mr. J. A. T. Bramston, +then a freshman at Oxford, who for the first time showed the world +in general what a magnificent golfer he was. He played in four team +matches against the most redoubtable opponents, and beat them all. He +beat Mr. Hutchinson by a number of holes so large that it would be +kinder to draw a discreet veil over the details, and Mr. John Low by a +smaller but still very sufficient margin. Mr. Hilton and Mr. Humphrey +Ellis (then at his very best, and how terribly good that best was!) he +defeated by some two or three holes apiece. It was the most brilliant +week in a brilliant and all too short career. + +If Westward Ho! was difficult then--albeit with a gutty ball--how +difficult must it be now, when Mr. Fowler has stretched it and bunkered +it, so that there are some ready to rise up and call him not blessed. +The one alleviation is that the rushes have been cut away in a good +many places, and though bunkers have replaced them, no bunker is so +fatal as a Westward Ho! rush, which is as tall as the golfer himself, +and a great deal stronger. Practically the only criticism now to be +made is in its essence a futile one, namely, that it is a pity that +providence did not see fit to bring the true sandy golfing country up +to the club-house door, instead of interposing that short stretch of +low-lying and rather depressing marshland. + +There the marsh is, however, and the best has undoubtedly been made +of it, so that the first three and the last two holes, if they +have no particular fascination, are thoroughly good and difficult: +more difficult, indeed, than some of the more attractive ones. The +first hole demands two very long, straight shots, for there is a +ditch to catch a slice and only a narrow opening to the green. The +second, again, is a fine, long driving hole, a little 'dog-legged' +in character, and at the third, which is a short one, the green is +beleaguered with pot-bunkers on every side. Yet this third hole shows +that there are limits to what human ingenuity can do, for the hole is +as difficult as can be, and yet of so flat and melancholy an appearance +that one could scarcely feel any warm affection for it. + +By this time we are close to the famous 'Pebble Ridge,' and the real +golfing country begins with the fourth hole, a fine two-shot hole with +a well-guarded green. Next comes the fifth, and in front of the tee +there is a bunker so colossal that the carry looks at first sight to be +impossible. A good long carry it certainly is, but it is not nearly so +appalling as it looks; a well struck ball will career gaily over it, +and, if we feel frightened, we can make the carry a little shorter by +going to the right. A moderate pitch will take us home after the drive, +and this is true not only of the fifth, but of the sixth and seventh +also. + +It is just a little unfortunate that these holes, which have a good +many features in common, should come so close together, for their +doing so imparts just a suspicion of weakness to this part of the +course. In each case there is a stirring tee-shot from a high tee, and +if that be well struck we may then pitch easily home, although the +greens are very well protected, and should have a comfortable string +of fours. There is a spot further on among the hills to the left where +some desire that the green should be placed, and if ever it is done, +not only the sixth but indirectly the fifth and seventh will also be +benefitted. + +The eighth is an interesting little short hole--an extremely difficult +one from the back tee--and after that come two of the finest holes in +golf, the ninth and tenth. + +The ninth green lies in a hollow on the top of a small plateau at the +range of two very full shots from the tee, and the superlative virtue +of the hole consists in a little unobtrusive pot-bunker, before alluded +to, in the face of the hill. We can hardly hope to drive far enough to +carry the bunker in our second, and if we could it would scarcely be +possible to stay on the green. Therefore, we must drive well out to +the right, and hope to reach the green with a subtle hook. The ground +breaks in towards the hole from the right, and so a perfectly played +shot, with just sufficient hook, will keep turning and turning towards +the hole, till it totters with its last gasp down the last slope +and lies close to the hole. Often, of course, it will be out of the +question to get home in two, but the hole will still be interesting, +and our approach shot anything but a simple one. + +The tenth affords a standing example of what a 'dog-legged' hole +should be, and it is here that we come really to close quarters with +the rushes. There is a vast tract of them in front of the tee, and if +we could carry some three hundred and more yards no doubt we could +reach the green in one. Assuming, however, that our driving powers +are more limited, we drive well out to the right, carrying just as +many yards of rushes as we safely dare; then, turning to the left, we +play our second between the rushes on one side and rough country on +the other over a bunker and on to a narrow gully of a green. With a +favourable wind we may hope to get home easily enough with an iron, but +when two really full shots are needed, it is a hole for gods and heroes. + +Next we come to some of the new holes. At the eleventh we drive not +over but down an avenue of rushes, and must then play a shot which is +curiously rare at Westward Ho!--a high, quickly stopping pitch over a +cross-bunker. The twelfth and thirteenth are both good two-shot holes, +the former, with a green most sternly bunkered, and the latter, with a +lovely little plateau green. This plateau looks so eminently natural +that I have once fallen into the error of describing it as such, +thereby doing grave injustice to Mr. Fowler, who built it in the middle +of a flat plain. + +Fourteen is a short hole with a bunker in front and rushes in the +neighbourhood: a good hole, but comparatively ordinary, and certainly +not so attractive as the other short hole, the sixteenth. This is +but the length of a mashie pitch, but what a difficult pitch it is! +When I last played it the wind blew strongly from left to right, and +the inhuman green-keeper had cut the hole in the left-hand corner +of the green. To pitch right up to the hole was to run far over the +green; to be at all short meant a pot-bunker, while a ball with the +least suspicion of cut would tear away to the right and end, in all +probability, in another bunker. It seemed to be almost necessary to +pitch on a particular bump, on a particular hill just short of the +flag--a desperate task. + +I must go back for a minute to praise the fifteenth, a hole which +has the added interest of alternative routes, according as we drive +to right or left of a formidable hedge of furze, and then we come to +a parlous long hole, the seventeenth. There is a ditch guarding the +green, but before we arrive at the approaching stage, we must hit first +of all a good tee-shot, and then a good brassey shot, over a rampart +of terrible appearance. This is the one bunker on the course which is, +from an artistic point of view, unworthy of it. It does indeed look as +if it had been transplanted from some inland park, but do not let us be +too hard on it, for there is much joy in the carrying of it. + +At the last hole we should, with a good second shot, carry the burn and +get a four, but there is a gentleman waiting with a net to fish our +ball out if we fail, and the sight of him is apt to have a horribly +destructive effect. If we go into the burn we shall be reminded of +the fact when we are paying for our caddie, by the demand for the +recognized toll of one penny for its rescue. Finally, no account of +Westward Ho! would be complete without a reference to the tea at +the club-house. There is a particular form of roll cut in half and +liberally plastered with Devonshire cream and jam. Epithets fail me, +and I can only declare that the tea is worthy of the golf. + +From Westward Ho! we may cross the border into Cornwall, a thing +infinitely more easy to do in the imagination than in a train. Cornwall +has several pleasant courses--Newquay, Lelant, St. Enodoc, and Bude, +amongst others. Of these, St. Enodoc is a course of wonderful natural +possibilities, and for that matter there is a rather solitary, +inaccessible piece of land near Hale, not far from Lelant, where might +be made one of _the_ golf courses of the world. So at least it seemed +to me as I wandered once on a Sunday morning amongst its hills and +valleys. + +=Bude= is a place beloved by many summer visitors, and the course is a +good course if there are not too many of them upon it. The turf is of +the seaside order, and there are many hills that must once have been +sandhills, so that perhaps in some earlier geological epoch the course +might have been more exciting than it is now. These hills are now, +for the most part, covered with grass, but the sand appears quickly +enough if a bunker has to be cut. There is one fact which is perhaps +a little sad about Bude, and that is, that though there are the most +magnificent waves to be seen there, the golf course is not the place to +see them from, and we do not really catch sight of them till we come to +the sixteenth hole, which a friend of mine has christened the 'Nursery +Maid' hole. Here we have to play across a road that leads inland from +the beach, and, as we are often finishing our round at precisely the +same moment when the nurserymaids are conducting their young charges +in for lunch, it becomes necessary to wait while an apparently endless +procession wends its way homeward with much purposeless halting of +children and screaming of maids. + +Perhaps the best hole on the outward journey is the third, where there +are really a variety of reasons why we should very likely play a bad +second shot. In the first place, we shall not improbably have rather +a hanging lie from which to play our pitch, and, to make things more +difficult, the green is sloping away from us. Guarding the green is a +fine natural bunker, where the punishment is apt to be very severe, and +beyond it is a sandy road, so that altogether our pitch cannot possibly +be called easy. We can so place our tee-shot as to modify its terrors, +but we can by no means do away with them altogether. + +After the agonies of the third there is a partial relapse into +mildness, but there are good carries from the sixth and seventh tees; +at the latter of the two over a big hill, the face of which has been +cut out and converted into a bunker. The ninth too has a good tee-shot +over another big bunker on to a green which is well protected on +every side. At the tenth a punchbowl green brings hopes of a perhaps +undeserved three, and then for a space we play in and out of some land +that was once a garden or orchard: we can still see where the wall +and the ditch used to run. We enter the garden by means of a good +cleek shot over a big hill thickly covered with bents; leave it at the +twelfth and re-enter it at the thirteenth, a hole not unlike the +eleventh. At the fourteenth we may break the windows in a terrace of +houses by a well executed slice; and at the sixteenth the aforesaid +nurserymaids have to be circumvented. When we have paid for the windows +and buried the nurserymaids, we play quite a short but deceptive iron +shot to the seventeenth, avoiding a bunker and a sandy road, and so +home with a good two-shot hole to end with. + + [Illustration: BUDE + _The 'Nursery Maid' hole_] + +We can go no further west than Cornwall, so let us turn back to +=Burnham=, in Somersetshire. Whenever a golfing conversation turns upon +blind holes, and one party boasts of the giant hills and deep valleys +of any particular course, it is almost certain that another will say, +"Ah, but you should just see Burnham in Somerset." Thus it happens that +we go there for our first visit in the frame of mind of one who sets +out for the Alps after having seen nothing perceptibly higher than +Constitution Hill. + +A first glance at the course assures us that we shall not be +disappointed, for as we take our stand upon the tee we are ringed +round with sandhills, and wherever the first hole may be, this much is +evident, that we shall have to drive the ball over a mountain in order +to get there. Hole succeeds hole, and still the endless range of hills +goes on, and from the summit of each one we get the most lovely views: +to the right a chain of hills, with the Cheddar Gorge in the distance; +to the left the Bristol Channel, with the islands of Steep Home and +Flat Home and an expanse of dim country on the other side. When we +turn for home at the ninth, we still see the sandhills stretching +tumultuously away towards Weston, with their strange fantastic shapes, +and occasionally a narrow, meandering ribbon of turf in between. There +seems to be material for at least one other course, and, indeed, the +difficulty would appear to be not to find bunkers, but to find an open +place where there are not too many of them. + +With this wonderful stretch of country to work upon, it is small wonder +that those who originally designed the course made a number of blind +holes. They would have been hard put to it to do anything else, and +there are, in fact, on the old course, if my reckoning be correct, no +less than six blind one-shot holes, to say nothing of several longer +holes, where the approach shot is played merely at a guide flag waving +upon a hill top. I say the old course because, as I write, Burnham +is in a transition stage, and what may be called the new course is +practically in working order. Thus some of the blind short holes will +disappear for ever, not, perhaps, without leaving a pang of regret +behind them, and in their place come some flatter, and longer, and +more open holes, which are not so characteristic of Burnham, but are +none the worse for that. The hills will be all the more enjoyable when +occasionally contrasted with the plains, and these new holes now give +the course just that extra length that it needed. + + [Illustration: BURNHAM + _Among the sandhills_] + +Now let us play in imagination over the course in its altered +condition, and tee up our ball for the first hole. There is a little +dip between two grassy hills--a horribly narrow one it looks--and that +is where we have to drive. A really fine shot may take us to the edge +of the green, and we may go on our way rejoicing with a three, for +the green is big and good. A drive and a pitch in the country of hills +should suffice for the second, and then come two excellent holes, where +we cease to drive over the hills, and are set the far severer task of +hitting straight down the gully that lies between them. + +"This reminds me very much of Wallasey," I remarked, not without hopes +of having made an interesting and original comment, and my guide +answered in a tone, in which courtesy struggled with weariness, that he +had often heard the same comment made before. Of these two holes the +fourth, which is 'dog-legged,' and gives a well-deserved advantage to +the fearless hitter, is particularly good; and then there comes a most +fascinating hole, the fifth. Two full shots are needed, over some very +broken and billowy country, to reach a green that lies at the bottom of +a deep hollow. This hollow has merits, which are not given to all of +its kind, for its sides are abruptly precipitous and not possessed of +those gentle and flattering slopes, which coax the indifferently struck +ball in the direction of the hole. The sixth, on the other hand, which +is a one-shot hole, has all the vices which the fifth avoids, for here +all roads lead to the flag, and the perfect shot, the paltry slice, and +the too vigorous hook, may all meet together at such a range from the +hole that a two is by no means improbable. + +After being unduly pampered by this sixth hole, we are brought face to +face with the sterner realities of life, and must be prepared to play +a series of long and accurate brassey shots if we are to do anything +better than five for each of the next three holes. Of these three the +eighth and ninth are new, and the only thing to be said against them +is that there is such a family likeness between them that it is a pity +they come immediately together. Nothing but long, straight hitting will +do here along a narrow tongue of grass that is flanked on either side +by sand and bents. + +The tenth deserves a special word, if only for the fact that a huge +sandhill has had its head cut off--this is regarded as quite a minor +operation at Burnham--in order that we may see the flag from the tee. +There it is, a terribly long way off, as it seems, but one really good +shot should reach the green, avoiding some little nests of pot-bunkers +on the way, and there is a three to reduce the average of fives for the +homeward journey. Another three should come at the twelfth, when only +a short pitch is needed, but eleven and thirteen are very likely to be +fives; long, narrow, flat holes, with broken ground and little clumps +of rushes that are intensely business-like. The fourteenth is, I think, +almost the best hole on the course, and certainly the tee-shot is the +most alarming. We can see all our troubles only too clearly here--a +sandy road full of the deepest ruts on the right, called in spirit of +ostentatious levity the 'Old Kent Road,' and on the left a prickly +and seductive hedge. If only there was a mountain in the way at this +hole, we should probably come less frequently to grief. As it is, we +concentrate all our attention on being straight, and are all the more +terribly crooked in consequence. + +The next two holes both need accurate approach shots, and then comes +the last and best of the blind holes, 'Majuba.' There is a steep hill +of a rather curious conical shape to drive over, but the chief of the +dangers lie on the far side, where the green lies in a narrow little +gorge between a bunker on the right, and on the left a hill thickly +covered with bents. This is as good a blind short hole as one could +possibly wish for, and makes a sufficiently critical and exciting +seventeenth, while the new eighteenth should be one of the best last +holes to be seen anywhere. Two raking shots will be wanted, and the +second of them, if it go as straight as an arrow between two flanking +bunkers, will be rewarded by as good a piece of turf as the heart of +the putter can desire. + +Still travelling back in an easterly direction, we come to Broadstone, +in Dorsetshire, not far from Bournemouth. =Broadstone= is, I think, +rather an easy course to remember, which is the same as saying that the +holes have each got very definite characters of their own; at any rate, +although I have seen them but once, I can play them all quite clearly +in my mind's eye, save only the park holes, which, truth to tell, are +not much worth remembering. These park holes are certainly one of the +drawbacks to the course. For six holes we are playing excellent golf in +the right golfing country, with heather, and sand, and everything as it +should be. Then we go through a wicket gate, the whole scene instantly +changes, and, behold! we are playing a hole of the typical inland kind. +There is no heather and no sand, save such as has been transplanted to +fill up a number of conscientious little bunkers, and it is no great +injustice to liken the turf to that of a good smooth field. For six +holes we are playing in the park, and then the tyranny is overpast, +and we emerge once more upon the heather for the rest of the round. In +fact, the course is divided into three slices of six holes each, the +first and last slice being good, and the middle slice being of very +ordinary stuff indeed. + +It is a little hard to understand why these park holes were ever made, +because there is a glorious and apparently illimitable tract of heather +waiting to be played over, only divided from the course by the railway. +I believe there is a scheme afoot to make some further holes upon this +heather, that is now so lamentably wasting its sweetness, and if this +is done, Broadstone should be able to hold its head very high among +inland courses. + +In point of mere looks, it is very hard to beat now, and especially is +there a most lovely view, with Poole Harbour in the distance, from the +fifteenth hole, which is on the highest part of the course. This hole +has likewise a unique feature in the shape of a genuine Roman tumulus, +which at first sight the stranger is apt to attribute to the genius of +Mr. Herbert Fowler, or some other maker of hazards. It stands almost +exactly in the middle of the fairway, and those who drive too straight +must deal with the situation as best they can with their niblicks. + + [Illustration: BROADSTONE + _The fourth hole_] + +A vast deal of trouble and money must have been spent on the putting +greens, which are very smooth and good, and enormously big. They +are, in fact, too big, and a revolutionary leader who should dig +bunkers in the edge of them would be doing the course a service. +I cannot help thinking, also, that rather too many of them are upon +plateaus--not the plateaus of St. Andrews, but the plateau that is cut +out of the side of a slope and has a back wall to cover a multitude of +approaching sins. The bunkering is something of a patchwork, in which +the theories of two opposite schools have been blended. We see, first +of all, the remains of an older civilization in the shape of deep sandy +trenches, with the accompanying ramparts dug right across the course. +Then, as golfing opinion has progressed, or at any rate altered, +there have been added, under Mr. Fowler's guidance, a good number of +pot-bunkers, which seem to have some of the qualities of those we know +and fear at Walton Heath, being easy to get into and hard to get out +of. Besides these, the heather is always there to trap us at the sides +of the course; there are also trees in places, and likewise whins, +while one of the park holes so far demeans itself as to be guarded by +an ordinary hedge. + +The course begins very well with a fine, long, two-shot hole, a little +'dog-legged,' where the second shot will just creep on to the green +between two sentinel bunkers. The second is another fine one, save that +the plateau green has a terribly steep bank; and the third is wholly +admirable, with its cheerful tee-shot from a height, followed by an +iron shot down the middle of an avenue of trees. The fourth I believe +to be likewise an excellent hole, but my attention was distracted from +the hole by the scene I witnessed on the tee. There was an irascible +gentleman and a small caddie; the caddie had made an inefficient +tee, and the irascible gentleman was the possessor of a prolonged and +solemn waggle. The waggle began and the ball fell off; the irascible +gentleman made opprobrious remarks, and put it on the tee again, +while the small caddie showed a dreadful tendency to laugh, which he +restrained with obvious difficulty. This happened really innumerable +times, till both the gentleman and the small boy appeared certain, from +different causes, to die of apoplexy, and, indeed, I had serious fears +for myself. The ball was ultimately despatched into a neighbouring +ditch, and I passed on without having disgraced myself, but remembering +very little about the hole. Both the fifth and sixth are short holes, +though the sixth needs a long, straight shot, and then we pass into the +park, or better still, by a short cut along the high road, which brings +us back to the heathery country and the thirteenth hole--a good short +hole, where a wood to the right of the green has doubtless slain its +tens of thousands. + +At the fourteenth we need a long, straight drive, followed by an iron +shot that must be played firmly and boldly home on to a plateau guarded +in front by a steep and unclimbable bank, and to the right by a pit +of destruction, where the horrors of sand and whins are intermingled. +Of the remaining holes, the seventeenth and eighteenth are both good, +especially the former, which, with its tee-shot among the whins, has an +air of Huntercombe about it. The sixteenth, however, does not seem at +all worthy of its fellows, being, as it appeared to me, as essentially +vicious as a hole can be. The ball is struck--with a measure of +straightness, I admit--to the brow of a hill, then the hill does the +rest. The ball hops, and skips, and jumps down the slope till it +reaches a green built out from the hillside, and, lest it should jump +too far and run over, there is a back wall of wire-netting. This is +the kind of hole--I can think of nothing worse to say of it--that some +people call 'sporting.' + +Having given relief to my pent-up feelings on the subject of that +sixteenth hole, I feel entirely at peace with Broadstone, which has +some really fine holes, and is as pleasant a spot to play golf in--as +breezy, and pretty, and quiet--as anyone could desire. + +Besides Broadstone and the new course at Parkstone, which can be +reached by a very short train journey, Bournemouth has two courses +of its very own, Meyrick Park and Queen's Park. Both are situated +in very pretty spots, amid the fir trees that are always with us at +Bournemouth. =Meyrick Park= is rather a miniature affair, although it +is not so short as when Tom Dunn originally laid it out. Then there +was one green that could be reached with a shortish putt from the tee, +and the most decrepit might hope for a round under eighty. There are +still many threes for the accurate iron player, but there are also one +or two good long holes, particularly the ninth, where we play, as it +were, into the narrow neck of a bottle among the pine-woods. It is not +unamusing, but the serious golfer will rather betake himself to the +newer course at the Boscombe end of the world, =Queen's Park=. Both +these courses belong to the Corporation, and all we have to do is to +pay our shilling and play our round. We get plenty for our money at +Queen's Park, for the course is over 6000 yards in length, which is +certainly not too short for the wants of old gentlemen who totter round +it. + +It is really good golfing country, with big, rolling undulations and +plenty of heather and sand. There are long, narrow gullies running in +between the hills, rather reminiscent of another very pretty course, +Hindhead. For the most part, however, we are not playing along the +gullies, which would have tested our accuracy to the full, but rather +go leaping from one hillside to the other; in fact, if we are virtuous +we are always on a hill, and the valleys represent the infernal +regions--it is only the wicked who go down into them. This is just a +little monotonous, and we might rashly call it a fault in architecture. +There is, however, a reason for it, in that all the best soil is to be +found in the highlands, while the low-lying ground is in that respect +unsatisfactory. + +The course is still comparatively young, and has not yet put forth +any very thick crop of bunkers; but the heather is wiry and tenacious +and the fairway narrow. There are two consecutive holes of a most +paralyzing narrowness--the seventh and eighth--where the ball has to +be steered between a fir wood on the right and a high road, which is +out of bounds, on the left. The third hole, again, is a fine two-shot +hole, and there are plenty more. They are perhaps rather too similar +in character owing to the recurring valleys, but they one and all need +good play. + + [Illustration: QUEEN'S PARK, BOURNEMOUTH + _The eleventh green and twelfth tee_] + +Even among the heathery courses, which are nearly all good to look +upon, Queen's Park takes a very high place for beauty, and it is a joy +to find anything so pretty and peaceful on the very edge of a big town. +Every prospect pleases, and only the old colonel, who is in front of us +and plays fifteen more with his niblick, is entirely vile. + +The reader must now make in imagination the short and generally +innocuous crossing to the Isle of Wight, in order to see one of the +most charming of nine-hole courses at =Bembridge=. The Royal Isle of +Wight Golf Club can boast of a comparatively hoary antiquity, since it +was founded in 1882, and Bembridge was perhaps rather more famous when +there were fewer links in existence. It is still, however, very good +golf, and has many faithful and affectionate friends. The nine holes +dodge in and out after the manner of a cat's cradle, so that Bembridge +has earned a reputation for being one of the most dangerous courses in +the world, and it used to be said that all the local players expected +to be hit once at least in the course of a year. To cry a brisk 'fore' +is to absolve oneself from responsibility, and one may then let fly at +any impeding player with a clear conscience. There is one particularly +perilous spot, where the ball is apt to lie after a straight drive +of moderate length on the way to the first hole. Here the player is +in the midst of a veritable ring of death, since a hot fire may be +opened upon him simultaneously from the seventh, eighth, and ninth +tees, to say nothing of the first tee to his immediate rear. It is +perhaps owing to this exciting characteristic of the course that that +pleasant anachronism, the red coat, is still occasionally to be seen +at Bembridge. + +The course lies upon a spur of land between Bembridge harbour and the +Solent, and one is rowed over to it from the hotel in a boat. Small +things remain absurdly graven on the memory, and I remember nothing +at Bembridge more clearly than the nautical gentleman who used to +row us over a great many years ago, and his expression when Mr. John +Low genially hailed him as "You licensed brigand." Once the stranger +arrives on the course he will be struck, possibly by a ball, and +certainly by the ubiquitous character of a road which winds about the +course like a snake, and is an almost ever-present menace throughout +the round; indeed, it has some say in the matter at every one of the +holes, save only the third and the fifth. Some of its glory--or its +horror, according to the light in which we view the matter--has, +however, departed, for whereas it was once uniformly sandy and soft +and full of the direst ruts, it is now metalled in many places, and so +is naturally much less terrible. Another feature of the course, which +is now less pronounced than it used to be, is the luxuriant growth of +whins. These have become sadly thinner, and one who knows and loves +his Bembridge well tells me that this is in a measure due to the havoc +wrought among them in the early days of the rubber-cored ball, when a +Haskell was infinitely precious and was not to be given up for lost +till the entire neighbourhood had been laid waste with the niblick. + + [Illustration: BEMBRIDGE + _A loop of the 'cat's cradle'_] + +The first hole is one of the best on the course, requiring a +drive, followed by an accurate cleek-shot on a still day, and against +the wind two really fine shots. The whins lie in wait for a sliced +shot, while on the left is the strong shore of the harbour. There is a +delightful account of a round at Bembridge, written years ago by Mr. +Horace Hutchinson, in which the writer pulls his shot at this hole on +to the beach, and ultimately finds his ball lying upon a 'dead and +derelict dog'--a grisly and, I trust, an unusual hazard. The next two +holes are of very similar length, and can both be reached with a drive +and a pitching shot; there are whins and a big bunker to trap the +erring tee-shot, and in both cases the approach has to be played on to +a green which is difficult to the verge of trickiness. + +The fourth is a really good hole, some 460 yards in length, and has a +thoroughly difficult tee-shot, since the most contemptible of golfing +vices will be punished by a large bunker, while the more manly but +still reprehensible pull lands the ball in a grassy pit. The fifth is +a short hole, gifted with no particular merit and a number of whin +bushes, but at the sixth we come to a hole which can hold its own +in the very best of company. It has the virtue of presenting to the +player the choice of two alternative routes, so that, according as +he is long or short, courageous or cautious, he can vary the length +of the hole for himself. If he is a strong and ambitious hitter, +he will go straight for the second green, carrying the road on the +way; the situation is the more poignant because the road is here not +metalled, and failure must entail a measure of disaster. On the other +hand, if the road be safely carried, he is left with a comparatively +short and straightforward second shot, though he has still to cross +a bunker of magnificent proportions that guards the green. The more +careful, on the other hand, push their tee-shot to a spot further +out to the right and short of the road, whence it is still possible +to get home, but only by means of a shot that is both longer and +harder. There are, I believe, many persons of sound judgment who think +that the playing of the tee-shot on to the second green should be +prohibited by law, both because all unnecessary risks of doing murder +are undesirable and also on the ground that the second stroke by the +right-hand line is more difficult and more interesting. Two holes of +the drive and pitch type follow; indeed, a strong hitter may hope, +under very favourable conditions, to get home with his tee-shot; but +at the eighth in particular the drive must be a very straight one, for +there are whins to right and left, and our old enemy the road lurks at +the edge of the green. Finally, the green is a very tricky one, and +altogether discretion at this hole lives fully up to its proverbial +characteristics. + +At the last hole, which calls for a drive and a good full iron-shot, +a four is never to be despised, and with that we start off once more +between the whins and the beach, and pass pale and trembling again +through the fiery zone. The golf at Bembridge is most certainly +attractive, and that it has other and more sterling qualities is shown +by the fine players it has produced, the two Toogoods and Rowland Jones +amongst them. "By their fruits ye shall know them" is true of golf +links as well as of other things. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +EAST ANGLIA. + + +Of the many good courses in East Anglia, I have the tenderest and most +sentimental association with =Felixstowe=, because it was there that +I began to play golf. Till quite lately, however, I had not seen the +course for a very long while, and my recollections of it were those of +a small boy of eight or nine years old. The small boy wore a flannel +shirt, brown holland knickerbockers, and bare legs, from which the +sun had removed nearly all vestiges of skin. He used to dodge in and +out among the crowd, hurriedly playing a hole here and there, and +then waiting for unsympathetic grown-ups in red coats to pass him. +Willy Fernie was the professional there in those days, and in the +zenith of his fame; it was not long before that he had beaten Bob +Ferguson for the championship by holing a long putt for a two at the +last hole at Musselburgh. Occasionally also another great golfer, Mr. +Mure Fergusson, would come down from London to shed the light of his +countenance upon the course and be breathlessly admired by the small +boy from a respectful distance. + +As far as I can remember, my best score then was 70 for one round of +the nine-hole course, and so I always pictured Felixstowe to myself +as possessing longer holes and bunkers infinitely more terrible than +those to be found on any other course. Felixstowe revisited appeared +naturally enough to have shrunk a little; the Martello tower that +stands on the edge of the first green is not quite so tall as I had +pictured it, and some of the holes are quite short, but I still found +it one of the most charming and interesting of courses. I came back +to it on one of the most perfect of winter golfing days, with the +sun shining on the sea and the red roofs of Baudsey in the distance; +it was a day to accentuate every romantic feeling, and it was with a +perceptible thrill that I teed my ball in front of the very modest +bunker, the carrying of which had once been among my wildest dreams. + +As far as I could see, the course was almost exactly the same as +it always had been. One or two of the bunkers had been rather more +abruptly 'faced' with walls of turf; and the little hut, which once +served Fernie for a shop, and whence he used to issue in a white apron +and with a half-made club in his hand, had become a ladies' club-house; +but otherwise the whole nine holes appeared entirely unchanged. Their +names came back to me as I played them--the 'Gate,' the 'Tower,' +'Eastward Ho!' 'Bunker's Hill,' the 'Point'--and the only thing as to +which I felt doubtful was the position of a certain bunker that used +once to be known as 'Morley's Grave,' and was faced, if I remember +rightly, with black timbers that have now vanished. + + [Illustration: FELIXSTOWE + _General view of the course_] + +Looking at the course as impartially as possible, it seems to me now to +possess a striking mixture of very easy and extremely difficult shots. +There are several tee-shots, for instance, where one may hit out in a +very gay and careless spirit and with but the very smallest fear of +disaster; there are other shots, and especially second shots up to the +greens, where the ball has to be played to a very exact spot, and where +no other spot will do. The thing, however, that in a great degree makes +the golf at Felixstowe is the truly magnificent finish. With a breeze +against the player, as it was when I was there, it is hard to conceive +two more splendid and exacting holes than the eighth and ninth, +'Bunker's Hill' and the 'Point,' and--here is one of the advantages of +a nine-hole course--we have to battle with them four times in one day's +golf. At the risk of exaggerating, I will boldly assert that I have +never seen two such fine holes coming consecutively at the end of any +golf course. + +Those two I will keep till their proper place, and we will begin at the +first with a drive over a sandy hollow into open country. A bad slice +may see us labouring upon the seashore, but if we keep well to the left +there is no great difficulty, and a firm pitch over a cross-bunker +should land us safely on a big open green--it is, in fact, a double +green--between the hut and the Martello tower. The second, or 'Gate,' +is a short hole with a very billowy green; indeed, one little valley, +in which the hole is sometimes placed, is shaped for all the world +like a horse trough, and the ball will always come rolling back from +its steep sides, and must almost infallibly end very near the hole. +After this come three thoroughly good two-shot holes--the 'Bank,' the +'Tower,' and 'Bent Hills'--at all three of which the tee-shot is quite +easy, and the second shot both interesting and difficult; at both the +fourth and fifth there is an old-fashioned, honest cross-bunker, which +has to be carried if we are to get near the hole, and if the wind is +adverse and the ground slow, nothing but a really good brassey shot +will suffice. At the sixth--'Eastward Ho!'--a drive and a running shot +with the iron takes us close up to Baudsey Ferry and another Martello +tower, and then we turn homeward for the 'Ridge'--a drive and a short +pitch; at both these holes we should be hoping and trying for threes, +and they are neither of them possessed of any particular difficulty. +So far we may have done very well, and our score should not greatly +exceed an average of fours, but now comes Bunker's Hill, to be played, +as we will imagine, against a fair breeze. The drive is comparatively +simple, but for the second we must hit a very full shot as straight +as an arrow; the green is quite a small one, guarded on the right by +a road and a wilderness of thick grass beyond, while in front and to +the left is sand in abundance. To play short is the act of a coward, +and there will be a certain splendour even in our failure, for it +will be failure on a grand and expensive scale. This is true, even in +a greater degree, of the 'Point,' a hole that must have wrecked the +hopes of many a prospective medal winner; nay, there cannot be such a +thing as a prospective medal winner at Felixstowe till he has played +the second shot to the Point for the second time. There is some chance +of trouble from the tee, for besides the bunker immediately in front, +there is a long tongue of sand that stretches inwards from the road at +such a distance that it may well catch a fairly well-struck ball. We +will assume, however, that we are safely on the crest of the hill, with +the ball neither very far above or below us--this latter a considerable +assumption. The flag is fluttering in the distance close to the first +tee at the range of an absolutely full shot, and on the very narrowest, +most tapering strath imaginable. To the right is a field, which is out +of bounds; to the left is a hollow of broken, sandy country; close +to the hole is the seashore, but that we shall hardly reach against +the wind. Here, if our score be good or our adversary in trouble, we +may play short without much shame, but even so we shall have to play +very short and very accurately, and the third shot will not be without +peril. It is a grand four--something more than a steady five, a likely +six; really a tremendous hole with which to end. Everybody must long to +go back to Felixstowe, solely in order to master the Point thoroughly, +but they will never do it; it is a hole of such transcendent quality +that is must beat us in the end. + +There are four courses in Norfolk, which naturally divide themselves +into two groups of near neighbours, Cromer and Sheringham, Brancaster +and Hunstanton. The two former are of the type which may be not too +respectfully denominated inland-super-mare. The sea is there, and very +nice it looks. The courses are close to the sea--so close that they +spend some of their time, especially at Cromer, in falling into it; +but the turf is not the crisp and sandy turf of the links. It is the +down turf, such as we find at Eastbourne or Brighton, very pleasant +and springy to walk on, but--not quite the right thing. There is a +considerable family likeness between the two courses. Both are situated +on the top of a cliff; both have fine, bold sweeping undulations and +hillsides dotted here and there with gorse bushes, and both are to a +large extent dependent on the artificial bunker. + +=Cromer=, like Felixstowe, makes me feel a very old golfer, because, +when I first played there, there was a little ladies' course along the +edge of the cliff, which has many, many years since toppled peacefully +over into the German Ocean. Later on I saw an excellent seventeenth +hole share the same fate, and I suppose the poor first hole must go the +same way some time. It is particularly sad, because the holes on the +down land near the cliff constitute the most attractive part of the +course. The holes inland, which were added later, are long and well +bunkered, and have doubtless all the Christian virtues, but they are +just a little agricultural and uninspiring. + +It is certainly to the old holes that the memory returns most fondly. +The club-house stands in the bottom of a deep hollow, with hills rising +pretty steeply out of it on three sides, and the first tee-shot has to +be driven straight up a gully between two of them. Then comes a shot +demanding the agility of a chamois and a maximum of local knowledge. +With the left foot a good deal higher than the right we play an +iron-shot into the distance, and if all goes well, shall find the +ball on a green which is walled in by cops and bunkers. If all goes +ill, it is possible that we lose it over the cliff, but for such a +disaster we shall need hooking powers of no mean order. + + [Illustration: CROMER + _The sixteenth tee_] + +The third is another spirited hole, where we plunge down a steep hill +between two lines of bracken to a green in the bottom of the valley. +Then we retire to a vantage point on the left, and fire over the heads +of our immediate successors on the putting green. After some little +dodging about among gorse bushes, we dash down hill again--a very long +way this time--and then play an adroit little pitch up to a plateau +cut out of the face of the neighbouring mountain. Then we leave the +nice down turf to pass for a while on to undisguisedly inland holes, +which stretch away towards Overstrand. As I said before, there is +nothing very thrilling about these holes, but we shall need good, +honest flogging if we are to cope with them successfully. I prefer to +come back to the sixteenth, which, with a strong wind blowing, as it +not infrequently does, takes a great deal of playing. There is more +plunging to be done--down into one valley with precipitous sides, +then up a long hill, and finally on to a green that sits perched on +the crest; there are also cross-bunkers, and there is bracken to the +left and the mighty ocean to the right. Finally, for the last hole we +drop down once more into the deep hollow from which we started our +mountaineering. No more than a nice firm iron-shot is needed, and we +shall be holing out in a comfortable three in front of the club-house; +but the distance is infinitely deceitful, so much so that once--on the +occasion of an exhibition match--Herd taking his brassey, and relying +on the misleading advice of his caddy, carried not only the green, but +the club-house as well. + +From Cromer to Sheringham is but a few miles, and we may play a +morning round on one course and an afternoon round at the other. At +=Sheringham= we shall be called upon to do only a moderate amount of +climbing and some of the very stoutest hitting with the brassey that +has ever been required of us. The theory of the good-length hole has +been carried almost to its ultimate limit there, and unless the wind +be favourable and the ground uncommonly fast, cleeks and driving irons +will be no manner of good to us. Strenuous punching with the brassey is +the order of the day, and even so, unless we have been hitting the ball +as clean as a whistle, we shall say to the long-suffering Mr. Janion, +"Hang it all; you never ought to have put the tee back at the ninth +hole. Braid himself with a Dreadnought could not get there in two." + +Some of these two-shot holes at Sheringham are really of extraordinary +splendour, and give the lie to those who say that with a rubber-cored +ball golf is no longer an athletic exercise. There are the second and +fourth, for example, which run parallel to one another, so that by no +means can we hope to have the wind with us both ways. The fourth needs +a particularly long second, for there is a deep cross-bunker in front +of the green. It is just a little like the last hole at Muirfield, +and we must pick the ball well up--no scuffling and scrambling will +do--and hit a ball with a long, swooping carry that shall fall spent +and lifeless on the green beyond. After this hard work we are let +down more easily, and a drive and a pitch should suffice at the fifth +and sixth. The latter is a very attractive hole, with the most glorious +tee-shot from a high hill, a fine view of the sea, and a fascinating +approach-shot at the end, which we can pitch or run according as seems +best to us. + + [Illustration: SHERINGHAM + _Out of bounds (on the way to the seventh hole)_] + +At the eighth we carry a lifeboat house from the tee--an unique hazard +in my experience--and play a long second shot full of interest and +possible disaster. Then, alas! we have to leave the sea, which we +have been keeping on our right-hand side, and go further inland. All +the home-coming holes are good and difficult, but we miss the sea +terribly. It is so pleasant to have it there as a reminder that we are +really playing on a seaside course and not inland. The finish is a +particularly good one, the seventeenth, especially against a breeze, +being quite one of the best on the course, since there is a railway +which terrifies us into a hook just when we must go straight if we are +to get the requisite distance. + +All this time I have been talking of nothing but long holes, and that +is to do the course an injustice, for there are some very pleasant +short ones. The third is a hole that one might expect to find at +Hoylake--a pitch over the angle of a field, which is bounded by walls +of turf; it is one of the remnants of the old nine-hole course, and +therefore regarded with a jealous and quite justifiable affection. The +greens are excellent throughout the course, and the number of people +who drive off between sunrise and sunset on a summer's day shows that +Sheringham does not suffer from a lack of popularity. + +I should imagine that =Brancaster=, before golf was introduced there, +must have been quite one of the quietest and most rural spots to be +found in England. Even now it is wonderfully peaceful, and has a +distinct charm and character of its own. We get out at Hunstanton +Station, and drive a considerable number of miles along a nice, flat, +dull east country road till we get to the tranquil little village, with +a church and some pleasant trees and an exceedingly comfortable Dormy +House. In front of the village is a stretch of grey-green marsh, and +beyond the marsh is a range of sandhills, and that is where the golf is. + +The great defect of Brancaster used to be the thinness and poverty +of the turf. The holes were splendidly conceived, and the carries +blood-curdling; but the sand was so near the surface that the lies +were none of the best, and the putting greens sometimes of the worst. +I retain a vivid recollection of a visit to Brancaster with a somewhat +irascible friend. He greeted me at the Dormy House door with the +depressing words: + +"It's utterly impossible to play here. We had better take the next +train back." + +"Oh, no," I said cheerfully. "As we have come here, I think we had +better play." + +"Very well," he rejoined. "Of course, you won't mind putting with your +niblick. A mashie is no good at all." + +We stayed, and personally I enjoyed myself; I don't think my +friend did, and certainly the greens were of a surpassing vileness. +All that is changed now, and by some miracle of industry the course +is a velvety carpet, and the greens are as of the greens of Sandwich, +with plenty of good, holding grass upon them. Good greens are all +that Brancaster needed, and now it has got them. Perhaps there is one +more thing needed, and that is a stout man with a spade to dig a few +more bunkers; but that want, I believe, is in course of being or has +actually been remedied by now. + + [Illustration: BRANCASTER + _The ninth green and tenth tee_] + +In the days of the gutty it was most emphatically a driver's course, +since nobody could get over the ground without exceptionally honest +hitting. Even now, when the pampering Haskell has noticeably reduced +its terrors, it is still a driver's course, in the sense that it is one +on which one derives the maximum of sensual pleasure from opening one's +shoulders for a wooden club shot. Moreover, long driving does pay--for +the matter of that, it pays anywhere--because there are several second +shots which are enormously more formidable, when they have to be played +with something like a full shot. There is, for instance, the ninth--a +hole of which men used to speak with the same reverential awe with +which they alluded to the 'Maiden' at Sandwich. Certainly that bunker +in front of the green is sufficiently desperate, and to be compelled +to approach the hole with a brassey may well inspire fear, but a good +drive on a calm day should leave us little more than a firm half-iron +shot to play, and then we can afford to treat the bunker almost with +contempt. The same remark applies in a measure to the fourth hole, and +likewise to the fourteenth. There are beautifully guarded greens and +alarming bunkers, and just the extra yards gained by a good drive make +a world of difference in easiness of the approach. + +Few things are more terrifying than the first hole at Brancaster on a +cold, raw, windy morning, when our wrists are stiff and our beautiful +steely-shafted driver feels like a poker. There is a bunker--really +a very big, deep bunker--right in front of our noses, and stretching +away for a hundred yards or so, and the early morning 'founder' that +would send the ball ricochetting away for miles at the first hole at +Hoylake or St. Andrews brings us to immediate grief. There is nothing +very thrilling about the second shot, and the next two holes, although +good enough, must remain unsung. At the fourth, however, we come to a +thoroughly entertaining hole; the second shot has to be played from a +plain, over a hill, and on to something that one might call a plateau, +were it not that such a term hardly does justice to the curliness of +the green. + +There is a fascinating little pitch over a kind of gorge, and on to +another plateau for the fifth; but the hole on the way out is, I think, +the eighth. There is nothing quite like it anywhere else, as far as I +know. I can think of no better simile to describe it than that of a +man crossing a stream by somewhat imperfect stepping-stones, so that +he has to make a perilous leap from one to the other. There are, as +it were, three tongues or spits of land; on the first is the tee, on +the third is the green, and between them lie strips of marsh, a sandy +waste on which we may get a good lie, but are infinitely more likely +to get a bad one. There is a safe, conservative method of playing the +hole, which consists of a second shot along the second tongue, followed +by a hop over the marsh on to the green. On the other hand, there is +a more dashing policy, whereby we go out for a big shot off the tee, +and try to reach the third tongue in our second stroke. The first plan +is reminiscent of the methods of Allan Robertson, who, we are told, +used to play a certain hole at St. Andrews in three short spoon shots; +the second belongs to the more daring methods of to-day. The wind, of +course, has a great deal to say to our tactics, but, however we play +the hole, we have got to hit all our shots as they should be hit, and +that is as much as to say that the hole is a good one. + +The ninth I have already spoken of, and with an adverse wind it is +undoubtedly a magnificent hole. With the wind behind it becomes much +more commonplace, but wherever the wind, we are not likely to be quite +happy till we have left it behind in a scoring competition. In a match +we may treat it cavalierly enough, and therefore successfully, but in +a medal there is a chance of an overwhelming disaster as a punishment +for just one bad shot. We may carry the bunker itself, and yet with +a pull we may plunge into a hedge of brushwood or on to the seashore +beyond it. We may be just short with our second--a matter of six inches +perhaps--and we shall be battering the bunker's unyielding face till +our card is shattered and wrecked. If a bunker be only big enough and +bad enough, it is undeniably difficult to treat it with just the right +admixture of contempt and respect. + +The first few holes on the way home do not appear to me particularly +thrilling, but when we get to the fourteenth there is a really good +second to be played over a ghastly bunker on to a small well-guarded +green. The sixteenth provides an ingenious example of the plateau hole, +and there is a bunker that takes no denial guarding the home green. + +Brancaster is like one or two other courses--Harlech and Sandwich +are those that come into my mind. The golf is not desperately +difficult golf if one is hitting the ball steadily into the air, but +the occasional top which we may allow ourselves with something like +impunity on more difficult courses spells ruin. If the punishment of +the utterly bad shots was the aim and object of all golf, these three +courses would be the best in the world. I don't think they are any of +them quite as good as that, but they all provide the very jolliest of +golf, and Brancaster is not the least jolly of the three. + + [Illustration: HUNSTANTON + _Under snow_] + +=Hunstanton= is very amusing golf; it is more than that, for it is +for the most part very good golf. Perhaps it is a little unfairly +overshadowed in public estimation by its near neighbour Brancaster, +which is altogether on rather a bigger and grander scale. Brancaster +has the faults which are apt to go with its peculiar virtues; it gives +the player just a little too much rope, an accusation that is not +lightly to be made against Hunstanton. They had a visitation from Braid +at Hunstanton a year or two back, and he left a most destructive +trail of bunkers behind him; wonderfully cunningly devised they are, +so that if we narrowly avoid one we are very likely to be caught +in another or 'covering' bunker, just as we were rejoicing at our +unmerited escape. + +The outgoing nine holes at Hunstanton are nearly all good; the +home-coming half is much more unequal in quality. The last two holes +always made a fine finish, but some of the preceding holes were once of +rather poor quality. Braid's bunkers, however, and the stretching of +tees, and a radical change at the thirteenth have worked wonders, and +nowadays a low score at Hunstanton, though perfectly possible, has to +be earned by sound and accurate golf. + +We begin just as at Brancaster, with a most terrifying bunker to carry. +It is a magnificent bunker and a very good one-shot hole, but these +caverns in front of the nervous starter do most sadly retard progress +on a crowded green. The second and third are really fine holes both +of them, especially the second, which wants two good shots and a +pitch, with accurate going all the way. The fifth demands two of the +best shots to carry a cop in front of the green; there is, moreover, +a chance of slicing into the river Hun. At the sixth we play a blind +pitch into a kind of amphitheatre among sandhills--a hole which is +picturesque but fluky; but at the eighth we come to a really fine +hole--the best on the course--with a fine slashing second over the +corner of a field that is out of bounds. It is a hole where we must +decide on our own policy on the tee, and either go as close as may +be to the field to begin with or else reluctantly put aside all our +noblest ideals and play pawkily to the left for a five. + +On the way home we have at the tenth an excellent and teasing tee-shot +along one of those narrow necks which every 'architect' must long for, +and a good eleventh as well. Then the course suffers rather a relapse, +but the seventeenth and eighteenth are worth much fine gold. Certainly +there is an element of luck about the lie off the tee-shot at the +seventeenth, but if only we are lucky and the wind be not too strong +against us, we can hit out manfully, and the ball will sail away over +a hill and a prodigious big bunker in its face on to a nice big green. +The last is even better, with its narrow and billowy green, guarded by +a bunker in front, another to the right, and a horrid hard road to the +left. If I add that I once did these two holes in consecutive threes +it is not in a spirit of boasting, but merely to recall a sensation of +exquisite bliss. Hunstanton is very good golf of the most genuine and +sandy kind. If it is not in the highest class, it is at least agreeably +near to it. + + [Illustration: SKEGNESS + _The second shot at the ninth hole_] + +Now leaving Norfolk behind, we ought to see one course in Lincolnshire, +that of the Seacroft Club at Skegness. =Skegness=, as is well known +to everyone from Mr. Hassall's delightful poster, is 'so bracing,' +and I would not for the world dispute the fact. I had, however, the +misfortune to visit it on one of the most stifling days in July, when +the whole flat expanse of Lincolnshire fen lay panting under a hot +haze, and our progress round the links was quite unlike that of the +gentleman depicted by Mr. Hassall, skimming buoyantly over the ground +with a cooling sea breeze behind him. If, therefore, I have +pleasant recollections of Skegness, it must surely be a good course; +and so it is, lacking, I think, only one thing, a wind that blows from +two places at once. It is one of those courses that runs, roughly +speaking, straight out and home, and the nine holes that we play with +the wind in our face we think really beautiful, while with the wind +behind us we are just a little bit disappointed. This is, of course, +only the impression of a casual visitor; and, moreover, it must often +happen that wind is neither for us nor against us, but blows straight +across the course. Then the golf must be really difficult, for the +fairway is uniformly narrow and the rough wonderfully tenacious; +indeed, I have only met with more clinging rough at Le Touquet, where +is to be found a diabolical undergrowth, which the caddies call by the +name of 'les epines,' and the golfers by a variety of epithets--all of +them unprintable. + +The course begins admirably with two narrow and difficult holes, where +it is equally easy to heel the ball out of bounds or to hook it into +the rough before described. The third is blind but exciting--a drive +on to the top of a hog-backed ridge, followed by a little pitch over +the brow of the hill on to a green in a dell. Of the other outgoing +holes, the two best are perhaps those called respectively 'Spion Kop' +and 'Gibraltar,' and of these 'Gibraltar' is the best. Here there is +a really fine second shot to be played over a whole range of sandy +mountains, and if, perhaps with some mistaken idea of making the ball +rise quickly, we impart any cut to the ball, it sails away out of +bounds, and we are left with the sandy mountains still uncrossed. + +'Gibraltar' is certainly the most memorable hole on the way out, and +'Sea View' strikes equal terror into the soul on the homeward journey. +Here the hole stands on a small plateau, and in front is a big bunker +in the face of the hill. With a wind behind we may hope to get home +with a high, hard hit with an iron, but on a still day it must need the +very best of brassey shots, and a shot, moreover, that shall soar high +in the air and then fall comparatively straight to earth. Beyond the +green is a waste of sand, and the hole lives up to its name, for there +is a view of a big stretch of sea. The sixteenth is a 'dog-legged' +hole that makes some demand upon our cunning, and we must hit long and +straight along the bottom of a gully for the last two holes, so that +the course ends as it began, very well. + +Given straight hitting from the tee, we should return something better +than a respectable score, but the demand for straightness is great, +and, indeed, the constant avenues of rough remind one rather of the +best of modern inland courses. It is genuine seaside golf, however, +with good turf and plenty of sand, and the sea itself, although +we do not often see it. Neither do we see--and this is an unmixed +blessing--the teeming swarms of trippers that come to Skegness to be +braced. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +THE COURSES OF CHESHIRE AND LANCASHIRE. + + +Of all the links in the north of England, =Hoylake= comes first on +account of its historic traditions, the eminence of its golfing sons, +and, as I think at least, its own intrinsic merits. At Hoylake the +golfing pilgrim is emphatically on classic ground. As he steps out +of the train that has brought him from Liverpool he will gaze with +awe-struck eyes upon surroundings in which the irreverent might see +nothing out of the ordinary. + +"Perhaps it was here," he will muse, "that the youthful Johnny Ball +once toddled to school, his satchel on his back. The infant Hilton may +have been wheeled by his nurse upon these very paving stones. Nay, +Jack Graham may even now, perchance, be seen at this identical station +at which I have just got out of my train taking his train to go into +Liverpool every morning." + +By the time that these remarkable thoughts have flashed like lightning +through his mind, the pilgrim will find himself wandering down a +straight, dusty, unattractive road, which is flanked by villas of a +comfortable though prosaic appearance, and wondering where on earth +this famous links can possibly be. Then he will discover that what he +thought was another and particularly gorgeous villa was really the +Royal Liverpool Club-house, and dashing upstairs, he will see out of +the smoking-room window the famous links of Hoylake spread out beneath +him. + +On a first view they are not imposing. All that appears is a vast +expanse cut up into squares and strips by certain cops or banks, partly +walled in by roads and houses, with a range of sandhills in the far +distance. Yet this place of dull and rather mean appearance is one +of the most interesting and most difficult courses in the world, and +pre-eminently one which is regarded with affection by all who know it +well. + + [Illustration: HOYLAKE (1) + _Looking out to Hilbre from the ninth tee_] + +That the course is either interesting or difficult all will not agree, +but those who disagree most loudly with the statement will, I venture +to assert, usually be found to be the worst of players. "I call Hoylake +a rotten course: there are no bunkers to get over; the fellow I was +playing with topped all his tee-shots and never got into trouble." +Such is a verdict often heard after a first visit to Hoylake. The +critic should then further be asked his opinion of St. Andrews, and +it will generally be found that he classes St. Andrews and Hoylake +together as the two worst courses he has ever seen. He may forthwith +be treated with silent contempt, and his opinions may be ignored. He +has effectually written himself down an ass. What this person says +is absolutely true; there are very few bunkers in front of the +tee at Hoylake, and the man who tops his tee-shot does escape condign +punishment more often than he would on a golf course designed on +principles of perfect equity. Those short drives, however, though they +do not plunge the culprit waist high in sand, bring their own penalty +by making it practically impossible for him to reach the green in the +right number of shots. Some of the holes that we are supposed to reach +in two shots are desperately long, and with a top from the tee all +hope is straightway gone. At least if Hoylake does not demand that the +ball should always be hit into the air--a matter that is not after all +of very great importance among the reasonably competent--it does make +very exacting demands in the matter of length and straightness. How +fiendishly narrow is the third hole, with that fatal cop on the left +and rushes on the right. How we do have to press if we are to hit far +enough at those last five holes--'Field,' 'Lake,' 'Dun,' 'Royal,' and +the home hole; what splendid names they have, and what splendid finish +they provide for a match--surely the most exhausting finish to be found +on any links in the world. + +Then, too, there is always a rich reward at Hoylake for the man who +can play his approaches really straight and with a firm, sure touch. +There are some courses where the greens are always helping us and the +ball is always running to the hole. We may play a most indifferent +iron shot on to the outskirts of the green, and behold! a kindly slope +has intervened on our behalf, and the ball finishes within comfortable +putting range. Hoylake is emphatically not one of those easy and +enervating places; there the greens are always fighting against the +player, and he must hold his shot straight on the pin from start to +finish. If he does not, the chances are that the ball will take a +vindictive leap, and his next shot will still come under the category +of approaching. There is none of your smug smoothness and trimness +about Hoylake; it is rather hard and bare and bumpy, and needs a man +to conquer it. The game, as I have said, is not made easy for us, +and this is true--a little too true, alas!--of the putting greens. +Sometimes they are good enough, though hardly ever easy; but very +often, unless I have been exceptionally unfortunate in my experience, +they are rather rough and lumpy, and make the holing of short putts a +very anxious business. Time was when the greens were the particular +pride of the course, and Mr. Hutchinson wrote in the Badminton Library +that "The links of Hoylake are associated, in the mind of every golfer +who has played upon them, with the most perfect putting greens in all +the world." Since that eulogy was written the building of houses and +the consequent drainage operations are said to have drained some subtle +and beautiful quality out of the greens, and they may now be said to +form the weakness rather than the strength of the course. Even now, +however, they are not so rough as they often look, and the man who has +a delicate and withal a fearless touch of his putter will still be +rewarded at Hoylake. + +One more good quality of the holes at Hoylake deserves a word of +mention; it has been called by Mr. Low their 'indestructibleness.' +By this most useful, if inelegant, word, he means that they are good +whether played with or against the wind, and that is very high praise, +particularly as there are few courses on which a change of wind more +completely alters the character of each individual hole. Blessed indeed +is the hole which can keep its good character whichever way the wind is +blowing. + +The first hole is so good and difficult that it seems almost a pity +that we are compelled to play it before we have got thoroughly into +our stride. Whatever the wind, it is our duty to begin with a long, +straight drive between the club-house railings on the left and a sandy +ditch and cop on the right. At about the distance of a good drive from +the tee the cop turns at a right angle to the right, and we must follow +the cop, skirting it as near as we dare. The wind cannot be either +with or against us for both our first and second shots, and we shall +have a fine opportunity of showing our skill in the use of it. If it +be blowing strongly against us on the tee we shall hardly get home in +two, and our second must needs be played over the corner of the cop +and the out-of-bounds region that lies within it. If it blow behind us +we shall be well clear of the cop with our drive, and may hope to be +home with a low, running second with an iron club, but it must be a +parlous straight one. Altogether there are few finer holes to be found +anywhere, and it would always find a place in my eclectic eighteen +holes. + +Passing over the second--good hole though it be--we come to an +unpleasantly narrow one--the third or 'Long' hole. If the wind is +blowing freshly behind us we may aspire to reach the green in two very +long and very straight shots, but as a rule we shall require two +drives and a pitch. Along the left-hand side runs a sandy ditch beneath +a turf wall with absolutely precipitous sides, and woe betide the man +whose ball lies tucked up hard under the face of that wall; he will be +lucky if he can get it out backwards, forwards, or at all. I saw Mr. +John Ball extricate himself from this predicament by an extraordinary +stroke, or so it seemed to me. He stood on the top of the wall, far out +of reach of the ball, then leaped down into the ditch, hitting as he +jumped, and out came the ball most gallantly; it needs something more +than local knowledge to play such a shot as this. + +The fourth is a short hole--the 'Cop' by name, so called from yet +another bank that guards it. Then follow two good two-shot holes, of +which the sixth, or 'Briars,' has the distinction of having been halved +in nine in the final of an amateur championship. The tee-shot must be +struck straight and true over the angle of hedge, while anything in +the nature of an attempt to sneak round by the right entails a prickly +death among the whins. Safely over the hedge, we have yet two sandy +trenches to carry, and the green is guarded by rushes and pot-bunkers, +so that if nine be an excessive total, four is a comparatively small +one. Next comes one of the finest short holes in the world, 'The +Dowie,' which is not only very good, but really unique. There is a +narrow triangular green, guarded on the right by some straggling rushes +and on the left by an out-of-bounds field and a cop; there is likewise +a pot-bunker in front. To hit quite straight at this hole is the feat +of a hero, for let the ball be ever so slightly pulled, and we +shall infallibly be left playing our second shot from the tee. Nearly +everybody slices at the Dowie out of pure fright, and is left with a +tricky little running up shot on to the green. The perfect shot starts +out of the right, just to show that it has no intention of going out of +bounds, and then swings round with a delicious hook, struggles through +the little rushy hollow, and so home on the green; it is a shot to +dream of, but alas! seldom to play. + + [Illustration: HOYLAKE (2) + _The twelfth tee_] + +A long and reasonably narrow eighth hole takes us to the confines of +West Kirby, and we turn our faces once more towards the club-house in +the far distance. Two perfect shots that turn neither to the right nor +to the left but keep down a narrow valley between two ranges of hills +may see us safely on the ninth green, and we have reached the turn +possibly, but by no means probably, in some 38 shots. The tenth is +another longish hole of no particular features, but the eleventh hole +consists of one big feature--the mighty Alps over which we must hit our +very best shot if we are to gain a three. In the Amateur Championship +of 1898 this hole was done in one in a rather singular way, the ball +going full pitch into the bottom of the hole and staying there. The +'Hilbre' we may hope to reach with a drive and a cunning run up, and +then we have a chance of another three at the 'Rushes.' Here we have +nothing to do but play quite a short pitch over a cross-bunker and a +little wilderness of rushes, but the hole is very close to the bunker, +and the green is hard and full of unkind kicks, and a three is not to +be despised. This is undoubtedly the last chance of a three we shall +have, for from now onwards to the finish it will not be surprising +if we have an uninterrupted run of fives. First comes the 'Field,' +where the hole is most cunningly guarded by a triangle of rushes. A +very respectable five is the 'Field,' and so is the 'Lake,' even if we +go as straight as a die for the hole through 'Johnny Ball's Gap.' So +again is the 'Dun,' where for two shots we have to keep clear of our +old enemies, the cop and the sandy ditch, before playing a deft little +pitch over a cross-bunker. At the 'Royal' we may hope for a four, since +we have a fine wide expanse for the tee-shot, and a really accurate +iron-shot should do the rest. There is plenty of room at the last hole +again, but we shall need two absolutely clean-hit shots if we are to +get home, and once more there is a cross-bunker in front of the green, +at just such a distance from the hole that even if we get out in one we +are likely to take three putts. And so at last we have finished those +last five strenuous holes, and may go to the particularly excellent +lunch provided by the Royal Liverpool Golf Club. They are not much to +look at, those last five, but they are horribly good golf, and if you +are only all square at the thirteenth with one of the Hoylake champions +your chances of ultimate success are exceedingly small. As I write +about Hoylake I can see it all with a misty and sentimental eye. There +are the white railings in front of the club; and Mr. Janion is standing +in the porch in benignant contemplation, and Mr. Ball is wandering anon +from the seventeenth green with his red-topped stockings, chipping +the ball along with his iron as he goes; and I, knowing that somebody +is going to beat me by seven up and six to play, yet long to be back +there again. + + * * * * * + +Next in fame to Hoylake comes =Formby=, and there are many to be +found who prefer it to the Cheshire course, though personally I do +not consider their judgment a sound one. Formby is at any rate a most +delightful course, and with that let us leave comparisons alone. + +There is a particularly clear-cut distinction between the two parts +of the course, which is in that respect a little like Sandwich. There +is the country of the plains, on which the round begins and ends, and +there is the country of hills wherein are all the middle holes. There +is no doubt which are the prettier and more popular; the sand-hills +would come out easily first in a general poll, but I have an uneasy +sort of suspicion that the flat holes supply perhaps a better test of +golf. There are, for instance, few better seventeenth holes than that +which is to be found at Formby; just at the most crucial part of a +hard-fought match it is as long and narrow and nerve-wracking as can +be. Yet it is as flat as a pancake, and might from its appearance be +a great many miles away from the sea. Still it is impossible to get +over its intrinsic merits. There is the tee and there is the hole in +an exact straight line, distant about two full shots away, and there +is literally nothing in the way. That sounds terribly dull, but there +would be nothing in the way if we drove down a Roman road, and yet it +would be far from easy to keep on the course. To the right is a dreary +tract of out-of-bounds, which is, to the morbid imagination, white +with the countless balls that have been driven there. To the left is a +narrow little ditch, and beyond the ditch rough and tussocky grass. To +hit the tee-shot with reasonable accuracy ought not to be beyond our +powers, but the second shot is undeniably a beast. We are undecided +whether to aim out to the right and try for a hook or to the left for +a slice, since for some reason it is horribly difficult to play a +perfectly straightforward shot down a straightforward road of turf. +We shuffle with our feet, become thoroughly uncomfortable, and--the +precise form of disaster must be left to individual fancy. + +The sixteenth, at which we traverse the same flattish country, is +no bad hole either; nor are the first two or three, where we drive +straight ahead, with plenty of cops and bunkers to keep us on the +straight and narrow path. In old days there used to be an attractive +tee-shot to the fourth hole over the corner of a group of trees, +which seemed to be for ever heeling over under the force of the wind +and mesmerically luring the slicer to his fate. That is changed now, +however, and we go straight on to the old fifth green, and make +our entry into the mountainous country rather earlier. Our first +introduction to the hills comes at the old seventh, where there is +a blind second shot into a big crater--a type of hole not now so +favourably looked upon as it was once. Then comes a hole which we shall +always remember, along an ominous gorge with frowning hills on either +side of us. There is something romantic and mysterious about it, and if +we retained the imagination of our childhood we should inevitably play +at being an invading army, with the enemy's sharp-shooters hidden +in crevices among the hills. + + [Illustration: FORMBY + _The old seventh green_] + +After this comes the new country which has lately been taken in, +and there are some fine two-shot holes--so fine that they will be +three-shot holes for some of us--and some that are less strikingly +excellent. We continue to dodge about among the great hills, roughly +speaking, until we reach the fifteenth hole, but before that we shall +have played another and particularly excellent hole along a narrow +gully--the thirteenth. The last four holes lie on flatter country, +although there is still every opportunity of getting into sand, and +we finish with a good two-shot hole on to a fine big green in front +of a fine big club-house. The greens are beautifully green; they are +likewise very true and keen enough, without ever being bare and hard. +The lies, too, are excellent, and it is altogether one of those courses +where the player's fate is entirely in his own hands. If he plays well +everything will conspire to help him on his way, but he has got to play +really well--good, sterling, honest golf: there is no mistake about +that at Formby. + + * * * * * + +=Wallasey=, where we come back to Cheshire again, is another course of +mighty hills: indeed I do not think I have ever seen a course on which +the contour of the hills and valleys was so infinitely picturesque. +At several of the holes we play, or try to play, in the trough of two +great waves of sand that tower on either side of us, and feel rather +overpowered by the vastness of our surroundings. There was a time when +Wallasey, though amusing enough, was too short and blind and tricky +to be taken very seriously, but all that is changed now, and, with the +addition of heaven knows how many hundreds of yards, the course is a +long and punishing one. It is still perhaps a little too blind for +those of very rigid and spartan views, but whatever the exact place +which may be assigned to it on the day of judgment--and this sort of +question will never be settled at any earlier date--it is undoubtedly +good golf. + + [Illustration: WALLASEY + _The fifth green_] + +Certainly the first hole is the blindest of the blind. Wallop the +first, and the ball vanishes over a hill; wallop the second--this time +with a mashie--and it flies over another on to the green. This is not +the best of beginnings, but the second has a much more interesting +tee-shot, where we try to hug a bank covered with a particularly +pestilent form of bush, and then at the third we are in the country +of hills and valleys. The view at the third, as we look down the long +winding gully that leads to the hole, is one of the most charming in +golf; and the fifth is another wonderfully picturesque hole, with a +terrifying second shot. After the seventh we leave the sandhills for +a while, and play backwards and forwards for a spell along some flat +holes that seem to radiate from one solitary house that stands alone +in the middle of the course. They are very good holes some of them, +and the ninth, eleventh, and thirteenth especially need long, straight +hitting, but the last four or five holes take us back to the more +characteristic country, and the finish comes in a blaze of glorious +sandhills. A rather blind, and to the stranger a puzzling, tee-shot +should land us safely on the table-land, and then far away and +rather below us to the right we see the promised land, the seventeenth +green, and with a good shot the ball will swoop away for an apparently +incredible distance, and finish by the hole side. The eighteenth, too, +is full of charm, and when we have successfully carried the spur of a +big hill and played our second over some more bold and broken ground, +we can hole out in a deep hollow, with the eyes of the whole club +watching us from above as they sit in front of the club-house. It is +quite likely that we have played very far from well, since this country +of mountains and deep dells is always difficult for the stranger, and +our host has probably ways and means of reaching the green that we are +apt to regard as ways of darkness, but we shall have found the golf +infinitely pleasant and exhilarating. + + * * * * * + +There are other Liverpool courses, Leasowe, Blundellsands, Hesketh, +Birkdale, and Southport, which are fully worthy of more extended +notice, but we must be getting away from Liverpool to the links where +the man from Manchester often plays his weekly golf--the course of the +Lytham and St. Anne's Club. =St Anne's= is not far from Blackpool, +where there is incidentally quite a good course, and after the day's +golf we can, if we have sufficient energy, go and dance in the largest +dancing hall in the world or climb the highest tower in the world, or, +in short, consult the advertisements of Blackpool. This, however, is +not business, and we have to play serious golf at St. Anne's, for the +opposition is very good and very keen, as the members of the Oxford +and Cambridge Golfing Society have discovered to their cost. + + [Illustration: LYTHAM AND ST. ANNE'S + _The seventh tee_] + +As compared with Hoylake, St. Anne's is very smooth and trim, and just +a little artificial. If the day is calm and we are hitting fairly +straight, the golf seems rather easy than otherwise; and yet we must +never allow ourselves to think so too pronouncedly, or we shall +straightway find it becoming unpleasantly difficult. If there is a +strong wind blowing we shall not even be tempted to think it easy, for +there is plenty of rough grass on either side, and the hitting of a +good straight tee-shot, which seemed so simple and made the holes seem +simple, will be a cause of considerable anxiety. Whatever the weather +and the wind, there is one thing that we ought always to do well at St. +Anne's, and that is putt, for the greens are as good and true as any in +the world, and can even challenge comparison with those in the Old Deer +Park. Given an opponent who is a really fine putter--Mr. Lassen or some +other inhuman fiend--and till he has played two more while our ball +lies stone dead we can never feel quite happy; the truly-struck putt +comes on and on over that wonderfully smooth turf and flops into the +hole with a sickening little thud, and there are we left gasping and +robbed of our prey. There is no kind of excuse for bad putting at St. +Anne's, and in fine weather there is indeed little excuse for any form +of error, for the lies are uniformly good and the stances uniformly +smooth, save perhaps at two holes, where the land lies in ridges and +furrows, and we may need a measure of skill to persuade the ball to +fly from the hanging sides of a ridge. The trouble, besides +rough grass and pot-bunkers, consists of sandhills, both natural and +artificial. To build an artificial sandhill is not a light task, and +it is characteristic of the whole-hearted enthusiasm of the golfers of +St. Anne's that they have raised several of these terrifying monuments +of industry. They are still in their infancy, and look just a little +new and raw, but they will destroy the golfer's card and temper just as +effectively as those that have stood from time immemorial. They are, +moreover, covered with bent grass, which will no doubt increase and +multiply to the greater glory of the hills and ruination of the golfer. + +The course begins with a short hole of no particularly coruscating +virtues, but the second and third are both good, and the railway on the +right scares us into a hook: and the hook takes us into a bunker, and +the bunker loses us the hole. The fourth has a very pretty green, well +and naturally guarded by hummocks; and Nature has been very kind again +at the sixth, where there is a deep crater, to be comfortably reached +in two good shots. Indeed these natural craters are rather a feature of +the course, for there is something of the same kind to be found at the +seventh, and a very perfect example at the fourteenth. The worst that +is to be said against them is that they give some encouragement to a +second shot off the back-wall, but the attendant risks are very great, +and the back-wall shot that just misses the mark brings with it a peck +of troubles. + +The ninth has a fine tee-shot and a long, difficult, and blind second +shot, in which the stranger always finds that he has aimed at the wrong +chimney pot in a row of houses at Ansdell. The tenth has a hut for +drinks and a tee-shot that fully justifies such an indulgence; while +at the eleventh we must go on driving and driving till we reach the +green, which, contrary to our expectations, we shall ultimately do. +The thirteenth is of an unattractive and inlandish appearance, but is +as good a hole as is to be found on the course, and needs the very +straightest of play to avoid a network of bunkers. Out of a puddle in +the bottom of one of these bunkers I once holed a pitch, and have never +played the hole so well either before or since. Then comes the crater +hole, the fourteenth before mentioned; and after that we may hope to +get home with a three and three fours, but the four at the seventeenth +is not a particularly easy one, and there is always a chance of too +strong an approach being bunkered in a flower bed beyond the home +green, to the great amusement of the spectators in the smoking-room +window. + +There is nowhere in the golfing world where keener opponents and more +friendly hosts are to be found than in the counties of Lancashire and +Cheshire, and I cannot help saying that I, along with my brothers of +the Oxford and Cambridge Golfing Society, owe them a very deep debt of +gratitude. + + [Illustration: TRAFFORD PARK + _The club-house from the eighteenth tee_] + +Before finally quitting Lancashire, we must look at one inland course, +namely, =Trafford Park=, which may be accepted as the foremost among +the purely Manchester courses. I was interested and surprised to find, +in reading a little history of the Manchester Golf Club, that golf was +played in Manchester at a date so utterly prehistoric as 1818. +However, a few enthusiasts really did play upon Kersal Moor at that +remote period, and they called themselves the Manchester Golf Club. +They had no imitators till sixty-four years later, when Mr. Macalister +founded the Manchester St. Andrews Golf Club that played in Manley +Park. The birth of this second club happened almost simultaneously with +the death of the first. Kersal Moor, for all its solitary and savage +name, fell a prey to the builder, and in 1883 the original Manchester +Golf Club ceased to exist, and its name was assumed by the Manley Park +Club. Since then, it should be added, it has, happily, come to life +again under the title of the Old Manchester Golf Club. + +Meanwhile, Manley Park came to share the fate of Kersal Moor, and a +move was made to Trafford Park, which has now been the home of the +Manchester Golf Club from 1893 to the present time. It has flourished +ever since, and has played a prominent part in the golfing life of +Manchester. + +Trafford Park is a good course in spite of the most unpromising +surroundings. All round the fine old park, formerly the home of the de +Traffords, manufactories now raise their hideous heads, while along one +side runs the Manchester Ship Canal, and the man who desires an excuse +for a bad shot may allege that an ocean liner insisted on coming behind +him just as he was playing. These are certainly not recommendations, +but there are compensating advantages in good turf, good greens, good +length holes, and the old mansion-house, which has been converted into +one of the most comfortable and palatial of club-houses. + +The turf is excellent. It is certainly not muddy, nor is it precisely +sandy. One who has played much golf at Trafford describes it as +'peaty,' and I will leave it at that. The hazards are of the usual +park description: trees, artificial bunkers, and at one hole a pond, +while the ground is pleasantly undulating for the first nine holes, and +rather too flat for the second. + +We begin by driving downhill, which is always a comforting thing to +do, although we ought to have warmed to our work a little in order to +get full value out of a downhill drive. This takes us into the lower +ground, and after a moderate first we have a really good two-shot +hole for the second; well over four hundred yards long, and with a +thoroughly interesting second shot on to a raised green. The third, +which is a one-shot hole--there are four of these in all--takes us up a +hill again, and of the holes that follow the fourth and the seventh are +especially good, the former demanding a long, straight, iron shot on to +a particularly well bunkered green. + +Coming home the course suffers a little, as I said, from being too +flat, and, so as with many of these park courses, it is rather hard to +pick out any one hole from among its fellows. Good sound golf will be +repaid, and so will the golf that is unsound and bad, but neither the +rewards nor the punishments are of a thrilling or heroic order. There +is one hole, however, that calls for special mention, the sixteenth, +where two really fine shots are needed to reach the green, and the +only thing to be said against the hole is that it would be better still +if it were number seventeen instead; not that the present seventeenth +is bad, but that the sixteenth is so eminently well adapted to occupy +that critical and important position. Gaudin has been round the course +in 65, but the intending visitor will be disappointed if he imagines +that he himself will necessarily do a particularly low score on that +account. In these days of expanded courses--against which one begins to +see some signs of a revolt--Trafford Park is not vastly long, but it +calls for good, honest golf for all that. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +YORKSHIRE AND THE MIDLANDS. + + +With an open mind and a golfing friend I started in the month of March +on a short pilgrimage to the courses of Yorkshire and the Midlands. +Two rounds a day on a new course, to be followed by some hours of +travelling, constitute a strenuous life for the ordinary golfer, +although no doubt it is mere child's play to the great 'showmen' of +golf, as Mr. Croome has christened them. On my remarking on this point +to my companion that we now knew what it must feel like to be Braid or +Taylor, he replied that personally he did not feel in the very least +like them, and that he did not think my play was any justification for +my doing so either. + + [Illustration: GANTON + _The carry at the eighteenth tee_] + +In spite of this slight unpleasantness, we had a most agreeable +pilgrimage, which was begun by taking a train to Scarborough, in order +to play at Ganton. =Ganton= sprang into fame as being the home course +of Harry Vardon. It was there that he played the second half of his +great match with Willy Park, and having gained a small but serviceable +lead at North Berwick, played one of his most overpowering games +on his own course, and never gave his adversary even the faintest of +chances. Some of the glamour of Harry Vardon still hangs round Ganton, +although he has left it now for some years, and has a worthy successor +in Edward Ray, the hitter of mighty drives and smoker of many pipes. +The course has been a good deal altered since Vardon's days, for with +the advent of the Haskell, it suffered the common lot and became rather +too short. Now it has been stretched and rearranged and pretty severely +bunkered; most noteworthy of all, the hole of which the visitor to +Ganton formerly carried away the most vivid impression, has been +altered out of recognition. This is the present twelfth hole, where in +old days the tee-shot consisted of a mashie pitch, played mountains +high into the air in order to clear the tops of a row of tall trees. +Now the trees have been ruthlessly cut down, and we have a one-shot +hole, demanding not a mashie but a brassey shot, very good and very +orthodox. No doubt the old hole was a bad one, and the new one is good; +nevertheless there must have been some bitter regrets over the felling +of the trees. Unless we are utterly consumed with a fire of reforming +zeal, we can well afford to drop a tear over the disappearance of +these holes--once the pride and joy of their creators, now destroyed +or altered beyond recognition. The once-famous short holes are meeting +with the same fate all over the country. The 'Maiden,' long since shorn +of much of its glory, is undergoing yet another metamorphosis, and it +is even rumoured that some day it will be a blind hole no longer. The +'Sandy Parlour' has even been threatened, and indeed it may be laid +down that if the golfers of a dozen years ago praised a hole as being +'sporting,' that hole will be the first marked down for the reformer's +attack. It is all very splendid no doubt, but it is also just a little +bit sad. + +So much for the twelfth hole of blessed memory; and now we must get +back to the course in general. To begin with, Ganton is a course of +sand and fir trees and gorse bushes. It is a little like Woking, +a little like Worplesdon; and, generally speaking, it is the type +of course that one would expect to find in Surrey rather than in +Yorkshire. Needless to say, however, it has plenty of character of its +own, and in particular it possesses by far the vastest and generally +most gorgeous bunker that is to be found, as far as I know, on any +inland course. It is a huge pit of sand, with just the depths and +shallows, the bays and promontories of the genuine seaside article. It +is so large that, by its unaided efforts, it provides highly effective +bunkering for the tee-shots to the two last holes; and as regards its +dimensions, I shall not be flattering it very grossly if I compare it +to the bunker in front of the fifth tee at Westward Ho! It is the more +striking because it lies on the other side of a road away from the main +body of the course; and after a series of trim little pot-bunkers, one +comes quite suddenly upon it, rugged, natural, and magnificent. + +Nature has done nearly all the bunkering work for these last two holes; +at the others she has had to be assisted by man, and man has been very +busy cutting pot-bunkers, and mostly towards the sides of the fairway +and the edges of the green. The bunkering seems to me, if I may say +so, to be exceedingly well done, and for the most part one has to keep +reasonably straight--sometimes very straight indeed--from the tee. The +sixth, seventh, and eighth I remember particularly as all demanding +scrupulously accurate tee shots, and of these perhaps the eighth is the +most difficult, with serious bunkers on opposite sides of the course +at just the distance of a moderately good drive; it is not unlike the +tee-shot to the sixth at Woking, or the eighth at Walton Heath; and to +say that is not to call the shot an easy one. + +There are whins in fair profusion, and they play an important part at +both the second and third holes. The approach to the second is a really +difficult one, for the green lies in an angle made by two lines of +whins, which are partially protected from the infuriated niblick player +by formidable bunkers, so that any perceptible error is likely to bring +with it a disaster either sandy or prickly. At the third, again--a +very full one-shot hole--the whins guard the entire left-hand side of +the course. It is, to be sure, possible to hit over them, but the feat +entails a carry of some two hundred yards, and even Ray admits that a +long shot is wanted to get clear to the left. + +The criticism I feel disposed to make, very tentatively, of the first +nine holes at Ganton is that they are a little too much of the same +length. There is the third hole aforementioned, and there is the +fifth, demanding an extremely pretty little pitch from the tee; nor +must I forget the ninth, a really fine two-shot hole that winds its +way along the bottom of a little valley. At the other six one seems +to be playing the second shot with the same straight-faced iron club. +They are individually very good, but the least little bit in the +world monotonous, and there is a more attractive variety about the +home-coming nine. + +Of these last nine nearly all are good; but the last three are, I +think, the most attractive, being all interesting and all different. +The sixteenth is a fine straight-hitting two-shot hole over undulating +country. The seventeenth brings us face to face with the big bunker, +and if the wind be favourable we may hope to reach the green with a +really good hit, but the green is curly, tricky, and difficult of +access. Finally, we have another drive over the big bunker for the +last, taking care to avoid being stymied by a clump of firs, and then +we may pitch comfortably home across the road with a four well in sight. + + [Illustration: HUDDERSFIELD + _The club-house_] + +We had two rounds of Ganton on the first day of our pilgrimage--a warm, +delightful, sunny day--and then took train to Huddersfield to play at +Fixby. =Fixby= is as different from Ganton as chalk is from cheese, or +as a watering-place is from a manufacturing town. Ganton is charmingly +pretty in a way that is comparatively ordinary to anyone who has seen +Surrey and Berkshire. Fixby has for the southerner's eye a kind of +grim and murky romance. For some two miles we have to wend our way up +a long slope through Huddersfield and its outskirts, looking rather +drab and ugly and intensely prosperous. Then suddenly the romance +begins. We climb up a steep hill through a pretty wood, albeit the +trees are black with the smoke of many chimneys, finally to emerge +rather breathless in a new land. Now we are perched on the top of a +hill, in wild, solitary, moorish country. A long way down below us are +Huddersfield and its mills, and all around is a great stretch of view, +rather bleak and sombre, but possessed of a very distinct beauty of +its own. We are not really on the moors, but we feel as if we were, +and all the colouring is moorland colouring. Everything is a subdued +grey or green, and even the stone walls, which abound on the course, +have a gloomy tint of their own--a kind of purplish black that I have +never seen anywhere else. It strikes us at once that this course could +only be in the north; there is nothing southern about it, and by this +strangeness and strong character it casts something of a spell over the +southern visitor. This is how I saw Fixby, with a grey leaden sky and a +mighty wind blowing the misty rain that is called 'moor-grime' strongly +in my face. In summer it must possess quite a different sort of beauty +when the great clumps of rhododendrons are all in bloom, as the artist +has depicted them, and the club-house in the centre of a blaze of +gorgeous colour. + +To turn from the scenery to the golf, there is a very clearly-marked +distinction between the two rounds of nine holes, each of which +begins and ends near Fixby Hall, which is used as the club-house. The +first nine holes might be described as park golf; and yet this would +be perhaps to give a false impression, for the trees do not play an +important part, and the turf is harder and dryer than the normal park +turf. It is plain-sailing, straightforward golf, in which we can see +where we are going, and the trouble consists mainly of artificial +bunkers of the ordinary type. + +The second half is much more _sui generis_. We emerge from the park +land into country which is more open and much more undulating. We have +to play a great many more blind shots--in fact, we have rather too +many of them; and there are one or two holes--exceedingly difficult +holes they are--which would be, I venture to think, much better if +only we could get a good view of the flag. Another feature of the +second half is the ubiquitous stone wall. Sometimes it is an ordinary +wall; sometimes it partakes of the nature of a sunk fence, and we only +realize its presence by seeing our ball suddenly plunge, like another +Curtius, into the bowels of the earth. I should not like to pledge +myself as to the exact number of walls, but we shall be lucky if we +do not make acquaintance with more than one of them upon a windy day; +and, in parenthesis, the wind can blow at Fixby with an energy worthy +of the strongest seaside gale. The two halves may fairly be summed up +by saying that the first half provides the sounder golf, and the second +the more exciting; and that both need a man to play them. + +On the way out the holes that I personally think the more attractive +are the fourth--a nice single shot, 170 yards long, on to a plateau +green--and a group of three that come together, the sixth, seventh, and +eighth. Of these the eighth is a pretty enough little short hole with +a very well-guarded green, but the seventh is the best of the three +and also the most interesting, from the fact that it owes its merits +almost entirely to ingenuity in construction rather than to natural +advantages. + +The green has certainly a good natural protection to the right in the +shape of a ditch, to which has been added a bunker on the left; but +still, if we were allowed to make a direct frontal attack upon the +hole, we should have no great difficulty to contend with. A frontal +attack, however, has been forbidden us by Mr. Herbert Fowler's +ingenuity. In the straight line between the tee and the green have been +erected a series of formidable fortifications, wherefore we must drive +out to the right and then approach the hole from the side. The further +we go to the right the more difficult the approach will be, but if we +can play with a judicious hook, and so 'pinch' the fortifications as +close as we dare, we shall obtain a reasonably open and easy approach. +This device of compelling people to play the hole as a 'dog legged' +hole has made all the difference between a good and an ordinary hole. +Of some of the longer holes on the way out I have said nothing, not +because they are not sufficiently testing in character, but because +they are for the most part straightforward holes that do not lend +themselves to distinctive description. + +After the turn comes, as I have said, the region of blind shots +and stone walls. The twelfth is a curious hole, because of the +extraordinary difficulty of judging the direction of the second shot +over a high grassy mound. Even those who are steeped to the eyes in +local knowledge are never quite certain if their ball will be lying +close to the flag or thirty yards away, and race feverishly to the top +of the mound to see what has befallen them. The thirteenth, again, +has a puzzling, blind uphill approach, after a really good tee-shot +across a wall. There is a good long, punishing finish, all the last +three holes being over, and two of them well over, four hundred yards +in length. At the last there is a chance, if the breeze be favourable, +of a really fine second shot from the crest of a hill that shall send +the ball soaring away for an apparently immeasurable distance, avoiding +stone walls and trees, and ultimately reaching the green. + +There is plenty of hard work to be done in reaching the greens at +Fixby, and still more when we have reached them, for they are fast and +curly to a degree, although very true when at their best, and there is +much allowance to be made for borrow and much gentle trickling of the +downhill putt. That Fixby is a difficult course is proved by the fact +that the redoubtable Sandy Herd has never accomplished the full round +of this his home course under 70. If 70 is Herd's best, anything under +80 is not to be despised by the ordinary mortal. + + [Illustration: HOLLINWELL + _Looking across the second green_] + +Continuing our journey of discovery in a southerly direction, we +next took the train to Nottingham, and thence some few miles out to +=Hollinwell=, passing on the way Bulwell Forest, formerly the home of +the Notts Golf Club, but now converted into a very popular municipal +course. Though Hollinwell is some miles out of Nottingham, the factory +chimneys are not so far away, but that the ball, which starts its +career on the first tee a snowy white soon passes through a series of +varying greys till it is coal black, unless its complexion is +renewed by the use of the sponge. The southern caddie's simple and +natural method of cleaning a ball is not here to be recommended. + +Hollinwell is a wonderfully sandy course, and when there is a strong +wind one may see great clouds of sand blowing down the course after the +most approved seaside fashion. The course is rather curiously shaped, +since nearly all the holes lie in a long, wide valley. Sometimes we +play down the valley, and sometimes we play across it, tacking this +way and that, so that we are never hitting monotonously either with or +against the wind. Sometimes also we scale the side of the valley and +play along the top of the slope, and herein lies a certain weakness +of the course, for these upland holes are not quite worthy of the +rest. They are of the downland order, with blind shots, big perplexing +slopes, and greens cut out of the sides of hills. Luckily there are but +few of them, for they are but poor golf, whereas most of the holes in +the valley are very good indeed. + +I never saw a course that began with fairer promise, for the first hole +looks and is delightful--a good long hole of well over 400 yards in +length. To the right stretches a line of bracken, while on the left is +a small clump of firs, just near enough to the line to induce a slice +into the ferns. This first hole is so good that the other holes have a +high standard to live up to, and in one important respect they perhaps +do not quite succeed. That wilderness of bracken to the right holds out +a promise which is not quite fulfilled, because that which Hollinwell +lacks is rough ground severe enough to punish the erratic driver. I +have no doubt that I was lucky, but I remember several of the most +perfect lies for a brassey which were meted out to me, when in common +justice I should have been plying my niblick. The rough's bark is much +worse than its bite, and one may often hit very crooked and not be one +penny the worse. More bunkers--many more bunkers--at the sides of the +course, and perhaps not quite so many in the middle would be no bad +prescription for Hollinwell. + +If, however, the course has some faults, it also has many merits, and +the most attractive, because the most characteristic holes, are those +in which the peculiar character of the ground comes into play. Thus at +both the seventh and ninth we play across the breadth of the valley +into little gullies that run some way in between the spurs of the hill. +If we are perfectly straight, the gully receives us with open arms, but +to be at all seriously crooked is to be perched on a hillside among +thick grass and red sandstone. These are both holes of a fine length, +and though with hitting an arrow-like straightness we may hope for +fours, we need not make undue lamentations over fives. The eleventh, +again, is a charming hole, where the way to the hole follows the +contour of a subsidiary valley that wanders away from the main valley +on some little expedition of its own; nor, to retrace our steps, must +the second be left out, with its pretty background of trees and water. + +After the eleventh the golf degenerates for a while, when we leave +the lowlands for the highlands; but, just as we are feeling a little +sad, comes a marked improvement at the fifteenth, and we end with two +really good holes, one short and one long. To justify its existence +as a seventeenth hole, a short hole must needs be a very good short +hole, and this is an excellent one, save that the inordinately long +approach with the wooden putter should be prevented by a bunker on the +left. The eighteenth, except that it is a good deal longer, is almost +the converse of the first, and the clump of firs that made us slice at +the first tee will certainly trap us if we pull our second shot. This +last hole lives in my memory from the fact that it gave to my companion +a temporarily undeserved reputation among the golfers of Nottingham. +Having played a round of almost unbroken sixes, he placed the ball +close to the hole with a long iron shot for his third, and holed the +putt before an awestruck assembly in the club-house window with an air +and manner suggesting that four was the highest rather than the lowest +score that he had accomplished during the round. What is more, he only +just failed to do the same thing in the afternoon, although the hole is +555 yards long. Such is the inveterate habit that some people have of +playing to the gallery. + +From Nottingham our way lay to Birmingham, where we were to play at +=Sandwell Park=. A train journey to a melancholy and mysterious place +called Spon Lane, followed by "a penny to the left and a penny to the +right" (as we were advised) in a tramcar brought us to West Bromwich. +West Bromwich is a name calculated to thrill the football devotee with +glorious memories of West Bromwich Albion, but it is not in itself a +particularly attractive spot. Yet Sandwell Park must once have been a +beautiful place before the houses began to crowd round its gates and +the colliery chimneys to pour black volumes of smoke across it. It is +a fine park still, if one can only blind oneself to the houses and the +chimneys; but that, save in one or two secluded corners, is a difficult +task--Birmingham is too all-pervading to permit of many illusions. + +We did not see Sandwell under very favourable conditions as regards +weather. There was every now and again a flurry of snow, and a most +piercingly cold wind blew across the course, rendering useless any +number of waistcoats and mittens, and robbing the fingers of all power +of gripping the club. It is very difficult under such circumstances to +judge of the length of any particular hole, for the wind laughs at yard +measures, and reduces a good length hole to a drive and a pitch, and +converts a drive and a pitch into a three-shot hole. + +Perhaps it was the effect of first going out to face the icy blast, +but I thought the first few holes at Sandwell rather poor, being of +a hybrid length and not particularly exciting. The golf improves +wonderfully, however, as it goes on, and from the seventh onward is +infinitely more interesting. The eighth needs a very straight drive, +followed by a very delicate second shot--a tricky shot in whatever +way we start to play it. If we pitch up the hill, we must pitch just +up and no further; while if we run the shot, the hill is just steep +enough to induce a lively fear that the ball will refuse to climb it. +Moreover, when I played it, the hole was cut with fiendish cunning very +close to the top of the hill, so that the very nicest judgment was +necessary in order to avoid a long, sloping and curly putt. The ninth +consists of an absolutely blind pitch with a small crater, reminding +one of a very old but not very highly esteemed friend, the 'Crater' +hole at Aberdovey. Then comes a hole that is really good, and it seemed +to me the best on the course--two honest shots along a narrow neck of +turf, which tapers perceptibly as it nears the green. + + [Illustration: SANDWELL PARK + _Mr. Woolley driving from the 'Pulpit' tee_] + +By this time we have reached the highest point of the links, and now +descend into the lowlands again, driving from the 'Pulpit' tee to a +green which lies in front of the big, white, gloomy house, whence the +owner has long since retired, smoked out by the colliery chimneys. A +good two-shot hole follows, and next comes one of the most amusing of +short holes, which, whether intrinsically good or bad, deserves to +escape the zeal of the iconoclast because of its singular character. +One hundred and thirty are all the yards it can boast, but between tee +and green a terrible monster rears its head in the form of some ancient +rifle butts. They tower so high above and so close to us that even with +a mashie and a teed ball we are all too likely to err. Moreover, it is +not merely a matter of getting over at any price. The hole is quite +close to the butts on the far side, and only the ball that shall just +drop over and no more should satisfy us. Circumstances alter cases, +of course, and with his opponent having the honour and failing to get +over, a man may well play his shot with a brassey if he have a mind to +it. Then, indeed, it is a case of over at any price, for the ground +short of the butts is terribly rough, and a brilliant recovery is not +in the least probable. It is the hole that must have been the grave of +many hopes, perhaps even of some foursome friendships; and yet, if we +were out practising with half a dozen old balls and no one to look at +us, we could do as many twos and threes as ever we wanted. + +There are some other good holes to follow, but they appear +comparatively orthodox and ordinary after that quaint little +thirteenth. One of the best things about the course is the turf, +which is very springy and pleasant to walk upon. This old park turf +very often proves sadly disappointing when it comes to making putting +greens out of it, but the Sandwell greens are excellent, and in more +propitious weather must be delightful to putt upon. + + [Illustration: HANDSWORTH + _The first tee_] + +Not far from Sandwell Park is another very well-known Birmingham +course, =Handsworth=. This is the home green of that keenest and most +persevering of golfers, Mr. C. A. Palmer; he has tried as hard over his +own course as he did over his own game, and the system of bunkers, for +which he has chiefly been responsible, is marked by a great deal of +skill and ingenuity. The course is undoubtedly a good sound test of +golf, and there is one type of golfer who will be tested out of his +seven senses, and that is the victim of a chronic slice. All along the +right-hand side of the course there runs an out-of-bounds area, so that +the poor slicer is for ever dropping another ball over his shoulder. + +Another hazard that plays an important part, especially in those holes +that come in the middle of the round, is a stream. Full and +ingenious use has been made of this stream, and there is a good deal of +rather cunning pitching to be done in order to circumvent it; anything +in the nature of a running shot is, naturally enough, at a discount. + +The course begins quite excellently, and the first two holes are two of +the best on the way out. At the first there is a big pool on the right +and a generous supply of bunkers on the left, so that the very first +tee-shot of the day has to be hit quite unpleasantly straight. If it +is so hit, an iron shot of moderate length should see us safely on the +green with the orthodox two putts for a four; if it is not, it would +be rash to dogmatize as to what our precise score may be. The second +hole, again, has one of those interesting carries from the tee that the +player can make just as short or as long as he likes, according as his +tactics are those of Fabius or some more dashing hero. The green lies +on a hill-top some 380 yards away from the tee, and a bold tee-shot, +followed by a really well-struck second, may make a four hole of it, +but it is a good four. + +The sixth is another good hole, although there is rather an aggravating +cart track at just such a distance from the tee as to be likely to trap +a respectable shot. The green, moreover, is very well guarded by a +brook on the left and some pot-bunkers on the right. At the eighth we +come to the first of the regular short holes, of which there are three +in all, though there are two more which may on occasion be reached with +a particularly shrewd blow, and it may be said in parenthesis that it +is something of a weakness in the course that none of the three can be +called passionately interesting. + +It is to be hoped that we get a three at this eighth, for we shall need +a little cheering before facing the prospect of real, honest hitting +at the next three holes. The ninth is well over four hundred yards +long, and we begin the homeward round with a five-hundred-yarder, or +something very little short of it. It is not a very thrilling hole, +however, and the fourteenth and seventeenth, both good two-shot holes, +are certainly more interesting, and perhaps the best in the homeward +nine. + +The whole course is in good order, and the greens thoroughly well kept, +although they are perhaps rather lacking in variety and err on the side +of flatness. The soil is good and light, and that is no small thing to +be thankful for in the very centre of England, when the nearest seaside +golf is as far off as the coast of Wales. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +OXFORD AND CAMBRIDGE. + + +The Universities of Oxford and Cambridge are rich in many things, but +are very decidedly poor in the matter of golf courses. I should be more +precise if I said poor in their own courses, for in Frilford Heath and +Worlington (or as it is often called, Mildenhall) they are lucky to +possess hospitable neighbours, who provide them with very delightful +golf indeed. + +The courses of Cambridge I know very well indeed, having played over +them at intervals during the greater part of my life. With those of +Oxford I have only, comparatively speaking, a bowing acquaintance, +founded on the annual match between the University and the Oxford and +Cambridge Golfing Society. Before turning to Frilford there is a word +to be said of Cowley, Radley, and Hinksey, the latter of which has now +ceased to exist. Cowley, so I have heard my friend Mr. Croome declare, +is now rather a good course, and as I have never seen it, I most +certainly will not venture to contradict him; but I can take my oath +as to both Hinksey and Radley that they call for some other epithet. +=Hinksey= was certainly amusing, and I have spent some not wholly +unpleasant afternoons there squelching through the mud and trying +vainly to hole putts by cannoning off alternate wormcasts. There was a +short hole--the fourth, I think--where one played a pitching shot into +the heart of a wood which was distinctly entertaining, but on the whole +it was not a good test of golf, or, if it was, then I would rather have +my golf tested in some other way. + +When Hinksey ceased to exist =Radley= came into being, and it is most +decidedly a longer and more difficult course, but I am not certain +that it is such good fun. It is a good deal longer; indeed a great +many of the holes are of a very good length. There is a really good +seventeenth, where one skirts a wood on the right, and granted a good +lie--a thing which rests upon the knees of the gods--one may hit two +really fine shots and get a fine four. I imagine, however, that no one +will be prepared to deny that it is muddy--I will go so far as to say +extremely muddy--and in these days we are so pampered with beautiful +sandy inland courses that we no longer suffer mud at all gladly. So if +we are at Oxford I think we had better throw economy to the winds and +charter a 'taxi,' which shall take us up Cumnor Hill to Frilford Heath. + + [Illustration: FRILFORD HEATH + _Approaching the ninth green_] + +=Frilford= is only seven miles from Oxford, but it might be a hundred +miles from anywhere. It lies on a little unfrequented by-road, and is +as utterly rural and peaceful a spot as could be found anywhere. Here +is sand enough and to spare--a wonderful oasis in the desert of mud. +The sand is so near the turf that out of pure exuberance it breaks +out here and there in little eruptions on the surface or flies up in a +miniature sand-storm as the ball alights. The ground is for the most +part very flat, and there are fir trees and whins scattered here and +there. There is also a pretty wood of firs and birches, over which we +have to drive at the third hole, of which more anon. The greens are a +little rough as yet, and some of the bunkers have still to be made, or +at least had not been made when I last played there; but time alone +is wanted to make Frilford a very fine course indeed. It is already a +wonderfully charming one. + +The first two holes remind one a little of Muirfield, since there is a +stone wall over which a pulled ball will inevitably vanish. The second +is a fine long two-shot hole, and at the first, which is somewhat +shorter, a highly ingenious use has been made of a solitary tree, which +forces the player to drive close to the stone wall if he is to have +an open approach. Then comes the third before mentioned, which is a +one-shot hole. The wood rises pretty steeply in front of the tee, and +the shot is made the more difficult because a cleek is hardly long +enough, and so we have to take a wooden club. Many a shot that would +under ordinary circumstances fill us with a mild degree of conceit will +only send the ball crashing into the forest. It is no hole for the 'low +raker' which we regard with complacency at Hoylake and St. Andrews. We +must hit a fine high towering shot, and then we may hope to find our +ball on the green--a pretty little green which nestles close under the +lee of the wood on the far side. After this come some long open holes +in a country of scattered whin bushes. Exactly how long they are I am +not prepared to say. I played them in the company of Mr. A. J. Evans, +and he appeared to regard them justifiably enough as two-shot holes, +but personally I found myself taking by no means the most lofted of my +iron clubs for my third shot. There is a pretty little pitching hole +over a stone wall--the seventh--which has a flavour of Harlech about +it; and the ninth, which brings us close to the club-house again, +is surely one of the most alarming holes in existence. The drive is +simple enough, but my goodness, what a second! In front of the green +is a mountain, and on either side of the green are deep pits, towards +which the ground 'draws' most unmistakably. Then the green itself is +quite small, and has in its centre a copy of the aforesaid mountain in +miniature. The approach shot, moreover, is by no means a short one, but +is for the ordinary driver a good firm iron shot, so that a four is +really an epoch-making score for the hole. + +After the turn it seems to me that the golf shows a distinct falling +off. The holes are still long enough and difficult enough, and Mr. +Evans still seemed to require one stroke less to reach the green than +I did, but for the most part they lack the indefinable charm of the +first nine. There is, however, certainly one exception to this general +criticism, and that is the really fascinating seventeenth, which is +emphatically the right hole in the right place. There is a wood and a +stone wall to carry, and the angle at which we play is such that there +is a very real reward for the long ball which is judiciously hooked. +A good as opposed to an ordinary drive may make all the difference +between a four and a five, for the green is full of undulations, and +the nearer we are to it when we take our iron in hand the better. +Taking it altogether the golf is both good and difficult, and besides +that Frilford is essentially one of those places where it is good +to be alive with a golf club in one's hand--even if one uses it +indifferently--and whither one looks forward to returning with a very +keen enjoyment. + +The undergraduates of Cambridge, when they have not the time to go to +Worlington, now play golf at Coton, a pleasant little village enough +that lies off the Madingley Road. I must spare a word or two, however, +for the old course at =Coldham Common=, because I am quite sure that it +was the worst course I have ever seen, and many others would probably +award it a like distinction. The way to Coldham was suggestive of the +pleasures that awaited one there, for it led down that most depressing +of Cambridge streets, the Newmarket Road, and through the most +unattractive slums of Barnwell. After voyaging for some distance along +the Newmarket Road, one turned down a particularly black and odorous +lane, crossed a railway bridge, and reached a flat, muddy expanse of +grass, of which the only features were a railway line and some rifle +butts. I should also perhaps include among its features a particularly +pungent smell, which we always believed--I know not with how much +truth--to proceed from the boiling down of deceased horses into glue. + +On arriving outside the precincts of the club-house one was at once +surrounded and nearly swept from one's legs by a yelling mob of +caddies of most villainous appearance, who were supposed, quite +erroneously, to be under the control of a well-meaning but deservedly +superannuated policeman. Anyone who played there regularly soon found +himself made over, body and soul, to one of these ruffians, and then +exchanged the solicitations of the general mob for the unceasing +importunities of his own particular henchman in the matter of cast-off +clothing. + +In addition to the regular corps of caddies there was an irregular +body of younger depredators who had no official position, and earned +a precarious livelihood by stealing or retrieving balls. They enjoyed +considerable opportunities, because there were on the Common a good +many muddy ditches--the only natural hazards--and along the edges of +these ditches the youth of Barnwell took up strategic positions at +stated intervals. Sometimes considerations of policy dictated that +they should retrieve the errant ball, and return it to its owner for a +penny. Sometimes they would dexterously stamp the ball into the mud, +pretend to hunt for it with a great show of energy, and pocket it at +their leisure when the owner had abandoned the search. This was an easy +matter enough, for the mud was of the softest and thickest, and the +ball would frequently bury itself on alighting without any help from +the human foot. How our visitors from Blackheath and Yarmouth could +bear it I now find a difficulty in understanding, and it says much for +their enthusiasm and friendliness that they came to play against us +year after year. They put up with it manfully, and very jolly matches +we used to have. Indeed, to quote J. K. S., "the smile on my face is +a mask for tears," and I could almost wish to strike another ball +at Coldham. I must admit to having enjoyed myself very much there, +almost as much as on another course of woeful greens and superlative +muddiness--the old Athens course at Eton. + +Coton I do not know well, but though an enthusiastic captain of +Cambridge once told me that the greens were as good as the best seaside +ones, I am disposed to think he was romancing. There is another +flourishing course on the Gog-Magog hills, where there is at least a +charming view, and twelve or thirteen miles away is Royston. Here there +is a truly splendid view over miles and miles of the flat country, for +the course lies on a piece of breezy downland perched high above its +surroundings. A very jolly place it is whereon to play golf, though +the golf perhaps is not of the highest class. It is a course of steep +hills and deep gullies, and there is much climbing to be done and much +putting on perplexing slopes. Some of these gullies form wonderful +natural amphitheatres, and I always like to think that in one of them +was fought the battle for the championship of England between Peter +Crawley, the 'Young Rump Steak,' and Jem Ward, 'the Black Diamond.' +That the fight took place on Royston Heath we know from _Boxiana_, but +the exact battlefield has become obscured by the mists of time. + +Better than all these courses, however, is =Worlington=, the home +of the Royal Worlington and Newmarket Golf Club, who kindly allow +the University to use their course and play their matches there. To +get from Cambridge to Worlington is rather a serious undertaking, +for although the station, Mildenhall, is but a little over twenty +miles away, the progress made by the infrequent trains is of the most +leisurely. Still, we do get there in time, passing poor deserted +Coldham Common on the way, and the golf is good enough to repay us for +all our trouble. Worlington is not unlike Frilford in appearance, being +extremely solitary, flat, and sandy, and dotted here and there with +fir trees. There are only nine holes, but of these several are really +excellent, and none can fairly be said to be dull. One curious feature +of the course is that one may play a round there which shall be made up +almost entirely of fives and threes. This was conspicuously the case +in the days of the gutty ball, for there were four holes that could be +reached from the tee, although the second hole certainly required a +very long shot, and five which were beyond the range of two full shots, +save for colossal drivers. Whoever laid out the course clearly had no +great opinion of Mr. Hutchinson's doctrine as to the length of a hole +being some multiple of a full drive, and had no objection to two drives +and a pitch. Nowadays with the rubber ball some of the old-time fives +have become fours, but they are difficult fours requiring in one or two +cases fine long-carrying second shots, and fives are still likely to +preponderate. + + [Illustration: MILDENHALL + _The result of a bad slice at the sixth_] + +Of all the courses that I know well, none shows so well as Worlington +the difference between the solid and the elastic ball, and a particular +instance, which is historic in a very small way, may be given. +The third hole is an extraordinarily good one, wherein the green +lies just beyond a marshy ditch and is also well protected by +pot-bunkers. After the tee-shot, one has to carry ditch, bunkers and +all, but a weak drive necessitates playing short, and the shot is an +extremely difficult one, because the ball has to be placed on a narrow +neck of grass which slopes down on either side to a ditch and other +horrors. Just before I went up to Cambridge there had been a great +foursome between Douglas Rolland, Willy Park, Hugh Kirkaldy, and Jack +White, who was then the professional at Worlington; and a certain +shot of Rolland's was spoken of with bated breath as being something +altogether superhuman. With a fair breeze against him, he had actually +reached the third green with his second shot. The hole is still the +same length: the tee is back as far as it will possibly go, and yet one +can as a rule get home with an iron club of no inordinate power, while +it takes a very strong wind indeed to make it necessary to play short. +This third is a wonderfully good hole still, but it was more heroic in +the old days. + +A hole that does to-day require two heroic shots is the sixth; indeed +the green can only be reached in two with a favouring wind. Along +the whole length of the hole, on the right-hand side, runs a belt +of fir trees, while in front of the green is a ditch. If one clings +very closely to the firs with the tee-shot, and then plays a big, +high-carrying brassey shot, one may hope to see the ball just clear the +last fir tree and drop down close to the hole. Another hole that nobody +is ever likely to forget is the fifth. One may reach the green with a +pitch from the tee, but what a difficult pitch it is. The green is +something in the shape of a hog's back; immediately on the left of it +is a stagnant pool of water, and on the right is a stream, complicated +by overhanging willows. To reach the green is one distinct feat; to +hole out in two putts, when one has got there, is another. For the most +part the whole course is delightfully dry and sandy, in spite of the +presence of many ditches, and the greens, when they are good, are very +good, though they have sometimes a tendency towards getting a little +bare and tricky. + +It is no small thing for the Cambridge teams to have this admirable +practising ground, and this alone should make for an improvement in +Cambridge golf. University golf, however, has naturally improved a good +deal in the last few years. Twelve years ago a freshman who should +come up to either University and show himself to be already a good or +even a goodish golfer was something of a phenomena. Nowadays thousands +of school boys play golf, and consequently there is nearly always a +supply of freshmen who can play a good game when they first come up. +In the last century--to use a formidable expression--there was usually +a considerable gap between the first two or three men and the last. In +the very earliest days Oxford had two very fine players in Mr. Horace +Hutchinson and Mr. Alexander Stuart, while Cambridge had Mr. Welsh, +now a tutor at Jesus, and the possessor of a monumental reputation at +Machrihanish. The other members of the side were generally of a very +different calibre, and some of them would be badly off nowadays with +any handicap under eighteen. Later on in the early nineties Cambridge +had some fine sides, with Mr. Low, Mr. Colt, Mr. Eric Hambro, and +other good players, and to this day probably the best University side +that ever played was the much quoted Oxford side of 1900, of which Mr. +Mansfield Hunter was the captain. + +On the whole, however, the general standard of play is higher to-day, +and personally I was enormously struck with the golf in the match at +Hoylake in 1910. For one thing, the driving was wonderfully steady and +good, and some of it very long, and all the play was well worth the +watching, which is more than could have been said for some of it not so +very, very long ago. + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +A LONDON COURSE. + +BY A LONG HANDICAP MAN. + + +I should like at the outset briefly to explain who I am and why I +am writing this chapter. I am known to every golfer--I play fairly +regularly, generally on a Saturday afternoon, sometimes in the evening +during the summer; I am genuinely keen on the game, and can honestly +say that I devote a good deal of thought and attention to it; I enter +for all the competitions at my club, but my name rarely appears on the +list of those who have returned scores--my card is generally torn up +about the fourteenth hole, frequently earlier. I believe that I come +in for a good deal of abuse at the hands of the very low handicap man. +"These chaps ought not to be allowed on the course," or "There should +be a special time for starting these long handicap men," or again, "My +good sir, I've seen the man in front of me play his third, and he's not +yet reached the bunker yet!" These and similar remarks are samples of +what one has to bear. + +One might perhaps gently remind the impatient expert that, after all, +we long handicap men do serve some useful purpose; they, too, were +once even as we are now, and, moreover, without us the spoils of the +fortnightly 'sweep' would be distinctly lessened; now and again, also, +one of us suddenly 'comes on his game,' and, if it be in a knock-out +competition, spreads havoc and devastation among the players with +handicaps of under six. + +I am sometimes inclined to think that the long handicap player gets +quite as much, if not more, enjoyment from his golf than does the man +who receives only a small number of strokes from scratch. We are not so +much depressed when we miss our drive, because it happens to us so much +more frequently, and the joy we experience when we execute a perfect +shot (and this _does_ sometimes happen) is all the keener because of +its comparative rarity. Furthermore, our anguish, when we are 'right +off our game,' can be nothing in comparison with that of the skilled +golfer who is in a similar condition (and I understand that this +happens to even the greatest--have we not heard of Vardon failing at +two-foot putts and Massy missing the ball altogether?) + +I have been privileged to read Mr. Darwin's account of the famous +courses of the British Isles, and it has been suggested that the +thought might occur to long handicap players like myself that, reading +of these fours and threes which figure so frequently, one may be +tempted to despair and say, "This is all very fine for the plus man, +but what sort of a game could I play on such a course? _My_ low, +raking shot will not land me home on to the green; it will, I know, +inevitably take me into a bunker--in how many strokes may I reasonably +expect to accomplish the hole?" + +I propose, therefore, under the kindly veil of anonymity, to describe +the course on which I habitually play, from my point of view; the +scratch man may skip this chapter or glance at it with amused scorn; +it may possibly be of interest to my long-handicap fellows, who will, +at any rate, sympathize with my appreciation of dangers and terrors +unsuspected by the more expert player. + +The course is, like so many links in the neighbourhood of London, +essentially a summer course; in the winter it is little better than +a mud heap; we have a local rule which allows us (from October to +March) to lift and drop without penalty if the ball is buried--and +in the ordinary friendly match the wiser players agree to tee their +balls through the green rather than laboriously hack them out of the +villainous lies, where they are almost inevitably to be found during +the winter months. + +But in summer it can hold its own with most inland courses; the +situation is delightful, the views extensive, and one can scarcely +believe that one is not far from the four-mile radius. + +The course is crowded on a fine Saturday afternoon, and it is necessary +to put down a ball and give our names to a starter. We note that the +man who put down a ball just after us whispers to his opponent: we also +know quite well what he is saying, though we cannot hear him. "It will +be all right, they are sure to lose a ball at the first two or three +holes,"--to which the other replies under his breath, "No such luck, +they don't hit far enough to lose a ball!" + +Our first drive is of the type described by Mr. Darwin as +'exhilarating'--that is, we stand on a height and drive down a hill. +The plus men take their cleeks (when the wind is behind them), and wait +until the party in front is off the green; we do not take a cleek, but +we wait, from pride of heart rather than fear of manslaughter, until +the starter says, "All right now, sir!" + +After our stroke we say, "It's brutal driving off before a gallery!" +After his, he replies, "Yes, it always puts me off." + +There are several other holes of an 'exhilarating' character--the +eighth, fourteenth and fifteenth--at the first-named there is splendid +opportunity of driving out of bounds; at the fourteenth we should +strongly advise the player to avoid the wire-netting about twenty yards +in front of the tee to the left; the stance for the second shot leaves +a good deal to be desired. A really fine slice at the fifteenth will +take us comfortably on to the green--but it is the fourteenth green, +and, choose we never so wisely the spot on which to drop our ball, +there still remains a hedge to negotiate: it is not an easy green to +approach--if you elect to play short of the green and run on, your +ball stops dead; while if you play a nice, firm shot on to the green, +it invariably abandons all idea of being a pitch at all, and suddenly +converts itself into a magnificent running approach and careers gaily +right across the green towards the ninth flag. + +The third is our short hole; a good, honest thump with a mashie lands +us in the hedge on the left of the green, whence recovery is somewhat +difficult, while the ordinary foozle meets with an even worse fate in +a hedge just in front; in the ditch beyond the first hedge is a large +heap of cut grass. There is ample opportunity here for skilful niblick +work, which compels the admiration of the two or three couples behind +us, who have meanwhile collected on the tee. + +The ninth is a shortish hole, for which one is popularly supposed to +take an iron club. As this course of action always results in our +having to play a long second out of the rough, we usually take a wooden +club and slice into the tennis courts or the field beyond. With our +third we may reach a cross-bunker, and a well-executed niblick shot +takes us into a ditch on the other side. We wend our way once more +behind the bunker (fortunately, we cannot hear the remarks of the +couple behind us), and with a skimming, half-topped mashie shot reach +the edge of the green. Three firm putts should see us down, winning the +hole from our adversary, who misses a 'very short one.' + +The sixteenth is the long hole; it has, I believe, been done in four; +it has also been done in fourteen--I can vouch for the latter figure. +There is nothing very terrible about the drive: one may certainly go +unpleasantly near a tree and a hedge, but only a very long driver, +slicing his best, can hope to reach them; it is true, a bad pull +lands us in a ditch which runs parallel to the fairway, but the usual +topped ball merely comes to rest in very moderately rough grass. Our +second shot needs some 'placing,' for the path which runs through +the bunker is perilously narrow--we shall probably do better to play +short deliberately (in which case I always find that I can hit so much +farther than I had supposed); little by little, we make our way up the +slope to the ditch in front of the fourteenth tee, and from there you +may take any number of strokes to the green, according as you avoid the +very long grass. + +Perhaps the best hole on the course is the thirteenth. A sliced drive +disturbs the equanimity of players coming to the seventeenth green, +but a long second takes us out of danger of sudden death, and lands +us comfortably in a cross-bunker. If, in addition to our crime of +topping, we have added that of slicing, we have brought ourselves well +up against some very awkward trees, and, in extricating ourselves from +these, anything may happen. If we escape double figures here, we may +consider that we are at the top of our form. + +It is of no use to hope that your drive will jump the bunker at the +fifth: I have tried the long, low, raking shot here many times, but the +bunker is too high and too far away to be run through successfully; +it is much better to slice unblushingly into comparative safety. Our +second shot needs to be spared--my 'spared' shots usually travel about +ten yards--but a 'low, scuffling' shot runs obligingly down the slope, +and may (or may not) stop on the green. Another way, as Mrs. Glasse +says, is to play violently to the left, strike the bank and run down +towards the hole--it is necessary, however, to carry out the second +part of the programme, or we may be in serious trouble in the rough. + +At the end of our round we return to the club-house, flushed with +healthy exercise, with a full and particular knowledge of the bunkers +of the course, but with the proud consciousness that we have not been +passed, and that we have faithfully replaced every divot. + + + + +CHAPTER X. + +ST. ANDREWS, FIFE AND FORFARSHIRE. + + +Really to know the links of St. Andrews can never be given to the +casual visitor. It is not perhaps necessary to be one of those old +gentlemen who tell us at all too frequent intervals that golf was golf +in their young days, that we of to-day are solely occupied in the +pursuit of pots and pans, and that Sir Robert Hay, with his tall hat +and his graduated series of spoons, would have beaten us, one and all, +into the middle of the ensuing week. Such a degree of senile decay is +fortunately not essential, but one ought to have known and loved and +played over the links for a long while; and I can lay no claims to such +knowledge as that. I can speak only as an occasional pilgrim, whose +pilgrimages, though always reverent, have been far too few. I do not +know by instinct whether or not my ball is trapped in 'Sutherland'; I +only just know the difference between 'Strath' and the 'Shelly' bunker; +I could not keep up my end in an argument as to the proper line to take +at the second hole--I am, in short, a very ignorant person, who means +thoroughly well. + +There are those who do not like the golf at =St. Andrews=, and they +will no doubt deny any charm to the links themselves, but there must +surely be none who will deny a charm to the place as a whole. It may +be immoral, but it is delightful to see a whole town given up to golf; +to see the butcher and the baker and the candlestick maker shouldering +his clubs as soon as his day's work is done and making a dash for the +links. There he and his fellows will very possibly get in our way, +or we shall get in theirs; we shall often curse the crowd, and wish +whole-heartedly that golf was less popular in St. Andrews. Nevertheless +it is that utter self-abandonment to golf that gives the place its +attractiveness. What a pleasant spectacle is that home green, fenced in +on two sides by a railing, upon which lean various critical observers; +and there is the club-house on one side, and the club-maker's shop +and the hotels on the other, all full of people who are looking at +the putting, and all talking of putts that they themselves holed or +missed on that or on some other green. I once met, staying in a hotel +at St. Andrews, a gentleman who did not play golf. That is in itself +remarkable, but more wonderful still, he joined so rationally, if +unobtrusively, in the perpetual golfing conversation that his black +secret was never discovered. I do not know if he enjoyed himself, but +his achievement was at least a notable one. + + [Illustration: ST. ANDREWS + _The town in the distance_] + +I am writing this chapter, when I am but newly returned from St. +Andrews, after having watched all the champions of the earth play +round the course for three strenuous days. The weather was perfect; +there was scarcely a breath of wind, and violent storms of rain +had reduced the glassy greens to a nice easy pace. Scores of under +eighty were absurdly plentiful, and, indeed, if someone had come in +with a score of under seventy I think the news would have been received +without any vast degree of astonishment. Yet, with all this brilliant, +record-breaking golf being played over it, the course never looked +really easy. The champions certainly got their fours in abundance, but +they had to work reasonably hard for most of them. Nor did one suffer +from the delusion, as one does when playing the part of a spectator +upon simple courses, that one could have done just as many fours +oneself. St. Andrews never looks really easy, and never is really easy, +for the reason that the bunkers are for the most part so close to the +greens. It is possible, of course, to play an approach shot straight on +the bee line to the flag, and if we play it to absolute perfection all +may go well; but let it only be crooked by so much as a yard, or let +the ball, as it often will do, get an unkind kick, and the bunker will +infallibly be our portion. Consequently the prudent man will agree with +Willy Smith of Mexico, who declared that it was unwise to "tease the +bunkers"; he will not attempt to avoid these greedy, lurking enemies by +inches or even feet, but he will give them a good wide berth and avoid +them by yards. The result of this policy is that the man who is getting +his string of fours has to be continually laying the ball dead with his +putter from a reasonably long way off, and so St. Andrews is a fine +course for him who can do good work at long range with a wooden putter. + +Let not the reader hastily assume that his only difficulty at St. +Andrews will be to keep out of the clutches of the bunkers lying close +to the greens; he will find plenty more stumbling-blocks in his path. +There is the matter of length, for instance. The holes, either out or +home, do not look very long when Braid is playing them with the wind +behind him, but it is an entirely different matter when we have to play +them ourselves with the wind in our teeth. Then we shall very often +be taking our brasseys through the green, and yet be doing tolerably +well if we have nothing higher than a five. There are a great many +holes that demand two good shots, as struck by the ordinary mortal; +there are three that he cannot reach except with his third, and there +are only two that he can reach from the tee, of which one by common +consent is the most fiendish short hole in existence. Thus we have +two difficulties, that the holes are long, and that there are bunkers +close to the greens; now, for a third, those greens are for the most +part on beautiful pieces of golfing ground, which by their natural +conformation, by their banks and braes and slopes, guard the holes very +effectively, even without the aid of the numerous bunkers. + +Providence has been very kind in dowering St. Andrews with plateau +greens, and they are never easy to approach. A plateau usually demands +of the golfer that a shot should be played; it will not allow him +merely to toss his ball into the air with a lofting iron and the modest +ambition that it may come down somewhere on the green. Again, a plateau +never gives any undeserved help to the inaccurate approacher, as do +the greens that lie in holes and hollows. Even in a more marked degree +than at Hoylake, the ground is never helping us; in its kindest mood +it is no more than strictly impartial. Finally, the turf is very hard, +and consequently the greens are apt to take on a keenness that is +paralyzing in its intensity. + +Having by alarming generalizations induced in the unfortunate stranger +a suitably humble frame of mind, the time has now arrived to take him +over the course in some detail. The first thing to point out to him is +the historic fact that there were once upon a time but nine holes, and +that the outgoing and incoming players aimed at the self-same hole upon +the self-same green. That state of things has necessarily long passed +away, but the result is still to be seen in the fact that most of the +greens are actually or in effect double greens, and consequently the +two processions of golfers outward and inward bound pass close to each +other, not without some risk to life and much shouting of 'Fore!' + +With this preliminary observation, we may tee up our ball in front +of the Royal and Ancient Club-house for one of the least alarming +tee-shots in existence. In front of us stretches a vast flat plain, +and unless we slice the ball outrageously on to the sea beach, no harm +can befall us. At the same time we had much better hit a good shot, +because the Swilcan burn guards the green, and we want to carry it and +get a four. It is an inglorious little stream enough: we could easily +jump over it were we not afraid of looking foolish if we fell in, +and yet it catches an amazing number of balls. It is now a part of +golfing history that when Mr. Leslie Balfour-Melville won the amateur +championship he beat successively at the nineteenth hole Mr. W. Greig, +Mr. Laurence Auchterlonie, and Mr. John Ball, and all three of these +redoubtable persons plumped the ball into this apparently paltry little +streamlet with their approach shots. + +The second is a beautiful hole some four hundred yards in length, and +with the most destructive of pot-bunkers close up against the hole. +Here is a case in point, when the attempt to shave narrowly past the +bunker involves terrible risks, and it is the part of prudence to play +well out to the right and trust to the long putt. There are, indeed, +those who deem the hole unfairly difficult when it is cut in the +left-hand end of the green and quite close to the bunker; I have not +sufficient experience or pugnacity to argue with them. + +The third is something similar in character, though shorter in length; +while the fourth again is a little longer. Indeed there is something +in these three holes that make them quite ridiculously difficult for +the stranger to disentangle one from the other. The fourth is guarded +in front by a small grassy mound, which has a wonderfully far-reaching +effect, since wherever we may place our drive the mound must needs play +some part in our calculations as to the second shot. I should add that +at all three of these holes a tee-shot that is badly sliced will be +caught in the fringe of rough ground that divides the old course from +the new; this rough, however, is not so severe as it once was, and +would be none the worse for a little artificial assistance in the way +of bunkers. + +The fifth is the long hole out, when we shall need our three strokes +to reach the green, which stands a little above us on a plateau of +magnificent dimensions, where we rub shoulders with the incoming +couples who are plying the 'Hole o' Cross.' In ancient days, when the +whins were thick and flourishing on the straight road to the hole, the +only possible line was away to the left towards the Elysian fields. It +was from there, so Mr. James Cunningham has told me, that young Tommy +Morris astonished the spectators by taking his niblick, a club that in +those days had a face of about the magnitude of a half-crown, wherewith +to play a pitch on the green. Till that historic moment no one had ever +dreamed of a niblick being used for anything but ordinary spade work. + +At the heathery hole we have a fine sea of whins on our right (there +are still some whins left at St. Andrews), although only a very bad +slice will make us acquainted with them; there are furthermore some +pots on the left to trap a pulled ball, but altogether the hole is, if +one may venture to say so, of no enormous merit, and by no means as +good as the High Hole, where is a green of horrible glassy slopes and +bunkers that eat their way voraciously into its borders. + +At the eighth we do at last get a chance of a three, for the hole is a +short one--142 yards long to be precise--and there is a fair measure +of room on the green. So far the golf has been very, very good indeed, +but with the ninth and tenth come two holes that constitute a small +blot on the fair fame of the course. If they were found on some less +sacred spot they would be condemned as consisting of a drive and a +pitch up and down a flat field. What makes it the sadder is that ready +to the architect's hand is a bit of glorious golfing country on the +confines of the new course. However, we had better play these two holes +in as reverent a spirit as possible and be thankful for two fairly easy +fours, because the next is the 'short hole in,' and we must reserve +all our energies for that. The only consoling thing about the hole +is that the green slopes upward, so that it is not quite so easy for +the ball to run over it as it otherwise would be. This is really but +cold comfort, however, because the danger of going too far is not so +imminent as that of not going straight enough. There is one bunker +called 'Strath,' which is to the right, and there is another called the +'Shelly Bunker,' to the left; there is also another bunker short of +Strath to catch the thoroughly short and ineffective ball. The hole is +as a rule cut fairly close to Strath, wherefore it behoves the careful +man to play well away to the left, and not to take undue risks by going +straight for the hole. This may sound pusillanimous, but trouble once +begun at this hole may never come to an end till the card is torn into +a thousand fragments. With a stout niblick shot the ball may easily +be dislodged from Strath, but it will all too probably bound over the +green into the sandy horrors of the Eden. From there it may again be +extracted, but as it has to pitch on a down slope, it will almost +certainly trickle gently down the green till it is safely at rest +once more in the bosom of Strath. This very tragedy I saw befall Massy +in the Championship of 1910, and he took six to the hole. Many a good +golfer has taken far more strokes than that, and, indeed, it is a hole +to leave behind one with a sigh of satisfaction. + +The next hole would in any case fall almost inevitably flat, but the +thirteenth, the Hole o' Cross, is a great hole, where having struck +two really fine shots and escaped 'Walkinshaw's Grave,' we may hope to +reach the beautiful big plateau green in two and hole out in two more. +The long hole home comes next, and here we drive along the Elysian +fields, taking care to avoid a swarm of little pot-bunkers on the left, +which are called the 'Beardies.' A second, played cautiously away to +the left, will very likely bring us into collision with some outgoing +couple, while a bold shot straight ahead of us may see the ball plump +down into 'Hell,' a bunker that is now hardly worthy of its name. There +is a pretty approach to be played, with yet another plateau to climb, +and a five means good work, as does a four at the fifteenth, which is a +thoroughly admirable two-shot hole. + +Although home is now in sight, there are yet two terribly dangerous +holes to be played. First of all we must steer down the perilously +narrow space between the 'Principal's Nose' and the railway line--the +railway line, mark you, that is not out of bounds, so that there is no +limit to the number of strokes that we may spend in hammering vainly at +an insensate sleeper. We may, of course, drive safe away to the left, +and if our score is a good one we shall be wise to do so, but our +approach, as is only fair, will then be the more difficult, and there +are bunkers lurking by the green-side. + +The seventeenth hole has been more praised and more abused probably +than any other hole in the world. It has been called unfair, and by +many harder names as well; it has caused champions with a predilection +for pitching rather than running to tear their hair; it has certainly +ruined an infinite number of scores. Many like it, most respect it, +and all fear it. First there is the tee-shot, with the possibility of +slicing out of bounds into the station-master's garden or pulling into +various bunkers on the left. Then comes the second, a shot which should +not entail immediate disaster, but which is nevertheless of enormous +importance as leading up to the third. Finally, there is the approach +to that little plateau--in contrast to most of the St. Andrews greens, +a horribly small and narrow one--that lies between a greedy little +bunker on the one side and a brutally hard road on the other. It is so +difficult as to make the boldest inclined to approach on the instalment +system, and yet no amount of caution can do away with the chance of +disaster. There was a harrowing moment in the Championship of 1910 +when Braid's ball lay in the little bunker under the green. Even if he +got it safely out, it was practically certain he would be two strokes +behind Duncan, with one round to go; if he did not get it out, or got +it out too far and so on to the road, his chances would be terribly +jeopardized. It was, as I say, an agonizing moment, but no one plays +the heavy 'dunch' shot out of sand quite so surely as Braid. Down came +the niblick, up spouted the sand, and out came the ball, to fall spent +and lifeless close to the hole and out of reach of that cruel road. + +After this hole of many disastrous memories, the eighteenth need have +no great terrors. We drive over the burn, cross by the picturesque old +stone bridge, and avoiding the grosser forms of sin, such as slicing +into the windows of Rusack's hotel, hole out in four, or at most five, +under the critical gaze of those that lean on the railings. + +No account of St. Andrews would be complete without some mention of the +new course, which runs more or less parallel with the old; the two, +to say nothing of the Jubilee course that runs along the spurs of the +sandhills, being all squeezed into a wonderfully narrow compass. + +The new course has many merits, but it is curiously unlike its +next-door neighbour. Partly, of course, this is on account of its +youth. Myriads of feet have not trampled it into a state of adamantine +hardness, and when the greens on the old course are keen and fiery, the +new course remains soft, slow and easy. Besides this, however, there is +another difference, in that the new course is infinitely more ordinary, +and this comparative commonplaceness, if further inquired into, +resolves itself largely into the fact that there are not nearly so many +good natural greens. At both the third and the fifth there are plateau +greens, and the latter especially has the quality--so characteristic +of the old course--of demanding that the shot be played exactly right. +Most of the greens, however, are quite ordinary, and lack that +priceless gift of being naturally protected by their own conformation. + +Mr. Low has written that "the new course is probably the second course +in Scotland," but I cannot help thinking that here he is a little too +enthusiastic. If we were to light upon the course somewhere else than +at St. Andrews, no doubt we should do it ampler justice than we do +now, when it is so completely overshadowed, but should we declare it +better than Prestwick, to name only one other famous Scottish course? +Personally I do not think so. + +No doubt the new course does suffer some considerable injustice, and +always will do so. It has 'relief course' plainly written all over it. +On the last occasion on which I played there the daisies were growing +freely, and daisies, though extremely charming things in themselves, +are not pleasant to putt over, and do not give a workman-like air to +a course. It is a pity, because it is a good course, and we should +be delighted to play over it anywhere else, but with the old course +there--well, it is a waste of time. + +Still there occasionally comes a time when we grow sick to death of the +crowding and waiting on the old course, and then we are glad enough to +steal away on to the new course and have a round, which will probably +be at any rate a comparatively quick one. We cross the burn; walk +through the middle of the putting course, where are many ladies armed +with wooden putters (since the sacrilegious cleek is wholly forbidden), +and tee off not far from where they are playing to the second hole on +the old course. + +The first two holes are not at all exciting, but the course improves +as we go along. Three is a good hole, and five is an excellent short +one, with a most difficult iron-shot on to a plateau green. Nine, +again, is rather an attractive little hole, although there are two +opinions about this; a very accurate drive between bents and sand, +followed by rather a blind pitch on to a sunk green. Personally I like +it, though it is not at all the type of hole one expects to find at +St. Andrews, nor, for that matter, is the tenth. This is nevertheless +a really fine one, running down a narrow gorge between two ranges of +hills, with a fine, slashing second shot with the brassey, albeit more +or less a blind one. The twelfth is as good as the eleventh is weak, +and sixteen and eighteen are both long and difficult, but the two short +holes, thirteen and seventeen, are decidedly not exciting. Quite good, +difficult golf it is, but the "second course in Scotland"--no. Perhaps +it might be, but, my dear Mr. Low, I am sure on reflection you will +admit that, in fact, it isn't. + +Though St. Andrews naturally enough dwarfs them all, there are other +courses, and fine courses, in Fife. There is Elie, which has produced +at least three very great golfers indeed, Douglas Rolland, Jack Simpson +and James Braid; and there are also, amongst others, Crail and Leven. +Leven, a truly charming course, has, alas! ceased to exist in its old +form. Nine of the old holes now belong to a new and reconstituted +Leven, and the other nine belong to Lundin Links. It is a sad pity, +but the difficulty of two different starting places made it in these +crowded times inevitable. + +Forfarshire, too, is a county of many courses. Barry, Broughty Ferry, +Edzell, Monifieth, Montrose, and, best known of all, Carnoustie. +=Carnoustie= is comparatively unknown, save by name, to the English +golfer, but very popular indeed in its own country. So much so that +its popularity has rendered necessary an auxiliary course, and the +auxiliary course has taken a piece of good golfing ground that could +ill be spared. It is a fine, big, open sandy seaside course; very +natural in appearance; and in places, indeed, natural almost to the +verge of roughness; but it is none the worse for that, however, and +indeed it is altogether a very delightful course. + +There is one curious feature, in that the taking in of some new ground +has caused one hole to be of a completely inland character. Certainly +this hole seems at first sight to be dragged in by the heels, but we +readily forgive it its inland character, because it is really a very +good hole indeed. This is number seven, 'South America' by name. It is +a good long hole, well over four hundred yards in length, and the green +is on an island guarded by a ditch. The soil is completely inland in +character--the green once formed part of an old garden--and as if to +emphasize that fact, a solitary tree has been left as a hazard, and +naturally plays a prominent part in the landscape. + + [Illustration: CARNOUSTIE + '_South America_'] + +Burns, _anglice_ streams, are a great feature of Carnoustie. Indeed one +friend of mine returned from a visit there declaring that he had got +burns badly on his nerves, and that the entire course was irrigated by +them. However, it is not so much burns as sandhills that are likely +to cause our downfall at the beginning. Of these hilly holes, +the second, by name the 'Valley,' is a really fine one, and decidedly +one of the best on the course. It is dog-legged in character, and has +a distinct flavour of some of the holes at Prince's, since with the +tee-shot the player carries just as much of the hill in front of him as +he dares, and gains a proper advantage for a bold and successful shot. +The drive is directed towards a guide flag on a hill top, and if all +goes well we are over in the valley. Then follows a beautiful second +shot up a narrow neck, with a bunker on the left and other trouble on +the right; 385 yards is the Valley's length, and Bogey does the hole +in four. It is certainly one of the holes that he plays in his best +form, for he very often takes five over holes that are no longer and +not nearly so difficult or so interesting. Of the other holes on the +way out, most are decidedly long, except the fifth, which is a simple +enough short hole, and 'South America,' before described, is as good as +any of them. + +On the way home there is a somewhat awe-inspiring second shot at +the tenth, where we have to carry a hill, out of the face of which +two bunkers have been cut out and appropriately christened the +'Spectacles.' The twelfth has a pleasing name, 'Jockey's Burn,' and +the thirteenth has a pleasing putting green. The fourteenth, by name +the 'Flagstaff,' is a good long and narrow hole, where the hills crowd +in close upon us, and we must keep straight along the valley. The best +hole on the way home, however, is probably the sixteenth, or 'Island,' +where there is but one way to secure an easy and comfortable approach, +and that consists of pushing your tee-shot out to the right so that the +ball comes to rest upon a very narrow neck. Take an easier route from +the tee, and you will be left with as unpleasant a pitch as need be, +and the greedy waters of a burn running between you and the hole. Burns +play an important part at both the last two holes also, for one has to +be carried from the seventeenth tee and another menaces the pitch on +to the home green. There really is some justification for the nervous +golfer who has water on the brain after a round at Carnoustie. + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + +THE COURSES OF THE EAST LOTHIAN AND +EDINBURGH. + + +There is probably no other golfing centre that is quite so good as +=Gullane=, in the East Lothian. If the golfer can only get up early +enough in the morning, and has the strength to do it, he can play on +seven courses on one long summer's day. At his very door is a trinity +of courses--Gullane, New Gullane, and New Luffness--which, to the eye +of the stranger, are indistinguishable the one from the other. From +Gullane Hill to the Luffness Club-house is one huge stretch of turf, +and such turf! the finest, smoothest, and most delicate that ever was +seen. It has been said of various people--I do not know who was the +original subject--that nobody could be so wise as so-and-so looked; +likewise, it might be said that no greens could be so good as the +Gullane and Luffness greens look. Nevertheless, they are very good +indeed, and so is the golf. + +Till quite lately there was a marked distinction between the two +Gullane courses. The new course was long, testing, and difficult; +the old course was a place of divine putting greens and pretty +pitching shots; but it made no great demands on the athletic powers +of its devotees. There was no more delightful course in the world for +those whose game consists, to quote the _Golfer's Manual_, written +in 1857, in "Spooning a ball gently on to a table of smooth turf, +when a longer shot would land them in grief." Now all this has been +changed--the course has burst forth into new life and length, and its +older and gentler and, possibly, more lovable qualities have gone. It +was inevitable that there should be some to regret the change, but +the result is now that the visitor to Gullane has two really fine, +difficult courses at his own front door, both over 6000 yards long. The +old course runs right down to the sea, and there are fine views of the +Firth of Forth, while, from the new course, we look at another charming +view in Aberlady Bay. + +Close to the two Gullane courses, a little further in the direction of +Aberlady, is New Luffness, another admirable course. Here we must keep +most particularly straight, for the fairway is narrow, and there is +plenty of rough at the sides, including some particularly pernicious +objects (I am no botanist, and do not know their names) which have +tall, wiry stalks and sadly impede the club. + +It is really a beautiful bit of natural golfing country, and we are +far enough away from the houses of Gullane to enjoy a perfect sense of +peace and quietude. Not far off, again, is Kilspindie, on the west side +of Aberlady Bay, another charming spot where we may play golf that is +good without being too desperately difficult. + + [Illustration: GULLANE + _The sixth green and seventh tee_] + +We must get back to Gullane, however, where at the far end of the +village, on the road to North Berwick, is a course of greater fame +than any of those I have mentioned--=Muirfield=, the home of the +Honourable Company of Edinburgh golfers, and one of the select band of +championship courses. =Muirfield= has had rather a chequered career +in regard to public estimation, and has been at different times very +violently abused, partly because the Honourable Company, in leaving +Musselburgh, took the championship with them away from its ancient +home: partly on account of the intrinsic merits or demerits of the +links. The Open Championship was for the first time played at Muirfield +in 1892, and it is possible that the course was hardly good enough or +long enough for a championship course. Certainly the score with which +the championship was won was phenomenally low for those days of gutty +balls. It was altogether a memorable championship, for several reasons; +it marked the beginning of the decline of Musselburgh, it was played +for the first time over 72 instead of 36 holes, and it was won by an +amateur, Mr. Hilton. That change from one to two days' play may be +said to have robbed another great amateur of the honour of being open +champion, for at the end of the first day Mr. Horace Hutchinson had a +handsome lead. On the second day, alas! an unfortunate encounter with +that fatal wood at the very first hole was the beginning of a series +of disasters. There is always something bitterly hard about being the +first to suffer through a reform, however excellent it may be in the +abstract, and I have always felt dreadfully sorry for Mr. Hutchinson. + +However, one amateur's loss was another's gain, and Mr. Hilton, after +being eight strokes behind on the first day, came away with a wonderful +game on the second, nearly doing the first hole in one, holing two +pitches, and racing so fast round the course as nearly to be the death +of an ancient partner. It is interesting to read in Mr. Hilton's +reminiscences that it was only two days before the event that he +decided to enter for this momentous championship, and that his course +of training consisted of three rounds in one day immediately following +a night journey. Here is a fine chance for a confusion of thought +between cause and effect. + +Muirfield has been a good deal altered since then, and, if it will +never be among the most prepossessing of courses, it is now both sound +and interesting, while, given any appreciable amount of wind, it is +thoroughly difficult. It is curious that it has but little outward +attractions. There is a fine view of the sea and a delightful sea +wood, with the trees all bent and twisted by the wind; then, too, it +is a solitary and peaceful spot, and a great haunt of the curlews, +whom one may see hovering over a championship crowd and crying eerily +amid a religious silence. All this is charming, but there is a fatal +stone wall that runs round the course, giving the impression of an +inland park, and it is, I believe, this purely sentimental objection +that has brought Muirfield so many detractors. Not that there are +not or have not been other objections of a more practical kind. The +course has twice had to be lengthened, and there was, moreover, a +time when the ground near the edges of the greens was very spongy +and uncertain in character. The greens are rather small--this is +entirely a virtue--and, consequently, there are many little chips +and running shots to be played; these, when the greens were hard and +the surrounding country was soft, were apt to travel upon the wings +of chance, and there were many lamentations. Now, however, the ground +has hardened considerably, and at the last Amateur Championship there +were no complaints on this score, although the greens themselves were +difficult and, indeed, almost tricky. + + [Illustration: MUIRFIELD + _The fourth and fourteenth greens_] + +On a calm day it may be urged that there are not enough long second +shots, and that there are too many holes of rather similar length, +which can be reached with a drive and a moderate pitching shot. +Certainly, on the very still, warm days that preceded the Amateur +Championship of 1909, the golf appeared rather easy, and every +self-respecting person was coming in to lunch having done his 75 or 76, +but as soon as any breeze sprang up, there was a very different story +to tell. For one thing, the tee-shots in a wind impose a continual +strain. Sunningdale, Walton Heath, Worplesdon, and other inland courses +have their endless avenues of heather and fir trees, but at none of +them, I fancy, is the fairway quite so narrow as at Muirfield, and a +whole round without a single tee-shot going astray into the rough is +something to be proud of. I have heard one of the most accomplished of +wooden club players confess that a week at Muirfield had frightened him +out of his driving, and only the ampler spaces of North Berwick gave +him back his courage. + +The rough consists of thick, coarse grass, and there is, of course, a +measure of chance in the lies that one may get; one may be able to use +a brassey, but a niblick is infinitely the more likely club. When Mr. +Herman de Zoete played so finely in the championship of 1903, it was +said, mainly as an argument against the rubber ball, that he was never +on the course at all, but it must be remembered that he was holing out +quite wonderfully well, and he is, moreover, gifted with exceptional +powers in the way of moving mountains of long grass. For weaker +brethren many excursions into the rough are almost certain to be fatal. + +Muirfield is one of the comparatively few courses that begin with +a one-shot hole, with the result that the starting of a round is +rather a slow business, since there is wood to the left and some +alluring bunkers to the right, and the erratic are likely to be an +unconscionable time a-playing. Never was there a greater necessity to +resist the temptation to pull than there is at the second; instinct +keeps calling in our ears for a glorious, long hook, and there is +nothing so likely to prove fatal. It is one of those puzzling shots +where we drive at a wide angle on to a narrow fairway, whence, if +all goes well, a good iron shot will land the ball on to a very +well-guarded green, fast in pace and billowy in conformation. It is +a capital four-hole, and so is the third, which is really a splendid +example of how good a hole of no particular length can be. In the first +place, we must hit straight, and we must also be exceedingly careful +not to hit too far. If, indeed, we can send the ball flying like an +arrow from the bow, we may make for the little narrow neck, where +safety lies; but it is far more probable that our ball will trickle +gently down hill to the left, where a stream and a surrounding marsh +await it. Save, therefore, when with a strong wind behind we may hope +to get over all our troubles with one vast blow, we must play prudently +from the tee with an iron club, and we shall still be able to reach the +green very comfortably in our second. It is a slippery, elusive, and +vindictive sort of green, however, full of unexpected quicknesses and +slownesses, and it is one thing to be there in two and quite another to +be down in four: altogether a very interesting hole to see played by +somebody else. + +Of the next few holes, the fifth is perhaps the outstanding one, on +account of its length: the others are all of them good and all of them, +as regards length, much of a muchness. We remember a different feature +at each of them--the big carry over the boarded bunker at the sixth, +the pond at the seventh, and the tall sandhill, rising rather abruptly +in front of the tee, at the ninth--but we generally have the same +iron club in our hands for the second shot. At the eleventh, however, +we come to a really splendid hole, at which each shot has infinite +terrors. The tee-shot has to be played down a narrow spit of land, with +thick, rough grass on the right, a bunker encroaching on the left, and +a continuation of the same bunker straight ahead of us. Nor must the +ubiquitous wall, also on the left, be entirely despised. The very least +hook will plunge us into the left-hand end of the bunker, a slice means +the long grass, and a very long, straight ball may go too far and +meet a sandy fate. The shot is so narrow and frightening that it is no +sign of cowardice to take a cleek, but then a very long second shot is +necessary, unless the wind is strong behind, in order to get home. This +second shot, too, is fraught with almost equal perils, for the wall to +the left comes very decidedly into the range of practical politics, and +there is a long bunker to the right. It is a hole at which one need +never despair, and I wish I could remember accurately the exact number +of balls Mr. Harold Hambro hit over the wall in 1903 and yet won the +hole from Mr. Edward Blackwell. + +The twelfth needs a high carrying second over a deep bunker; and the +thirteenth has one of the most terrifying tee-shots that I know along +a narrow strath, with bunkers on either side. Moreover, not only is +it necessary to hit straight, but it is intensely profitable to hit +a long way, for if we can only hit far enough, we may play a running +shot on to that sliding, sloping green, whereas if we have to pitch +on to the slope over the corner of the right-hand bunker, a five is, +to put it mildly, far more likely than a three. The fifteenth, again, +is a beautiful drive and pitch hole, with a number of alternative +routes, all of which want accurate hitting, and all leading up to a +most difficult approach shot. At the sixteenth we play short of a huge +cross-bunker in our second, unless we are taking serious risks; and at +the seventeenth our second shot is once more a tricky pitch on to a +sloping green. I do not think I ever saw a hole better played than Mr. +Maxwell played this seventeenth in the final of the championship of +1909, when he stood one down with two to play. The only way in which +he was in the least likely to get the three, that he needed so sorely, +was to play his pitch along a certain gully that led to the hole. In +order to get at that gully, he had to play his tee-shot well away to +the left, keeping as close as he dared to the left-hand rough. He +played the shot perfectly, 'pinching' the rough successfully, and was +left with a pitch straight up the gully: played that perfectly too: was +left with a putt of some four feet, and holed it. The strokes were so +clearly intended, and so bravely played, and in all human probability +they made the difference between Mr. Maxwell winning or losing the +championship. + +Finally, the last hole is a good, honest, two-shot hole straight up +to the club-house, with a trench bunker right across the course. In +respect to this hole, golfing history gives rather an interesting +example of the difference between the gutty and the rubber-core. When +Vardon won his first championship, he was left, at this hole, with a +four to win and a five to tie with Taylor. He debated long over his +second shot, and then played short with his iron, got his five, and +made sure of the tie--a tie which, as all the world knows, he won. +Nowadays, comparatively modest hitters often get home with iron clubs, +and it would need a very stiff wind to deter Vardon from attacking that +big bunker with his second. It is rather salutary for us sometimes to +be reminded of how much we owe to the rubber-cored ball, and Muirfield +is a course that is continually dinning the fact into our ears. There +are so many holes there that would be so much harder for the moderate +driver if he had to drive a solid ball; he could be dreadfully out of +conceit with himself at the end of the round. + +It is quite a short drive--not with a club--from Muirfield to =North +Berwick=, but there is none of that resemblance between the courses +that one might expect between such near neighbours. Muirfield may be +called a narrow course of soft turf; North Berwick an open course of +hard turf. Moreover, one may chance to have Muirfield to one's self +and the curlews, whereas at North Berwick are to be found all the +advantages or disadvantages of a fashionable watering-place. Whatever +may be thought of their respective merits from a strictly golfing +point of view, it can hardly be gainsayed that North Berwick has the +best of it in point of looks. No golf course could look lovelier than +North Berwick on a bright summer's day, when the Bass rock, the home +of many gannets, is shining brilliantly white in the sunshine and only +holiday-making man is entirely vile. + + [Illustration: NORTH BERWICK + _The second tee_] + +No course has ever undergone a more complete metamorphosis, for whereas +it is now long enough for any reasonable person, it was once noted for +the abnormal number of threes that could be done in one round. Mr. +Hutchinson wrote in the Badminton of the "sporting little links of +North Berwick," and added "You might just as well leave your driver +at home. If you are even a medium driver, it is scarcely ever in your +hand." Incredible scores were recorded by Mr. Laidlay and Bernard +Sayers, perhaps the most astounding being Mr. Laidlay's 33 for the +first ten holes. Such a course was almost bound to produce a race of +wonderfully adroit pitchers. Of the older generation, Mr. Laidlay and +Sayers are still almost as good as ever, and the race of fine pitchers +is not extinct, for amongst others there is Mr. Maxwell, whose obvious +power rather blinds the unobservant eye to his beautiful short game; +and Mr. Whitecross, a player much less well known, but a wonderfully +deft wielder of the mashie. Mr. Whitecross's pitching at Muirfield +in 1909 more nearly approached the supernatural than anything I have +ever seen. If I remember aright, he actually holed two pitches in his +matches with Mr. Angus Hambro and Mr. W. A. Henderson, and laid the ball +several times on the lip of the hole; one shot in particular against +Mr. Hambro, wherein the ball trickled very slowly down the steep slope +of the seventeenth green and lay absolutely dead, was the most perfect +shot conceivable, and was played, besides, at an intensely critical +moment. + +It would seem, therefore, that though North Berwick is no longer short, +it is still an exceptionally good school in which to learn the art of +approaching. There is even now a good deal of approaching to do, and +the man who is driving well may hope to reach the green fairly often +with pitching shots of varying length. For these shots not only is +plenty of skill essential, but a measure of local knowledge is also +useful, and the unaccustomed stranger is apt to think and say that +it is possible in two successive rounds to play the approach shots +equally well with vastly different results. + +Personally, I have a considerable respect for North Berwick, born +of fear and conscious incompetence. I always have that respectful +feeling towards a course where the ground is a little hard and bumpy. +Given soft, velvety turf, one should be able, to a certain extent, to +disguise one's weakness, for it is then an easy matter to get the ball +well into the air, and the short putts may be firmly hit. When the +turf is bare, one has to do all the work one's self, and though North +Berwick has not the uncompromising hardness of St. Andrews, neither +has it any of the kindly and flattering qualities of Sandwich. The +unheeding multitude cut out many divots and leave a good many difficult +lies behind them, and the ball will very easily run away from one on +the putting green; indeed, at Point Garry, it is apt, if too vigorously +struck, to run into the sea. + +It is a terrible place this double green of Point Garry, worn, +bare, and sloping down to the rocks and the beach, and we come to +it, besides, at two of the most agitating moments of the round; +at the first hole, when we have not had quite enough golf, and at +the seventeenth, when, if the match has been a fierce one, we have +perhaps had too much. Our terror is perhaps less acute at the first +hole, because we are then playing on the part of the green that is +furthest from the sea; but even so great trouble may befall us. I +always remember a newspaper account of Mr. Balfour, when he was Prime +Minister, playing in a medal at North Berwick. "The premier," so it +ran, "made an unfortunate start: put his second on the rocks and took +eight to the hole." We ought, generally speaking, to do better than +eight; indeed, we may hope for a three--that is to say, if we are +playing from the forward tee, and the wind is not against us. Then we +carry the road and reach the green in one most excellent shot, but if +the circumstances are at all unfavourable, we shall doubtless do better +to play short from the tee with an iron club and be well content with a +four. + +The second and third are both fine holes, and at the second we have +an added interest in the possibility of killing some one upon the +sea-shore. With a fine long shot we may hope to carry a portion of the +beach that eats its way into the course, but it is not well to be too +adventurous; anything approaching a slice will leave us playing niblick +shots among the pebbles and nurserymaids, and we can play reasonably +well to the left and yet hope to get home next time with a well-struck +second. At the third, when we carry the wall in our second, we may +be content with a five, though a four is not impossible, and then a +rather unusual hazard awaits us at the hole called 'Carl Kemp.' If we +drive straight we shall have a sufficiently easy pitch to play, but +the green lies in a narrow pass, with rocks on either side, and no one +can predict the fate of a ball that pitches upon a rock; it may bound +incredibly both as regards distance and direction. + +Soon after this we get into a country of flat and, if the truth be +told, rather dull holes. Of the holes at this end of the course, it +may be said that they are good enough when the wind is against, but +they never can be very thrilling. Even the quarry and the eel burn, +though they help to fix them in the mind, cannot make us love them very +passionately; and as for the ninth, when we drive down to the edge of +a cross-bunker and then chip over on to the green, that, I vow, is a +thoroughly commonplace and uninteresting hole. It has some compensation +to offer, in that it is the chosen pitch of a purveyor of ginger beer; +it was here that the famous Crawford used to abide, and no hole could +be entirely dull with Crawford on the tee. + +It is not till we reach the wall that we come to a hole that makes a +very strong appeal to the imagination. Here we shall have to play a +cunning little pitch in our best North Berwick manner, for the green +lies immediately beyond the wall, and we must contrive to stop the ball +reasonably dead with our mashie. We can, however, make the shot more +or less difficult, according as we drive well or ill. If we can hold +the ball well to the left--close, but not too close under the wall--we +shall have more room to pitch, and may hope for a putt for three; but a +drive pushed far out to the right makes it almost impossible to stop at +all near the hole next time. + +'Perfection' and 'The Redan' are two very famous names, and the 'Redan' +is one of the select holes, the features of which have been more or +less faithfully reproduced on the National Golf Course on Long Island, +U. S. A. First of the two comes 'Perfection,' the fourteenth, a very fine +two-shot hole. With the tee-shot we must hug as closely as we dare +the side of a big hill on the left, and if we fall into the opposite +extreme, we may slice our ball among the rocks of 'Carl Kemp.' All +being well, we have a reasonably easy second over a bunker; but we +cannot see where we are going, and have the uncanny feeling that we +are hitting straight into the sea. The 'Redan' is a beautiful one-shot +hole on the top of a plateau, with a bunker short of the green to the +left and another further on to the right, and we must vary our mode of +attack according to the wind, playing a shot to come in from the right +or making a direct frontal attack. + +At the sixteenth we cross the wall once more, and may hope to reach in +two shots the 'Gate' hole, standing on another plateau--an exceedingly +diminutive one, by the way--close to the high road. Now we arrive at +that most destructive of holes, 'Point Garry,' and even if we do not, +like Mr. Balfour, make an unfortunate start, we are very likely to +make an unfortunate ending. In our second shot we shall have to decide +whether or not to carry a bunker that stretches across our path, and +then comes the crucial shot, the approach on to that dreadful green +that slopes right away from us to the sea--without the ghost of a +charitable back wall. It is so frightening that we are strongly tempted +to approach it on the instalment system, and it is really wonderful how +many instalments may be necessary, as with limbs palsied with terror, +we push and poke the ball over that treacherous and slippery surface. +'Point Garry' safely over, the last hole seems absurdly simple, and, if +we do not top into the road or pull into Hutchison's shop, we should +end with a four; indeed, our putt for a possible three should not be a +very long one. When all is over, we shall almost certainly agree that +the best golf at North Berwick is to be found at the beginning and end +of the course, but we could hardly bear it if all the holes were as +exciting as 'Point Garry.' Those flat holes at the far end serve, no +doubt, a useful, though unobtrusive, purpose. + +So much for the East Lothian courses, but while we are within hail +of Edinburgh, we must pay a visit to =Musselburgh=, the home of +the Parks and once the home of the championship, now shorn of its +honour, and little more than a name to English golfers. The way to +Musselburgh lies for the most part through factory chimneys and slag +heaps, nor is the first glimpse of the course much more prepossessing +than the surrounding scenery. It looks like an ordinary common on the +outskirts of a town, rather flat, and devoid of features, rather hard +and rough, not unlike in character that blank stretch of turf at St. +Andrews which lies between the club-house and the burn. Yet if, after +we have played over the course, we adhere to this our first view, we +shall show ourselves to be persons of superficial minds and of little +discernment. It is true that there are comparatively few hazards, and +that we ought, therefore, not to get into many of them; but, at the +same time, it will gradually dawn upon us that nearly every hole has a +governing hazard, to which we must pay due regard--one that will direct +our policy for us whether we like it or not. We must not let ourselves +be lulled into a sense of false security by the fact that we have +occasionally a whole parish to drive into. There is a right line and +a wrong line, and if we are very fortunate, or very highly honoured, +we may have it pointed out to us and our clubs carried for us by Bob +Ferguson, who won the championship three times running, and might have +won it a fourth time if Willy Fernie had not done the last hole at +Musselburgh in two. + + [Illustration: MUSSELBURGH + '_Mrs. Forman's_'] + +There are but nine holes at Musselburgh, and the whole area of the +links is extremely small. The first three holes go along the entire +length of the course on the right-hand side; then comes one hole +across, four down the left side, and then one more across the other +end. Of these nine, the first three are as good holes as you can desire +to meet anywhere, whether you play them with a stone-hard gutty, as +did the reverent pilgrims of the Oxford and Cambridge Golfing Society, +or with the soft and bounding rubber-core. The first rejoices in the +cheerful name of the 'Graves,' owing to the conformation of the putting +green, which, with its many little barrows, is like a grass-grown +burial-ground. Here two good shots should reach the green, and two +very good putts may reach the bottom of the hole. For the second we +shall need a five, although a vast hitter may get home with two of his +very best. The green is a small plateau at the end of a valley that +is long and shallow and narrow, and if we can place the ball with our +second shot on exactly the right place, we should have an easy run up +and a putt for four; if we are not in the right place, we must play +a difficult approach well in order to get a five. Next comes another +hole with a famous name--'Mrs. Forman's'--and we approach Mrs. Forman's +tavern with two shots to the left, followed by a run up, or--more +perilously--by two shots on the dead straight line. By the latter +method we may, indeed, get home in two, but we may also be under the +posts of the race-course or in an electric tram-car, or in a variety of +bunkers, and it may be added that they do not pamper us at Musselburgh +by raking the bunkers or trimming the steep over-hanging cliffs thereof. + +The fourth is a long one-shot hole in a seaward direction, and the next +is 'Pandy.' 'Pandy' itself is now a flat, ugly bit of hard, dirty sand, +and if we do get into it, we should lie well enough to get a long way +out again, unless, indeed, we should be so unfortunate as to lie in a +tin-pot or a derelict boot. The green is one of which Willy Park has +made two famous copies--one at the fifteenth at Huntercombe, the other +the eighth at Worplesdon. Whereas, however, there is usually a generous +growth of velvety grass on the Huntercombe green, the original green at +Musselburgh is of a terrifying keenness. The seventh is a shortish hole +of no great interest, and the eighth is the 'Gas Works,' which can be +reached with a drive and a run up, and has a green which, like most of +the others at Musselburgh, seems to accentuate any putting error in an +exemplary fashion. Finally, for the ninth and last, there is another +short hole, having a big plateau green protected in front by a wavy +bank. Some will play to pitch at the bottom of the bank and run up; +others to toss the ball high and boldly on to the green. The latter +is probably preferable for those whose ambition does not soar above a +three, but those who spurn safety and aim at twos will adopt the former +plan. Thus ends Musselburgh, which can be compassed in some 35 strokes +or less, but will probably cost us appreciably more, for neither the +lies nor the greens are easy, and it is extremely easy to drop strokes. + +To the English golfer there is something incongruous in the idea of +an inland course in Scotland. He goes there for his holidays, and so +naturally chooses a seaside course; but Scotland possesses a number +of inhabitants who are not always making holiday, and cannot go to +the sea as often as they would like, wherefore the necessity for this +seeming incongruity. Of the inland Scottish courses, probably the best +known is =Barnton=, near Edinburgh, the home of a golf club of great +antiquity and renown, the Edinburgh Burgess Golfing Society, who rank +in seniority second only to the Royal Blackheath Club. + +The Barnton estate consists of a fine old house and a park, with +splendid trees, which was once known as Cramond Regis, and was +a hunting seat of the kings of Scotland. From royalty it passed +successively into the hands of several noble Scottish families, till +it fell into those of the Edinburgh Burgesses, when they decided to +leave Musselburgh. That move took place in comparatively modern times, +but before that golf had been played in the park by at least one very +distinguished golfer, Robert Clark, who wrote _Golf: a Royal and +Ancient Game_. He was at one time tenant of Barnton House, and, as I +learn from an interesting article by Mr. James Purves, had some holes +cut, including one which necessitated a drive right over the house. +When he was annoyed with his game at Musselburgh, he would declare that +he had a far better course at his own door. + +Whether he would have upheld that pronouncement in cool blood is +perhaps to be doubted, for the best park golf in the world cannot +attain beyond a certain point, and Barnton is pure park golf. Still, +it has undoubtedly many merits, and not least among them is that the +greens are as good and true as any in the world. That at least is the +general opinion, and I see no reason to doubt it. I cannot, on the +other hand, confirm it, because I have only played at Barnton on a +Sunday, and the Scottish conscience, although it will let you play, +will not let the greens be swept for you, and Sunday golf at Barnton, +therefore, involves some encounters with worm casts. It also involves, +or did when last I went there, a drive out of Edinburgh with one's +clubs elaborately hidden under horse-cloths and rugs. The principle, +however, was that of the ostrich who buries his head in the sand, or +rather its exact converse, for the most sedulous burying of the bodies +of the clubs did not prevent the head peeping out and so advising all +church-going Edinburgh of one's scandalous project. + +It is easy to see that on week days the course must be in absolutely +apple-pie order, and that it lacks nothing that the hand of man +could do for it. Nearly all the holes want good, straight, accurate +play; but, as is the case with this type of golf, they make no +passionate appeal to the imagination. There is a nice tee-shot from +a height at the ninth, where two really good shots down a valley +should take us home; and the eleventh, sixteenth, and seventeenth all +want long and straight hitting. At the thirteenth a pleasing variety +is introduced in the matter of hazards by two old tombstones, which +may catch a badly pulled ball. These, according to Mr. Purves, are +memorials of an overflow from the parish churchyard at Cramond at the +time of the plague. + + [Illustration: BARNTON + _Park golf in Scotland_] + +Barnton is a great resort of the lawyers of Edinburgh, and there +is a nice little joke with a legal flavour to it at the end of the +candidate's application for membership, wherein, after declaring that +he is an "ardent admirer and player of the ancient and manly game of +golf," he concludes, "and your petitioner will ever play." What is +more, he has got to play in his club uniform, a red coat and a black +velvet cap--he is fined if he doesn't--and very pretty the red coats +look on a summer day amid the pleasant greenery of Barnton. + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + +WEST OF SCOTLAND: PRESTWICK AND TROON. + + +Gullane is usually cited as the headquarters from which it is possible +to play the largest number of rounds in one day, each round being on a +different course, but it is by no means certain that the distinction +which is thus given to East Lothian does not really belong to +Prestwick and Troon. As one approaches Prestwick, the train seems to +be voyaging through one endless and continuous golf course--Gailes, +Barassie, Bogside--I write them down pell-mell as they come into my +head--Prestwick, St. Nicholas, St. Cuthbert, Troon, and several more +beside. Moreover, Troon "surprises by himself," a prodigious assemblage +of courses. There is the course proper, and there is the 'relief' +course; there is another course, which may be termed the 'super-relief' +course; and there are various practice grounds consecrated to +women and children. The turf is something softer--at least in my +imagination--than that of the East Coast courses, and the greens are +wonderfully green and velvety, and looking as if they get plenty of +rain, as in fact they do. + +Of all this galaxy of courses, =Prestwick= is first and foremost. It +is the original home of the Open Championship, one of the championship +courses of to-day, and admittedly one of the best of them. A man is +probably less likely to be contradicted in lauding Prestwick than in +singing the praises of any other course in Christendom. There are +probably more people who would put St. Andrews absolutely at the +top of the tree, but, whereas nearly everyone would rank Prestwick +in the first three, the Fifeshire course has a certain number of +bitter enemies who rank it very low indeed. One might almost say that +Prestwick has no enemies; everyone admires it, though, naturally, with +slightly different degrees of enthusiasm. To say of a human being that +he has no enemies is almost to insinuate that he is just a little +bit colourless and insipid; but those adjectives have certainly no +application to Prestwick, which has a very decided character of its own. + +Nowhere is to be found a more beautiful stretch of what is called +"natural golfing country." The ordinary golfer, whose head is not +too full of modern architectural ideas, would jump with joy on first +beholding Prestwick. There is nothing subtle or recondite about it; +it has a beauty which explains itself. There are the great sandhills +bristling with bents and the little nestling valleys beyond them, a +rushing burn and a stone wall, and it is perfectly clear that man was +meant to hit the ball over them. All the ground on the near side of +the wall, which is the ground of the old twelve-hole course, is of +this glorious 'natural' character. "Hullo," says the player, "here's +a hill: let's drive over it." Yet, although it is a little blind +and has a measure of what Mr. Hutchinson has euphemistically termed +"pleasurable uncertainty," it is for the most part incontestibly fine +golf. "Like Sandwich, only much better," I have heard it described; +but I dislike this slandering and backbiting at poor, dear Sandwich. +In one respect, however, it may be permissible to make a comparison +very much in favour of Prestwick, that is in the size of the greens. On +both courses we hit the ball over a high hill, but whereas at Prestwick +we must hit it straight, unless we wish to be left with the trickiest +and hardest of little pitches, at Sandwich a far more than reasonably +crooked shot may yet land the ball on the edge of a vast green, where a +bang with the wooden putter will make up for our deficiencies. + +When once the wall is crossed, and what was once called the new ground +is reached, the character of the ground changes considerably. There +are, it is true, two blind and mountainous tee-shots over the famous +'Himalayas,' but they appear rather esoteric than otherwise. The holes +on the far side of the wall are in their nature essentially flat, and +in one or two instances a little artificial. As one plays the eighth +hole alongside the railway by Monkton Station, one cannot repress the +feeling that one might as well have stayed inland. Well bunkered and +difficult enough is that particular hole, and yet so utterly lacking in +the least breath of the sea, and the fairway is just a smooth avenue +mowed out of a big field. Still some others of these flattish holes--I +shall come to them in their proper places--are undoubtedly very +fine holes, and if anyone likes to say that they are in reality better +golf than those within the wall, we may still respect his judgment and +regard him as a man and brother. Equally we may form a low estimate of +his appreciation of the beautiful and romantic, and remain perfectly +steadfast in our own allegiance to the 'Alps,' the 'Cardinal,' and the +'Sea-He'therick.' + + [Illustration: PRESTWICK + _Looking back at the 'Alps'_] + +The first hole is so good that, as with the first at Hoylake, it is +a pity that we have to play it while we are still, perhaps, a little +stiff and nervous. The crime against which we have chiefly to be on our +guard is that of slicing, for the railway runs along the entire length +of the hole on the right-hand side, quite unpleasantly near us. We must +not hook either, for rough country awaits the ball hit unduly far to +the left, and, indeed, the shot is such a narrow one that there are +some strong hitters who advocate the taking of a cleek from the tee. +The second shot may be described on a calm day as a longish pitch, and +there is a big bunker in front of the green, rough ground and a sandy +road behind, the railway to the right, and tenacious undergrowth to +the left. There is apt to be an engine snorting loudly on the other +side of the wall just as we are playing a critical and curly putt, +and the said putt is none the easier from the engine having liberally +besprinkled the green with cinders. Altogether, we shall have done +good work if we get a four, and what a hole to do in three, when it is +the thirty-seventh, as did Mr. John Ball in his great final with Mr. +Tait--as good a hole under the circumstances that I ever saw played in +my life. + +The second is quite one of the shortest of short holes on any +first-class course, but it is not a bit easy, for a bunker behind the +green has now been cut to reinforce the one in front, and the green is +generally very keen. + +The third is the 'Cardinal,' and has done a vast deal of mischief in +its time. A topped brassey shot into the cavernous recesses of the +bunker was generally thought to have cost Mr. Laidlay a championship +when he played Mr. Peter Anderson; and, to come to more modern times, +it was in this very same bunker that his supporters saw with horror the +great Braid trying to throw away the championship in 1908 by playing +a game of racquets against those ominous black boards. Yet, in the +ordinary way, if we can but hit a reasonably straight tee-shot, we +ought to send our second flying far over the Cardinal's sandy nob and a +good long way on towards the green. Then comes a delicate little pitch +over some hummocky ground, or, if we are lucky, a running-up shot, and +we find ourselves on a small green under the shadow of the wall, and +should obtain a respectable five; a four is, as a rule, the score of +heroes only. + +At the fourth we cross the wall with a drive that varies in direction +with our bravery and skill. If we are very brave, and very skilful, +we shall hit a ball with a suspicion of a slice that shall keep close +to the rushing waters of the burn, and shall be rewarded with an easy +pitch, and haply a putt for three. If we do not trust ourselves, we +shall give the burn a wide berth and pull far away to the left, where +we should still get a four--but only by means of a longer and harder +approach shot. + +The fifth is the 'Himalayas,' a hole of great fame, but no transcendent +merit. A good cleek shot should see us safely over this big hill and on +to the green on the other side, which is now guarded by pot-bunkers. +All these holes at Prestwick seem to have some tragedy connected with +them, and the 'Himalayas,' in all human probability, lost Mr. Hilton +his third Open Championship in 1898. Just one bad shot--he can hardly +have played another during the four rounds: but he made this one fatal +mistake with a club that was strange to him (he has told the sad story +himself), and took eight to the hole. Yet he finished in the end but +two strokes behind the winner, Harry Vardon, and at one time he had +actually caught him in this terrible stern chase. + +After the 'Himalayas' come several holes which do not, like the +earlier and later holes, cry aloud for description. The sixth has a +sufficiently difficult second on to a plateau green, and there is +fierce punishment for the slicer among the bents. The seventh is a long +short hole (this is such a convenient expression that it must pass), +with rushes to catch a slice; and of the eighth, which runs alongside +the railway, I have already said something. + +The ninth and tenth are really fine two-shot holes; as far as length +is concerned, there are none better on the course, and they are both +thoroughly difficult into the bargain. The green at the ninth is +especially attractive and difficult, consisting of a little hilly +peninsula of turf that seems to jut out from a mainland of rough +and bents. At the tenth we sidle along parallel with the range of +'Himalayas,' and at the eleventh we cross them with a drive--no cleek +this time--for we have to carry as well the burn that runs beyond them. +Then we turn our noses for home and make for the wall that we left +behind us at the fourth hole. We shall need two full shots, and then +a little chip on to a typical Prestwick green; long, narrow, and well +guarded by lumps and bumps of various shapes and sizes. If, perchance, +the wind is blowing very strongly behind us, we may try to carry the +wall in two, and the ball will very likely light on the coping of +the wall to bounce thence into unfathomable bents, while we are left +lamenting our lack of contemptible prudence. + +Now comes the 'Sea He'therick'--a charming hole with a charming name, +where the ball must be driven for the distance of two very full shots +along a sort of gully or channel between the sand and bents on the +right, and some rough and hillocky country to the left. There is a +narrow little green, with odd corners and angles sticking out and well +guarded by hummocks, so that if we do get a four we shall probably have +to lay a singularly deft little pitch close to the hole. A drive over +the 'Goose-dubs' brings us to a fairly ordinary fourteenth hole close +to the club, and we turn back to play the last four, the famous loop. + +The chief characteristic of the fifteenth is that no two persons are +agreed on the best way of playing it. We may lash out for death or +glory with a driver, or play short with the pusillanimous iron: we may +go out to the right, or away to the left, but wherever we try to go we +shall heave a sigh of relief if our ball finishes its agitating career +upon a piece of turf. Neither is the second an easy shot, for the green +is sloping and treacherous, and there are bunkers to right and left. +At the sixteenth--the 'Cardinal's Back'--there is an insidious little +pot-bunker in the middle of the course, and we must drive either to the +right or left of it, or perhaps, wisest of all, aim straight at it in +the sure and certain hope of a sufficient measure of inaccuracy. + +Now we come to the 'Alps,' one of the finest holes anywhere, and _the_ +finest blind hole in all the world. The drive must be hit straight and +true down a valley between two hills, and then comes the second, over +a vast grassy hill, beyond which we know that there is a bunker both +wide and deep. The ball may clear the hill and yet meet with a dreadful +fate, but there is glorious compensation in the fact that if we do +clear the chasm, we should be fairly near the hole, and may possibly +be putting for a three. With no wind and a rubber-cored ball there is +nothing very tremendous in the achievement, but nevertheless it is of +the tremendous order of holes, and it takes a stout-hearted man to get +a four there at all square and two to play. With a gutty ball it was +really a fine long, slashing carry, and to play short was sometimes +the better part of valour. Old Willy Park wrecked his chances of yet +another championship here in 1861, owing, to quote the appropriately +solemn words of the _Ayrshire Express_, to "a daring attempt to cross +the Alps in two, which brought his ball into one of the worst hazards +of the green, and cost him three strokes--by no means the first time +he has been seriously punished for similar avarice and temerity." It +was in this bunker also that Mr. Tait played his ever-famous shot out +of water, and Mr. Ball followed it with a superb niblick shot out of +hard wet sand, which is not half as famous as it ought to be. Truly the +'Alps' is a hole with a great history. + +After this the last hole is easy enough--a flat hole, just a little +too long for the ordinary mortal to reach from the tee, save with a +wind behind him. It can be reached, however, with a very fine shot, +and I shall never forget the scene at the Open Championship in 1908, +when Mr. Robert Andrew nearly holed it in one. It was in the qualifying +competition, and Mr. Andrew, a strong local favourite and a truly +magnificent player, had to do a two to equal Harry Vardon's record for +the course of 72. He struck a gorgeous blow, and the ball sailed away +straight as a die, and finished absolutely stone dead. With one wild +yell of joy the crowd broke away from the tee, and raced down the slope +for the green, even as the British square dashed down the hill after +the flying French guard at Waterloo. It was at once a most thrilling +and amusing spectacle. + +So ends Prestwick; and what a jolly course it is, to be sure! What a +jolly place to play, too, for we shall probably have had it reasonably +to ourselves. It shares with Muirfield, among the great Scottish +courses, the merit of being the private property of the club, and that +is a merit that grows greater every year. It is a beautiful spot, +moreover, and we may look at views of Arran and Ailsa Craig and the +Heads of Ayr if we can allow our attention to wander so far from the +game. + +Tradition and romance cluster thickly around Prestwick, for it was here +that old Tom Morris came in 1851--a little while after he and Allan +Robertson had had a difference of opinion about Tom having played with +the gutty ball. Here he stayed fourteen years before returning once and +for all to his beloved St. Andrews, and it was here that the immortal +Young Tom was born and first swung a precocious club. Prestwick was +the home of the championship belt, which was competed for there every +year from 1860 to 1870, when it passed into the permanent possession +of Young Tom, who had won it three times running. If by some potent +magic one could summon up the past at will, there is no golfing picture +that I should like to see so much as that of Tommy's third win; 149 +was his score for three rounds of the twelve-hole course, and he +finished twelve strokes ahead of the two men who tied for second place. +Whenever one is too much inclined to laud the golfers of the present +to the detriment of those of the past, it is always a wholesome thing +to remember that score of 149 round Prestwick. There must have been at +least one very great golfer in those days. + +The course at =Troon= is perhaps a little overshadowed by its more +famous neighbour, but it is a very fine course nevertheless, especially +since it has been lengthened of late years. It has, moreover, one +of the finest short holes to be found anywhere. Here dwells Willy +Fernie, and here it was that Braid and Herd went down so memorably +before Vardon and Taylor in the great foursome over four greens. The +Scottish pair left St. Andrews with a small advantage, but in Ayrshire +a terrible thing befell them. Taylor and Vardon won so many holes--the +number was well in double figures--that they came to the two English +courses, St. Anne's and Deal, with a lead that nothing but a second +miracle could take from them--and such miracles do not happen twice; it +was surely one of the most extraordinary day's play in all the history +of big matches. Troon, oddly enough, is one of the last places that one +would expect such a collapse to occur. We know that when the greens +are fast and fiery and not a little rough, a man who becomes afraid of +his putter can lose an unlimited number of holes, but the greens at +Troon are smooth and true, and of an almost velvety consistency that +encourage us to putt above our form. They are certainly one of the +features of the course. + + [Illustration: TROON + _The new short hole_] + +Another pleasant feature of Troon is that the holes are known not +simply by dull numbers, but each by its own name--'Dunure,' the +'Monk,' the 'Fox,' 'Sandhills'--they are good names; and what is +more to the purpose, they are familiarly and habitually used, and +not merely printed on the scoring cards. The first three holes run +straight forward along a narrow strip of turf, having the seashore on +the right-hand side; while at the third hole there is a small burn to +be crossed. The fourth is 'Dunure,' a good two-shot hole, if the wind +be not too strong against us, with big bunkers to right and left to +catch the crooked tee-shot. 'Greenan' is the fifth--that takes its name +from Greenan Castle on Carrick shore; and then comes one of the +new holes, 'Turnberry' by name, in which the old 'Ailsa' is swallowed +up. Here we need two full shots and a good iron to reach the green, +which lies close to the Pow burn--the same burn that we have been +trying to avoid on the links of Prestwick. + +So far we have been going forward and hugging the shore, but now we +turn inland to the left to play 'Tel-el-Kebir,' where is a narrow +sloping green with a face in front of it. We may hope for our first +three at the next, a short hole, that takes us back again towards the +Pow burn; and then, turning inland once more, we come to the 'Monk,' +with an exciting tee-shot over a big hill. + +At Sandhills is another blind tee-shot over the sand dunes, followed by +an accurate second into a green that lies close to the railway line. On +the hill straight above the line is 'Sandhills,' the house from which +the hole takes its name and the home of a family of many golfers, of +whom one in particular, Mr. 'Nander' Robertson, is a very fine dashing +player when he has a mind to it. The eleventh is a new hole, when we +sidle along the railway; and then we drive out to sea once more at the +'Fox.' The covert which once gave this hole its name, has now been cut +down, but it is good that the name should remain, though the foxes are +gone. With a drive and a full iron we should reach the green here, but +the prevailing wind blows off the sea, and may very easily elongate the +iron into a cleek-shot. 'Burmah,' an ordinary four hole, and 'Alton,' +which should be a three, give us a little breathing space before +'Crosbie' and the 'Well,' which are both long holes, when we must rest +content with fives--a thing which, in these days of long driving, we +are a little apt to resent as a grievance. At the seventeenth one good +full shot should take us on to a plateau green, tricky and difficult of +access; the hole is called, somewhat singularly, the 'Rabbit,' but we +must not be too hopeful of a low score in reliance of the cricketing +significance of the word. A more or less commonplace four at the home +hole brings a very good course to an end. + +The turf is softer than that of Prestwick, and the ball runs but little +after it pitches, so that, although Prestwick is possibly the longer +by the chain measure, there is in the matter of playing length little +difference between the two. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + +IRELAND. + + +There is no country where the golfers are more keen or more hospitable +than in Ireland, and the friendliness with which the inhabitants +welcome their guests is only equalled by the earnestness with which +they endeavour, and very often successfully, to beat them. It is a +fine country for a golfing holiday, and this fact is now so thoroughly +appreciated that Englishmen and Scotsmen pour over to the Irish courses +every summer, and more especially to the particular course on which +the Irish Championship is being played for. At this meeting may be had +fierce golf, tempered by a proper measure of cheerfulness, on which +those who have played in it--sad to say I am not one of them--are never +weary of descanting. My own very delightful experience of Irish golf +has come to me chiefly as one of two marauding bands, the English Bar +and the Oxford and Cambridge Golfing Society, who periodically batten +upon the hospitality of Dublin. + +The chief Dublin courses are two--Dollymount and Portmarnock--though it +would be unfair to omit some mention of Malahide--'the Island'--where +there is golf to be had, which may legitimately be called sporting in +the best sense of the word. Dollymount and Portmarnock are both also +island courses in the sense that we have to cross the water to get to +them. At Portmarnock this perilous feat is performed by car or boat, +according as the tide is low or high; but at Dollymount there is a long +causeway, and the worst possible sailor need not blench at the prospect. + +I have a very great affection for =Dollymount=. I have played some +very strenuous and delightful matches there, and, save possibly at St. +Andrews, I feel as if I had been in more bunkers at Dollymount than on +any other course. This seems to be _the_ feature of Dollymount, the +amount of low cunning, if I may so term it, with which the bunkers are +placed. In writing that sentence I find that I have been guilty of a +criminal pun without meaning it, because Mr. Barcroft, the secretary, +is a great disciple of Mr. John Low in the matter of bunkering. He has +saturated his mind in that most charming and instructive of books, +_Concerning Golf_, and then he has gone forth valiantly with his +shovel. The result is that there are many pitfalls, which are worthy of +Mr. Low's definition of what a bunker should be. "Bunkers, if they be +good bunkers and bunkers of strong character, refuse to be disregarded, +and insist on asserting themselves; they do not mind being avoided, but +they decline to be ignored." There are some fine, towering hills at +Dollymount, but it is not these that make the player's knees to knock +together; it is the little pots of innocuous aspect that most +emphatically decline to be ignored. + + [Illustration: DOLLYMOUNT + _The first tee, looking towards Howth_] + +A first glance at the course produces much the same effect on the mind +as does Hoylake. It looks a little flat, and bare, and even dull; we +do not see where the holes are and whence and whither the players +are going and what they are trying to do. As at Hoylake, the first +impression is utterly wrong, as we soon discover when we begin to play, +more especially if we have been maltreated by the Irish Channel on the +previous evening. The first thing that strikes us is that we ought +to be beginning with a nice symmetrical row of fours, and that ugly +disfiguring fives will insist on creeping in. At the first we really +ought to do a four, but still there are a variety of things to prevent +such a consummation: a pot-bunker to catch a pulled tee-shot, a bunker +in the right-hand side of the green, and a considerable possibility +of taking three putts on a green which is as good as it is usually +fast and difficult. At the second the trouble is of a bolder and, in +a sense, a more commonplace character, a large and ravenous bunker, +which must be carried with a good second shot, and then turning back +towards the club again we play a hole where almost meticulous accuracy +is necessary if we are to get the perfect four, wherein the fourth +shot consists of our opponent saying, contrary to the recommendations +of the Rules of Golf Committee, "That will do." Crooked driving may be +definitely punished by pot-bunkers, or, if we are lucky, it may only +entail the most difficult of approach shots, in which we may have to +try a pitch of really desperate difficulty over flanking bunkers. Only +if we drive with absolute accuracy we shall be properly rewarded by +being able to play a pitch and run shot straight--or let us hope so at +least--up to the flag. + +There is to be no pitching or running at the fourth--not at any rate +with the second shot--but a fine, high carrying stroke with a wooden +club to take us home on to a green that lies well protected by hollows +and hummocks; a really good four this time, and we must do a man's +work to get it. These first four holes always run together in my mind +partly because of their uniform excellence and partly because we now +branch off into somewhat different country, a country of bents and big +sandhills. The fifth is chiefly notable for what I may call a typical +Sandwich shot from the tee, and then comes a region that I know only +by sight, for there have lately been some new holes made there. It is +a region of rolling dunes and bristling bents; I am told the new holes +are long and difficult, with narrow and exacting greens, and knowing +the country and Mr. Barcroft I can well believe it. + +Of the other holes on the way out I must spare a special word for the +eighth--it was old seventh--one of the very best 'round-the-corner' +holes that I know. The whole face of nature bids us slice from the tee, +and the wind generally encourages us to do so, and yet we must pull +resolutely out to the left in order to open up the way for our approach +shot on to a green that nestles among the hills. If we fail to pull, +or if we are tempted to use the wind too freely, we may have a very +long drive on which to plume ourselves, but shall have an impossible +second, and we shall take five to the hole. + +It seems to me that the first few holes on the way home are not so +good as the outgoing ones, save that there is a fine tee-shot to be +played at thirteen, between the marsh on the one side and a series of +pot-bunkers on the other. The sixteenth, however, is good, with the +green lying in a long, narrow hollow; and the seventeenth is really +very good indeed. It is long and narrow and all the more frightening +because there is hardly anything in the way on the straight line to the +hole. There are bunkers at the side, however, and more alarming still +is the fact that we are always playing along a hog's back, with marsh +to the right and rough to the left. Finally, there is a green not very +fiercely guarded, but full of terribly difficult curves and angles, +wherein the holing of the very shortest putt is a matter for much +prayerful 'borrowing.' I cannot help regretting the old eighteenth, +which has now disappeared. That tee-shot, with the chance of breaking a +club-house window, tempted one very strongly to the taking of a cleek, +and that is a testimonial in itself. However, on high days and holidays +the general public congregated there so freely that the death of one of +them was probably only a matter of time, and so the hole had to go. The +old seventeenth now promoted to being the home hole is a very fine hole +if there is much adverse wind, for then there is a fine long second to +be played over the corner of a territory, which is out of bounds, and +those shots in which the ball has to leave the limits of the course for +part of its career are never pleasant, when it comes to a pinch. + +The last few holes are all quite sufficiently unpleasant, when the +struggle is a keen one; worst of all, of course, when a lead that once +seemed thoroughly satisfactory is fast vanishing away. I have vivid +recollections of two such matches--one with Mr. Cairnes and one with +Mr. Lionel Munn--and I can still very well remember two odious, curly, +short putts on the seventeenth green--it was the sixteenth then. Heaven +be praised! the ball on both occasions trickled in somehow, but I still +shudder at the recollection. + +I also feel just a little uncomfortable at the thought of the last +occasion on which I crossed over from Portmarnock to the mainland. When +the tide is low, one can drive across an expanse of soft, wet sand +while clinging ungracefully but tenaciously to an outside car, but on +this occasion the tide was not low, and we had to make the journey by +sailing boat. A snowstorm was raging intermittently, and the wind blew +piercing, cold and strong, reminding one with its every blast that on +the morrow all the horrors of the Irish Channel had to be faced. On +such a day the causeway at Dollymount is infinitely preferable; but, on +the other hand, when the weather is pleasant, the necessity for this +crossing in miniature gives to Portmarnock a fascination of its own. +There is an element of romance in playing golf even on a temporarily +sea-girt island. + + [Illustration: PORTMARNOCK (1) + _The second shot at the eighteenth hole_] + +Perhaps the outstanding beauty of =Portmarnock= lies in its putting +greens. They are good and true, which is a merit given to many +greens, and they are very fast without being untrue, which is given +only to a few, and is a rare and shining virtue. For a worse than +indifferent putter to praise keen greens shows him to be a nobly +impartial critic, for there is nothing that finds out so quickly the +bad putter, that sifts so surely the wheat from the chaff. Most of +us fare passably well as long as we are on a slow and velvety lawn, +but with increased keenness comes an enormously increased difficulty +in hitting freely and firmly--those two cardinal points of putting +skill--and behold! we are entirely undone. + +I have never seen the Portmarnock greens when they are presumably at +their keenest, namely, in hot, dry, summer weather, but even on a raw +day at Easter time they demand that the ball should be soothed rather +than hit towards the hole. I have read somewhere a story of a famous +Scottish professional who declared that on his first visit to the +course he arrived on the first green in two perfect shots, and had +ultimately to hole a four-yard putt for a seven. + +To praise the greens too vehemently is very often to cast an undeserved +slur on the rest of the course; it is rather like saying of a man +"He is a good short-game player," for then one is always understood +to mean that in regard to his driving he is one of the great family +of scufflers. I therefore make all haste to say that Portmarnock +does not live by greens alone. Far from it: it is a good, long, bold +course, with plenty of natural features, and, moreover, it has of late +years been considerably lengthened and otherwise altered for the +better. Before the alterations the golf was not, I say it with fear +and trembling, particularly difficult. So long as a man played with a +reasonable degree of accuracy and did not lose himself on the greens, +he might expect to do quite a good score. Now, however, the course has +been 'bolstered up,' if I may say so, in its weakest parts, and in the +region of the sixth and seventh holes the golf is much longer and more +difficult than it used to be. + +It is rather characteristic of Portmarnock that at some of the best +holes the player's course lies along the bottom of gullies that wind +their way between hills on either side. Of such is the fourth hole--a +really fine hole--where the gully bends as it goes, so that there is +plenty to be gained by hugging the left-hand side with a judicious +but not a doting affection. The hole is of a good length, needing at +least two shots, and possibly infinitely more, for on both sides of +the little gully are sandy slopes well covered with tenacious bents. +Before, however, we get to the fourth there is a very distinctly +good tee-shot to be played to the third along a strath of turf that +stretches, narrow and hog's-backed, between hills on the one side and +bare sand upon the other. + + [Illustration: PORTMARNOCK (2) + _Coming home_] + +The fifth, again, has a fine tee-shot over a big bunker, which should +see us safely at the bottom of another gorge between the hills, with a +good second shot to follow. Then follow some of the newer holes amid +a broken country of smaller undulations, and then we come back to the +club-house again for the ninth. The tenth has a very interesting +and difficult second on to a green that lies in a little nook or angle +guarded by a turf wall; and the twelfth is a short hole that may be +deserving of criticism, but appeals to the affections of many. Need +I add that the shot is a blind one, but it is a fascinating pitch, +nevertheless, into a crater green with its concomitant admixture of +hopes and fears. After this the golf, though good, is for a while less +attractive. The land is flatter, and though the holes are long, there +is just that depressing suggestion of an agricultural character such as +we have in some of the holes beyond the wall at Prestwick. The course +ends splendidly, however, with a really fine hole, its green narrow, +well guarded, and difficult to stay upon. The turf throughout is a joy +alike to walk or play on, and altogether Portmarnock is a place to +leave with a very genuine regret, even in a snowstorm. + +On leaving Dublin we may betake ourselves southward to the very +charming course of =Lahinch= in County Clare, where, if the holes are +rather unduly blind and put a great premium on local knowledge, the +golf is yet intensely enjoyable. The greatest compliment I have heard +paid to Lahinch came from a very fine amateur golfer, who told me that +it might not be the best golf in the world, but was the golf he liked +best to play. Lest this may be attributed to patriotic prejudice, I may +add that he was an Englishman born and bred. Delightful though Lahinch +is, however, it is rather to the north that we must go to get a variety +of good courses. In Donegal there is Buncrana, on Lough Swilly, a +really good nine-hole course which has nurtured the best player than +has yet come out of Ireland, Mr. Lionel Munn: there is also Rosapenna, +and there is Portsalon, which lies at the far end of the lough, a truly +lovely spot, with a thoroughly entertaining golf course. I must put in +one word for the quaintest and most charming little nine-hole course +at Macamish, also on the shores of Lough Swilly, which can be reached +by sailing across from Buncrana or by driving from anywhere else an +interminable number of Irish miles over a rocky make-shift of a road. +It is the most purely amateur course in the world, and also, if more +than two or three are gathered together upon it, the most perilous. +The holes cross and recross each other and everybody aims at his own +particular hole in a light-hearted, pic-nicking frame of mind, and +perfectly regardless of the lives of others. For pure, unadulterated +fun I have yet to see the equal of this course. + +However, we must leave the frivolities of Macamish and betake ourselves +for some serious golf to Portrush, in County Antrim. =Portrush= has +many claims to fame, and amongst others is that of having produced a +wonderful race of lady golfers. Considering how keen they are, and +how good are the courses on which they play, the men of Ireland, +albeit there have been some fine players amongst them, have not so far +particularly distinguished themselves, but as regards ladies' golf, +Ireland was for a time supreme. Miss Rhona Adair and Miss May Hezlet +(they are both married now, but the old names sound the more familiar) +used to win the championship one after the other with monotonous +regularity, and close on their heels flocked further and innumerable +members of the Hezlet family. + + [Illustration: PORTRUSH + _Coming to the seventeenth green_] + +Whether there are any subtle qualities about the course which naturally +tend to the development of female champions I cannot say; I at least +have not discovered them. At any rate it is a very delightful place +in which to play golf, for persons of either sex. The air is so fine +that the temptation to play three rounds is very hard to overcome, +while I may quote, solely on the authority of a friend, this further +testimonial to it, that it has the unique property of enabling one to +drink a bottle of champagne every night and feel the better for it. + +Portrush stands on a rocky promontory that juts out into the Atlantic, +and, if I may allude to such trivialities, the scenery of the coast is +wonderfully striking. On the east are the White Rocks, tall limestone +cliffs that lead to Dunluce Castle and the headlands of the Giant's +Causeway. On the west are the hills of Inishowen, beyond which lie +Portsalon and Buncrana and the links of Donegal. It is, however, a +remarkable thing that though golf courses are often in lovely places it +frequently so happens that the beauties of the landscape are to be seen +from anywhere except the course. Who, for instance, ever heard of a +self-respecting sea-side course where one could get a view of the sea! +One may hear it perhaps roaring or murmuring, according to its mood, +beyond an interminable row of sandhills, but save with the artificial +aid of a high tee one never dreams of seeing it. So it is at Portrush, +in accordance with the best traditions, and only two or three times +in the course of the round does a view of the surrounding beauties +threaten our mental concentration on the matter in hand. + +Again, according to the most approved Scottish traditions the course +begins, as one may say, in the middle of the town. Thence during its +outward journey it skirts the sandhills on the landward side, and one +or two of the holes are just a little inland in character and not +particularly entertaining. The homeward journey is, on the whole, +the more fascinating, and from the eleventh hole onwards there are +a succession of hills and valleys of a truly heroic character. If, +however, there are one or two dullish holes on the way out, the course +begins splendidly with as good a two-shot hole as can well be; too +good a hole almost to play so early before the match has had time to +develop. A ridge running diagonally and away towards the left calls +for a fine tee-shot if it is to be cleared in the straight line, while +a sandy hill covers half the green on the right-hand side, and repays +the man who has hit a good tee-shot by punishing his opponent who has +not. This first used to be followed by another equally good, if not +better, two-shot hole, but the old second and third have, as before +mentioned, now been run into one, and there are many who say that +one more has been added to that long list of crimes which have been +committed through the desire for length. The fifth is another good hole +on the way out--two reasonable shots for a reasonable hitter to a green +that lies just on the top of a high, swelling slope: one of those holes +where for some inscrutable reason it is very easy to be either too far +or too short, and very difficult to hit off the distance exactly. + +Thence I will make so bold as to skip to the big hills and dales of the +last few holes, which are cast, as I have said, in a distinctly heroic +mould. There is the thirteenth, which is a fine one-shot hole, although +it is a blind; the fourteenth, the famous 'Long Valley,' which was once +knee-deep in soft moss, and is now as hard as St. Andrews in the middle +of a hot, dry August; and the fifteenth and sixteenth, where in each +case a real straight, well-hit drive reaps its due reward. + +All these are excellent, but a tear may legitimately be shed over the +old seventeenth, which, like the old second, had to disappear through +the desire for length and the subsequent reconstruction. This old +seventeenth was a splendid one-shot hole, for with this one shot the +ball had to be struck over one of the hugest of bunkers on to a green +of saucer shape. So alarming was this bunker that it is recorded that +two gentlemen of oriental origin, who were playing a match for a stake +of ten pounds, were simultaneously smitten with terror and remorse when +they saw it, that, although the match stood all square at the time, +so they resolved to reduce the wager to the sum of one shilling. It +was surely wrong to do away with a hole that could produce a result so +wholly admirable. + +Another very beautiful place with a very delightful course is +=Newcastle= in County Down. Newcastle has lately been altered and +extended, and has consequently risen to a position of greater dignity +among golf courses. It was always looked upon with great affection by +all who knew it, but this was a love a little akin to that which the +frequenters of Burnham used to feel for the many high hills and blind +holes of the Somersetshire course. Everybody liked Newcastle, but they +spoke of it as "a wonderful natural course," or "the best fun in the +world"--expressions which rather begged the question as to its exact +golfing merits. That is all changed, however, and to-day Newcastle +is as long as anyone can desire: indeed, in places almost too long. +I remember meeting a very distinguished player on his return from +Newcastle soon after the alterations had been made, when there was +still practically no run in the new ground, and he solemnly averred +that he had never played so many brassey shots in all his life. + +The course lies among the sandhills under the shadow of Slieve +Donard, the tallest of the Mourne Mountains, and so close to the sea +that we may reach the shore with our first tee-shot. No amount of +reconstruction has done away with the original character of the course; +we still have many big carries to compass with the tee-shot, and a good +deal more pitching than running to do with our iron clubs. However, +we must not run away with the idea that we shall have done all that +is demanded of us when we have hit a ball hard and high over a hill +somewhere or other into the distance. Trouble lurks at the sides as +well as in the centre of the fairway, and for all the boldness and +bigness of the hazards it is really a straight rather than a long +driver's course. The greens are good, and sometimes inclined to be +slow; they lie, moreover, in a good many instances, in those pleasing +little hollows which are the most adroit flatterers in the whole world +of golf. The turf on the outward journey is of the ideal sea-side kind, +but on the way home we fancy that we detect something more of an inland +character about it. + + [Illustration: NEWCASTLE + _The ninth carry and the club-house_] + +Flitting, like arbitrary bees, from one hole to another, we must +pause a moment over the first, which is one of the best of the long +holes, and has an admirable tee-shot. So has the second, while there +is an approach shot of much interest and delicacy to be played at the +third. The sixth again is a memorable hole, of no great length, but +considerable difficulty. We need but one shot to go from the tee to the +high plateau green where the hole is, but the sides of the plateau fall +very quickly away, and there must be plenty of stop on the ball or it +will inevitably overrun its mark. + +On the way home, again, there is another arresting hole, the sixteenth. +We mount a high tee on one side of an enormous bunker, and must hit a +sheer carry of goodness knows how many yards on to a green also perched +high in the air upon the further side. It is a distinctly heroic +hole; and the seventeenth and eighteenth, in trying to live up to its +standard, have grown so long as to be just a little bit dull. They are, +however, I believe, to be lopped and pruned of their superfluous yards, +and should then make a fine finish. It should be added for those who +like to play their golf in comfort, that the first tee, the tenth tee, +the club-house and the hotel lie, all four of them, close together; not +that Newcastle really needs these adventitious advantages, for it is +one of the very pleasantest places for golf in all Ireland. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + +WALES. + + +There are several very excellent courses in Wales, but I am quite +determined to put Aberdovey first--not that I make for it any claim +that it is the best, not even on the strength of its alphabetical +pre-eminence, but because it is the course that my soul loves best of +all the courses in the world. Every golfer has a course for which he +feels some such blind and unreasoning affection. When he is going to +this his golfing home he packs up his clubs with a peculiar delight +and care; he anxiously counts the diminishing number of stations that +divide him from it, and finally steps out on the platform, as excited +as a schoolboy home for the holidays, to be claimed by his own familiar +caddie. A golfer can only have one course towards which he feels quite +in this way, and my one is =Aberdovey=. + +I can just faintly remember the beginning of golf at Aberdovey in +the early eighties. Already rival legends have clustered round that +beginning, but the true legend says that the founder was Colonel Ruck, +who, having played some golf at Formby, borrowed nine flower pots from +a lady in the village and cut nine holes on the marsh to put them in. +The first five holes as the visitor knows them now were then but a +wilderness. There was no 'Cader' and no 'Pulpit'; we had a long weary +walk along the road to the level-crossing, and began with the present +sixth hole, which was then guarded by a fine clump of gorse, long +since cut to pieces by merciless niblicks. Then came a period when we +began and ended on the piece of land which now serves Aberdovey as a +cricket ground, and there was a wonderful last hole in which we drove +off from the present eighteenth tee, carried with our second shot +the railway line and a mighty pile of sleepers, and holed out on the +present cricket pitch. Finally, at the time of the first meeting at +Easter, 1893, the course had taken something like the shape which it +has kept ever since, save for the quite recent introduction of the new +home-coming holes. I have in a dusty old album a group taken at that +first meeting by a local photographer. I cannot count more than ten +players, nor do I believe that there were any more. They stand ranged +with their caddies in front of a bunker and a turf wall most curiously +and artistically castellated, while behind is a motley gathering of +local spectators arrayed in bowler hats. That humble little meeting, +with its ten players, was considered a vast success, though I cannot +think that the play was very good, since I remember winning the scratch +medal with 100, and the best actual score returned during the three +days was but three strokes lower. Aberdovey has made great strides +since those days. The golf is very good, and will soon, I suppose, +be made better, although, if one only loves a course well enough, +even the most obvious improvement feels to be almost a desecration. +Moreover, the place has a charm which brings the same people back to it +year after year with a wonderful constancy of affection. + + [Illustration: ABERDOVEY + _The village from the second tee_] + +Aberdovey stands at the mouth of the Dovey Estuary, and the links are +on a long, narrow strip of turf stretching between the sandhills and +the shore on the one side, and a range of hills on the other. The +sandhills are many and imposing, but nature has not disposed them with +a very kindly hand. There is no turf on the far side of them--nothing +but the shore and the waves--and so, although they make a most +effective series of lateral bunkers, it is not possible to dodge in +and out amongst them in quite the same fascinating way as at Prestwick +or Sandwich. Moreover, till quite lately we could not use them at all +in the home-coming nine holes, owing to the difficulty of properly +draining some of the marshy ground at their foot. That difficulty has +now, however, been done away with, at least as regards the summer, and +there are some fine new holes, still a little rough, but improving +rapidly, where we have to play with something more than ordinary +accuracy between a never-ending range of hills on the right, and thick, +unyielding clumps of rushes on the left. + +As I said before, the course lies on a long narrow strip of golfing +country, with the result that the holes have to go straight out and +home again, and we have often either to struggle all the way out +against the wind, and then be blown homewards, or _vice versa_. This +is, of course, a disadvantage, since the holes in one direction are +apt to become too long, and those in the other too short. I remember +that on one occasion there was a Bogey competition, and a terribly +strong wind, which blew dead ahead all the way out; it blew so hard +that no human creature could hope to reach any of the first nine greens +in anything like the right number of shots, and I believe the man who +ultimately won the competition was eight down to Bogey at the turn. + +There is probably no course that has its first tee so near the station. +We tee up within the shortest possible stone's throw of the platform, +and drive over a waste of sand and stones, that is still fairly +formidable, though neither so sandy or so stony as it was in the days +when it served as an impromptu football ground for the villagers. A +good drive lands us in a country of those grassy hummocks, which are a +conspicuous feature of the course, and a firm iron shot over a bunker +should get us a four. The pitch, however, has to be an accurate one, +and this applies to the approaching throughout, since the greens are +decidedly small and there is no great chance of recovering by a very +long putt laid dead. To do a low score at Aberdovey a man must either +be keeping his iron shots ruled rigidly on the pin, or he must lay +a number of little chip shots from off the edge of the green within +holing distance; this, moreover, is not a particularly easy thing to +do, since the greens are full of natural dells and hillocks. The second +and third holes have very similar tee-shots; there are several small +sandhills to carry, and severe punishment for a pulled shot. The +approach to the third hole is a particularly attractive one, since the +green is almost entirely circled round with small hills, and there is +only a very narrow opening through which to play; against the wind the +ball may be pitched up boldly enough, but down wind there is nothing +for it but a running shot, and that a very accurate one. + +The fourth hole is known to all Aberdoveyites as 'Cader,' and is as +good a specimen of the blind short hole as is to be found. There is a +big hill in front of the tee, shored up with black timbers, and the +green has the transcendent merit for this type of hole that it is not +too big. There is no vast meadow of turf to play on to, like the Maiden +green at Sandwich, and the ball has to do something more than carry the +hill-top. Cader used to be particularly memorable a few years back, +when the small caddies, stationed on the top to watch the fate of the +ball, used to cry out "On the green," with a curiously melancholy, +piping note. Now alas! they have become more sophisticated, and merely +signal with the hand in the orthodox manner. It is but a poor exchange, +and we sadly miss the old familiar cry. + +After Cader we must take a short walk along a winding path among the +hills which takes us on to the 'Pulpit' tee, where we stand high above +all the world, with the sea on our left and the whole course stretching +away before us in the distance. The tee-shot is by no means one of the +most difficult, but certainly one of the pleasantest that I know, and +gives a full measure of sensual delight. Then we must leave the hills +for a while and strike inland to play some flatter holes that wind +their way by the side of the railway. The sixth and seventh are both +very fine two-shot holes, and then at the long eighth we meet with a +characteristic Aberdovey hazard, familiarly and affectionately known +as the 'leeks.' They are in fact irises, but they have always been the +'leeks' since Peter Paxton christened them so, under the impression +that the national emblem must naturally be found upon a Welsh course. +Paxton is not the only man who has found sad trouble in the leeks, for +they are wonderfully thick and retentive, and the wise man pulls very +wide away to the left at the eighth and ninth, and does not try to run +things at all fine. + +So far we have gone practically straight ahead, but at the tenth we +turn sharply to the left and prepare for our homeward journey. This +tenth is a truly beautiful short hole: in length about a cleek or long +iron shot on a still day, with a really horrible bunker, long, deep, +and wide, stretching before the green and throwing out a sandy tentacle +far to the right to catch a long sliced shot. It is really a better +hole than Cader, in that we can see far more clearly where we are +going, and, when the wind is against us and we must needs take a wooden +club, there is no finer one-shot hole in the world. + +Now we come to the parting of the ways, where the new holes break away +to the right towards the sandhills, and the old holes are on the flat +ground, over which we journeyed outwards. There is among the old holes +a beautiful thirteenth, with a narrow little green beset on every +side, so that the tee-shot had to be accurate in order to make the +second possible. That hole we shall miss sadly, but otherwise the new +holes are far the better: long raking holes between hills and rushes +that give the course just the extra touch of length and difficulty that +it wanted. We emerge on to the old ground again to play the 'Crater,' a +hole that we are fond of for old sake's sake, though it is in reality a +bad and fluky one, as 'punchbowl' holes generally are. The sixteenth, +however, is a really good one, with a horribly narrow tee-shot between +the railway on the left and a wilderness of sandhills on the right; it +is capable of ruining any score, and no man is a medal winner till he +has played that shot--with a cleek, if he is prudent--and sees the ball +lying safely on the turf. The seventeenth has a fine tee-shot from one +of the spurs of Cader and another punchbowl green, which follows all +too soon after the fifteenth, and then we finish with a fine, long, +free-hitting hole over clumps of rushes. + +Thus ends the course, and I know it so well that I find it very hard to +criticize or appraise at its just worth. One thing may safely be said, +that it provides a fine school for iron club shots, whether short or +long. There are a great many holes--perhaps too many--which need a long +iron shot for the second, and these shots have to be played from every +variety of stance and lie on to greens that are good, but uniformly +small. There is, too, no better course for teaching the little chip or +run up, play it how you will, from the confines of the green--the shot +which professionals play so wonderfully well, and many amateurs play so +badly. + +The tee-shots are good, without being very remarkable, and there is +perhaps a lack of full brassey shots to be lashed right up to the hole; +that, however, is a criticism to which, in these days of mighty hitting +and rubber-cored balls, many courses are open. Yet when the wind is +adverse, and the iron shots become wooden club shots, the comparative +smallness of the greens makes them wooden club shots of the very best, +and I ask for nothing pleasanter to look back upon than a string of +fours going out against a wind at Aberdovey. + +I have tried as a rule to avoid invidious comparisons between course +and course, but it may be pardonable to make a short and wholly +friendly comparison between Aberdovey and Harlech, because, although +near neighbours, they have such very different characteristics. At +Aberdovey the holes go straight out and home again; at Harlech they +tack backwards and forwards, this way and that. In the same way the +Aberdovey sandhills run in one unbroken line, while at Harlech they +are more scattered, and can therefore be used in more different ways. +Aberdovey is a course of small, undulating greens, while Harlech has +larger and flatter ones. Finally, the charms of Aberdovey grow on one +slowly, but also, I think, surely, while Harlech fascinates at the +first glance. + + [Illustration: HARLECH + _Looking across the fourth hole_] + +Small wonder if the visitor falls in love with =Harlech= at first +sight, for no golf course in the world has a more splendid background +than the old castle, which stands at the top of a sheer precipice of +rock looking down over the links. Wherever we go it is never out of +sight, and though we may glance away at the hills with Snowdon in +the distance, we always come back to the castle with a never-satisfied +longing. It is so obviously splendid that we might imagine that we +should in time grow tired of it, but we never do. + +The holes at Harlech that have always left the most vivid impression +on my mind, perhaps because, owing to the rather leisurely Cambrian +trains, I have not been there half as often as I should like, are those +at the beginning and end of the course. Those in the middle, possibly +because they have been altered at times or because they are not so +markedly characteristic, are more blurred in the memory. Yet it is, I +hasten to add, that all the golf is good, very good indeed, and fit to +test the very best of players. + +At the first hole there is a kind of ditch and bank to carry, a little +severe when the player is stiff and ill at ease with his clubs, and a +particularly excellent green. Then we turn almost directly back and +get rather nearer to the first of those stone walls, which are so +common an object in the landscape in North Wales, and quite one of the +distinctive features of Harlech. At the third we are fighting with +stone walls all the way, and a most effective hazard they make. This +third is a really fine hole, for there is a whole stroke to be gained +by a drive that is long and bold and clings as near to the wall as +safety permits. The first shot has to be played parallel to the wall, +or rather to two neighbouring walls, between which lies a sandy cart +track full of unspeakable ruts. Then at the second we have to make up +our minds whether or not to go for the green, which lies beyond the +two walls, and is further guarded by yet a third wall, which runs at +right angles to the other two. If we have not gone far enough, or if +we have kept too much to the left, there is nothing for it but to play +another shot straight along, and so home with a pitch for our third. +If, however, we have driven far and sure, we may take the brassey, +carrying all three walls at one fell swoop, and accomplish a four. +Moreover, it is a four that is a real joy to do. It is none of your +'Bogey fours,' for the miserable old gentleman would never attempt that +dashing second, but would proceed pawkily and by stages, pitching on +to the green with his third, and getting a commonplace and respectable +five. Thereby he will often win the hole from us who have died a +glorious death in the sandy road, but at least we shall have tried to +quit ourselves like men. + +The fourth is a one-shot hole, which likewise calls for hard hitting. +It is never short, and against the wind a really big shot is needed to +carry the bunker, which is made the taller and more frightening by a +timbered face. The green is flat and easy, and if we can reach it there +should be no excuse for more than two putts. + +The holes that come after this have undergone a good many alterations +at different times. They are good sound golf every one of them, but +it is when we turn our faces homeward toward the castle, and are +approaching the almost equally famous 'Castle' bunker, that Harlech +becomes most memorable. + +At this fourteenth, if we are fighting a fierce match, we feel that +the crucial time is coming, for we are now going to plunge into the +heart of the hills for five eminently critical and exciting holes. The +first of them entails a shot over the 'Castle' bunker, and never was +a bunker that more thoroughly belied its true character by a mild and +harmless exterior. All that we see in front of us is a grassy bank, +with a guiding flag fluttering on the top; and, ignorance being here +most emphatically bliss, we may hit a fine shot as straight as an arrow +and be congratulated on reaching the green. It is only when we have +climbed to the top of that innocent-looking bank that we shall see what +we have escaped, a perfect Sahara of sand that stretches nearly to the +edge of the green. This green, too, is guarded by a series of knolls +and hummocks--there are perhaps rather too many of them--and we may +have been very nearly straight and yet be confronted with an extremely +awkward little pitch. The hole is a terribly blind one: rather too +blind to be classed among the greatest of one-shot holes, but it is +impossible not to be swayed by our emotions rather than by pure reason, +and our emotions tell us that it is a glorious hole. + +There is another hill to carry at the fifteenth, while the sixteenth +has a green of almost infinite possibilities in the matter of tortuous +and tricky putts. There is nothing tricky about the seventeenth, +however--nothing but straight, honest hitting, and the chance of a +clean stroke to be gained by it. The green lies in a hollow at the foot +of the hills, and in front of it is a bunker and a most uncompromising +stone wall. Two really fine shots will carry the wall; let the tee-shot +be a little less than good and we must needs play short and be content +with a five: that is the entire story of the hole, and a very fine +seventeenth hole it is. The eighteenth is mild by comparison, but a +good straight tee-shot is needed to reach the green, which is well +guarded by pot-bunkers. + +Harlech is rich in the possession of one of the best secretaries in +the world, Mr. More, and also in one of the most popular of handicap +competitions, the Harlech Town Bowl. The fields that enter for this +tournament every August are really enormous, and to win it is no mean +feat. In this same tournament Mr. Hilton, when he was at his very best, +played some of the most extraordinary golf of his life. I am almost +afraid to say how heavily he was penalized, but I am nearly sure that +he owed eight. I know that in one round he had to give a third to Mr. +Palmer, who, if not quite as good as he is now, was at any rate a very +good player, and, what is more, played well in this particular match. +However, Mr. Hilton beat him after a great struggle, fought his way +into the final, and there trampled on an unfortunate and probably +awe-stricken adversary. He was laying his brassey shots within a few +feet of the hole, and generally making light of difficulties which any +visitor to Harlech will find are not to be treated lightly. + +To get from North to South Wales is not so easy a matter as might be +supposed. It entails much waiting at junctions, which have been placed +in some of the most melancholy and deserted spots on the face of the +earth. However, once arrived in South Wales, there is plenty of golf +to be had, some of it very good. There is a very fine course near +Llanelly, Ashburnham by name, which, alas! I have never seen; and there +is Southerndown, in Glamorganshire, which is growing fast into fame. +Near Cardiff there is Radyr and Penarth, the latter having a truly +glorious view over the British Channel, but being sometimes afflicted +with muddiness. Then, also in Glamorgan, there are the very excellent +links of Porthcawl. + +Links they may worthily be called, for the golf at Porthcawl is the +genuine thing--the sea in sight all the time, and the most noble +bunkers. True to its national character, the course also boasts of +stone walls. Of my visits to Porthcawl I retain two particularly vivid +recollections. The first is of a hole that has long since disappeared, +since that part of the ground is no more played over. As I remember it, +it was by far the longest hole in the world, Blackheath not excepted. +Perhaps it has become stretched in my memory, or possibly the reason +is that I played the hole against a most prodigious driver, Mr. Edmund +Spencer, who was one of the hopes of Hoylake in these days, but has +now most reprehensibly given up the game. I do not think there were +many hazards in the way; one was simply told to aim at a white rock +in the dim distance, and to keep on hitting till one got there. To +make matters worse, it was the very first hole, so that one was nearly +prostrate before the round had really begun. + +My other recollection of a more cheerful nature is of a hole which +was far easier to get into than any other hole in the world. The hole +was not in itself by any means a simple one, involving a struggle +with a stone wall and a long shot up a hill, but the green-keeper had +selected a delightful spot for the hole at the bottom of a hollow with +shelving sides. Once arrived within approaching distance of the hole, +one had only to play the ball some few yards beyond the hole and it +would topple gently back, not merely to lie stone dead, but actually +to go in. The Welsh Championship meeting was going on at the time, and +all sorts of wonders were recorded. One competitor holed a full brassey +shot, and threes were as common as blackberries. The putting was +becoming almost farcical, when one day there came a day of reckoning. +I remember being left with a putt of some eight or ten yards, and, +banging the ball past the hole with a light and careless heart, fully +prepared to see it come trickling in. Alas! the green was a little +wet that morning, and the ball stuck firmly on the opposite slope and +refused to come back. I can still see that ball perched upon the bank +and grinning at me. "Sold again" it was obviously and impudently saying. + + [Illustration: PORTHCAWL + _Going to the eighteenth green_] + +At Porthcawl, as it is now, there are some very good holes. Of the +two-shot holes, the fourth is excellent, and has a formidable second +shot over a big and boarded bunker. The sixth is very similar, both +as regards quality and quantity. Then there is the eleventh, where a +really long, raking second over a big bunker should entail a four, and +the utter destruction of Bogey and other cautious players who duly +play short with their second shots. Another good one is the ninth, with +a long carry up a hill on to a crater green--a green which I suspect +of having been the scene of the putting exploits that I have narrated, +though my memory is a little vague on this point. + +Of the single-shot holes there is a fine long carry--the shot has to +be practically all carry--on to the third green. The sixteenth is +another that is good, and the course ends with an exceedingly difficult +single-shot hole. There is in the minds of many a prejudice against +finishing with a short hole, and it is certainly an ending which is +not to be found on many good courses. Nevertheless, if the shot be +only difficult enough, it is a little hard to see why a short hole +should not make a really fine finish. There is an unpleasant feeling of +finality about the tee-shot at any short hole, which never allows us to +feel wholly comfortable, and certainly 'Hades' or the 'Maiden' would be +infinitely more alarming if they came at the end of the round instead +of in the earlier part of the round, when no mistake is irreparable. +From the spectator's point of view, it is desirable to get the player +to the eighteenth tee in the last state of nervous exhaustion, and +a tricky, difficult one-shot hole accomplishes that rather inhuman +purpose to perfection. + +Not far from Porthcawl--as the aeroplane flies--is another excellent +course, Southerndown. It is perched high aloft and looks down on +Porthcawl, amid the many other glories of a beautiful view. You may +look out far over the sea, or again over a wide stretch of the best +kind of English--or rather Welsh--landscape. The breezes blow cool and +fresh here, and on a still and stifling August day, when the golfer is +almost too limp to crawl round Porthcawl, he will be wise to refresh +himself by a round on the heights of =Southerndown=. + +In one way the course is rather singular. Being high in the air and not +down on the level of the shore, it has many of the characteristics of +the typical downland courses. It has their big rolling slopes and deep +gullies, but it has not, curiously to relate, the typical down turf. +The winds of centuries have blown so much sand up from the seashore +that they have practically succeeded in imbuing the turf of the downs +with a second sandy nature. The sand does not go very deep down; +indeed, if you dig far down you come to uncompromising rock; but this, +so to speak, veneer of sand has a great deal to do with making the +course the good and pleasing one that it is. An example of this blowing +of the sand is to be seen in a huge sandhill, which forms a prominent +feature of the landscape in the direction of Porthcawl. It has all +appearance of a natural phenomenon, since out of the sand, where by +all the laws of Nature there should be no trees, a fine clump of trees +nevertheless persist in growing. The explanation apparently is that the +trees grew first and the sand was blown afterwards in such quantities +as entirely to obliterate the soil underneath. That at least is the +story as it is told to me. + + [Illustration: SOUTHERNDOWN + _Looking to the last green_] + +The course, as I said, has some of the features of downland +courses, but there is one that it mercifully lacks, namely, those +detestable greens which are cut out of the sides of steep hills, and so +have a back wall on one side and a sheer drop on the other. The greens +at Southerndown are for the most part thoroughly natural in character, +and their slopes and undulations are not unduly exaggerated. Another +point wherein the course entirely differs from others on the downs +is to be found in the presence of bracken, which traps the wandering +driver at the sides of the course, and, in the summer at any rate, +punishes him with commendable severity. + +Three good two-shot holes begin the course: the second and third being +particularly testing, so that three fours is perhaps a little too +good to expect. Then at the fourth comes our first chance of a three. +This is a good and difficult short hole, and deserves some particular +description. It is 170 yards long, and the ground slopes fairly +briskly from right to left. That being so, one's first instinct would +be to play well out to the right and trust to the ball scrambling and +kicking down on to the green. This simple little plan has, however, +been frustrated by the making of the bunker of the right-hand side. +Therefore, we must not push the ball to the right for fear of the +bunker, and we must clearly not pull it to the left, lest it run down +a steep place away from the green and into troublous country into the +bargain. There is nothing for it but to hit the ball quite straight, +or, if we want to make the game unnecessarily difficult for ourselves, +here is a good chance for trying a 'master-shot.' + +Another short hole on the way out, though hardly such a good one, is +the eighth; we have to play a typical downland hole, jumping from +hillside to hillside over a gully. It is one of those shots that is +entirely perplexing to the stranger, who finds the distance almost +impossible to judge correctly. At one time the green lay far down at +the bottom of the very deepest part of the gully, but that had to be +abandoned. To get the ball down was easy enough, but to get it up the +hill again was, on a hot day, too tremendous a task, and so the climb +has now been made less exhausting by playing only across the shallower +part of the ravine. The ninth is a fine two-shotter, where we must hit +a high ball from the tee in order to carry a big bunker cut out of the +face of a hill; and then, after two comparatively uneventful holes, we +come to a third short hole, the twelfth. It is only 130 yards long, but +it is not in the least easy for all that. The green is of the island +type, surrounded by a generous profusion of bunkers, and the fact +that there is usually a fine high wind blowing makes the iron shot a +sufficiently difficult one, short though it be. + +The thirteenth, a 'dog-leg' hole, is one of the best on the course, +where we have to play carefully for position from the tee and must +avoid some heavy bracken and thick long grass. The green, too, is well +guarded and full of excellent undulations. The fifteenth brings us +right up to the club-house, and there is some temptation to curtail the +round and fall a victim to lunch, especially as the sixteenth takes in +the length of two full drives up a hill and directly away from the +club. At the seventeenth we get a most lovely view and a four for the +hole, if we play two good shots, and then an easy drive and pitch down +a flattering hill brings us safely home. + + + + +INDEX. + + + Aberdovey, 143, 231-238. + + Adair, Miss R., 224. + + 'Ailsa,' 213. + + 'Alps,' The, 16, 56, 205, 209. + + 'Alton,' 213. + + Anderson, Mr. Peter, 206. + + Andrew, Mr. Robert, 210. + + 'Apollyon,' 66. + + Ashburnham, 243. + + Ashdown Forest, 62, 64-67. + + Ashford Manor, 27. + + Auchterlonie, Mr. Laurence, 170. + + + Balfour, Mr. A. J., 192, 195. + + Balfour-Melville, Mr. Leslie, 170. + + Ball, Mr. John, 111, 116, 118, 170, 205, 210. + + 'Bank,' The, 96. + + Barassie, 202. + + Barcroft, Mr., 216, 218. + + Barnton, 199-201. + + Barry, 178. + + 'Beardies,' The, 173. + + Bembridge, 89-92. + + 'Bent Hills,' 96. + + Birkdale, 123. + + Blackheath, 1, 38-40. + + Blackwell, Mr. Edward, 188. + + Bleakdown, 2. + + Blundellsands, 123. + + Bogside, 202. + + Braid, James, 5, 10, 15, 36, 37, 56, 71, 100, 106, 168, 174, 175, + 177, 211, 212. + + Bramshot, 2. + + Bramston, Mr. J. A. T., 72. + + Brancaster, 97, 102-6, 107. + + 'Briars,' The, 116. + + Brighton, 62, 98. + + Broadstone, 83-87. + + Broughty Ferry, 178. + + Bude, 77-79. + + Buncrana, 223, 225. + + Bunkers, Mr. Low on, 216. + + 'Bunker's Hill,' 94, 95. + + Burhill, 5. + + 'Burmah,' 213. + + Burnham, 79-83, 228. + Byfleet, 2. + + + 'Cader,' 232, 235, 236. + + Caesar's Camp, 42. + + Cairnes, Mr., 220. + + Camber, 59. + + Cantelupe Club, 67. + + 'Cardinal,' The, 205, 206. + + 'Cardinal's Back,' The, 209. + + 'Care Kemp,' 193, 195. + + Carnoustie, 178-180. + + Cassiobury Park, 31-33. + + 'Castle,' The, 240, 241. + + 'Chalk Pit,' The, 63. + + Cheshire and Lancashire Courses, 111-129. + + Chingford, 36. + + Chorleywood, 34. + + Clark, Robert, 199. + + Coke, Chief Justice, 28. + + Coldham Common, 151. + + Colt, Mr. H. S., 8, 11, 157. + + Combe Wood, 2. + + 'Cop,' The, 116. + + 'Corsets,' The, 49. + + Coton, 153. + + 'Country Club,' 27. + + Cowley, 147. + + Crail, 177. + + 'Crater,' 143, 237. + + Crawford, 194. + + Cromer, 97, 98-100. + + Croome, Mr. A. C. M., 130-147. + + 'Crosbie,' 214. + + Cunningham, Mr. James, 171. + + + Deal, 6, 44, 50-53. + + 'Death or Glory,' 35. + + De Zoete, Mr Herman, 186. + + 'Dog-legged' holes, 54, 62, 75, 81, 110, 137, 248. + + Dollymount, 216-220. + + Dormy House, 59, 102. + + 'Dowie,' The, 116, 117. + + 'Dun,' 113, 118. + + Duncan, George, 174. + + Dunn, Tom, 1, 87. + + 'Dunure,' 212. + + + East Anglian Courses, 93-110. + + East Lothian and Edinburgh Courses, 181-201. + + Eastbourne, 62-64, 65, 98. + + 'Eastward Ho!' 94, 96. + + Eden, The, 173. + + Edinburgh and East Lothian Courses, 181-201. + + Edinburgh Burgess Golfing Society, 199. + + Edzell, 178. + + Elie, 177. + + Ellis, Mr. Humphrey, 72. + + Elysian Fields, 171, 173. + + Evans, Mr. A. J., 150. + + + Felixstowe, 93-97. + + Ferguson, Bob, 93, 94, 197, 211. + + Fergusson, Mr. Mure, 36, 93. + + Fernie, Willy, 93, 197, 211. + + 'Field,' 113, 118. + + Fife and Forfarshire Courses, 165-180. + + Fixby, 134-138. + + 'Flagstaff,' The, 179. + + Forman's, Mrs. 198. + + Formby, 119-121. + + Fowler, Mr. Herbert, 11, 17, 72, 75, 84, 137. + + 'Fox,' The, 212, 213. + + Frilford Heath, 147, 148-151. + + + Gailes, 202. + + Ganton, 130-134. + + 'Gas Works,' The, 198. + + 'Gate,' The, 94, 95. + + 'Gate' Hole, N. Berwick, 195. + + Gaudin, 129. + + 'Gibraltar,' 109, 110. + + Glennie, Mr. Geo. 68. + + 'Goose-dubs,' The, 208. + + Graham, Mr. John, 111. + + 'Graves,' The, 197. + + 'Greenan,' 212. + + Greig, Mr. W., 170. + + Gullane, 181, 182, 202. + + + 'Hades,' 48, 245. + + Hale, 77. + + Hambro, Mr. Angus, 10, 191. + + -- Mr. Eric, 157. + + -- Mr. Harold, 188. + + Handsworth, 144. + + Harewood Downs, 34. + + Harlech, 106, 238-242. + + Hay, Sir Robert, 165. + + 'Hell,' 173. + + Henderson, Mr. W. A., 191. + + Herd, Alexander, 138, 211. + + Hesketh, 123. + + Hezlet, Miss M., 224. + + High Hole, 171. + + 'Hilbre,' The, 117. + + Hilton, Mr. H. H., 71, 72, 111, 183, 184, 207, 242. + + 'Himalayas,' The, 204, 207. + + Hindhead, 88. + + Hinksey, 147, 148. + + 'Hole o' Cross,' 171, 173. + + Hollinwell, 138-141. + + Honourable Company of Edinburgh, 183. + + Hoylake, 101, 104, 111-118, 124, 149, 157, 169, 205, 217. + + Huddersfield, 134. + + Hunstanton, 97, 106-8. + + Hunter, Mr. Mansfield, 157. + + Huntercombe, 5, 86, 198. + + Hutchinson, Mr. Horace, 41, 63, 64, 68, 72, 91, 114, 156, 183, 192, + 204. + + + Irish Courses, 215-30. + + 'Island,' The, 179. + + 'Island' Hole, 66. + + + Janion, Mr., 100, 118. + + 'Jockey's Burn,' 179. + + Johnny Ball's 'Gap,' 118. + + 'Johnny Low,' 20. + + Jones, Rowland, 92. + + Jubilee Course, St. Andrews, 175. + + + Kashmir Cup, 72. + + Kent and Sussex Courses, 44-67. + + Kersal Moor, 127. + + Kilspindie, 182. + + Kingsdown, 50. + + Kirkaldy, Hugh, 155. + + + Lahinch, 223. + + Laidlay, Mr., 191, 206. + + 'Lake,' 113, 118. + + Lassen, Mr. E. A., 124. + + Leasowe, 123. + + Lees, Peter, 25. + + Lelant, 77. + + Le Touquet, 109. + + Leven, 177. + + Littlestone, 44, 56-58. + + London Courses, 1-43. + + 'Long' Hole, 115. + + 'Long Valley,' 227. + + Low, Mr. John, 72, 90, 114, 157, 176, 177, 216. + + Lundin Links, 177. + + Lytham and St. Anne's, 123-126. + + + Macamish, 224. + + Machrihanish, 156. + + 'Maiden,' The, 13, 48, 103, 131, 235, 245. + + 'Majuba,' 83. + + 'Maponite,' 64. + + Martin, 22. + + Massy, Arnaud, 173. + + Maude, Mr. F. W., 57. + + Maxwell, Mr. Robert, 188, 189, 191. + + Meyrick Park, 87. + + Mid-Surrey, 22, 23-27. + + Mildenhall, 147. + + Mitcham Common, 42-3. + + Mitchell family, 67. + + Monifieth, 178. + + 'Monk,' The, 212, 213. + + Montmorency, Mr. de, 61. + + Montrose, 178. + + More, Mr., 242. + + 'Morley's Grave,' 94. + + Morris, Tom, 211. + + Morris, Tom, jr., 171, 211. + + Mrs. Forman's, 198. + + Muirfield, 100, 149, 183-190, 191, 210. + + Munn, Mr. L., 220, 224. + + Musselburgh, 183, 196-199, 200. + + + National Golf Course, Long Island, U. S. A., 194. + + New Gullane, 181. + + New Luffness, 181, 182. + + New Romney, 55. + + Newcastle, co. Down, 227-230. + + Newquay, 77. + + _News of the World_ Tournament, 10, 13, 26. + + North Berwick, 130, 183, 185, 190-196. + + Northwood, 34-36. + + 'Nursery Maid,' Hole, 77. + + + Old Deer Park, Richmond, 23, 24. + + 'Old Kent Road,' 82. + + Old Manchester Golf Club, 127. + + Oxford and Cambridge Golf, 147-157. + + Oxford and Cambridge Golfing Society, 71, 124, 126, 147, 197. + + + Palmer, Mr. C. A., 144 + + 'Pandy,' 198. + + 'Paradise,' 63. + + Park, Willy, 4, 29, 130, 155, 198, 209. + + Parkstone, 87. + + Paton, Mr. Stuart, 19. + + Paxton, Peter, 236. + + 'Pebble Ridge,' The, 73. + + Penarth, 243. + + 'Perfection,' 194. + + 'Point,' The, 94, 95, 96, 97. + + Point Garry, 192, 195, 196. + + Porthcawl, 243-245. + + Portmarnock, 216, 220, 223. + + Portrush, 224-227. + + Portsalon, 224, 225. + + Prestwick, 51, 56, 176, 203-10, 214, 233. + + Prince's, 44, 50, 53-55, 179. + + 'Principal's Nose,' The, 19, 173. + + 'Pulpit,' 143, 232, 235. + + Purves, Mr. James, 200, 201. + + + Queen's Park, 87-89. + + + 'Rabbit,' The, 214. + + Radley, 147, 148. + + Radyr, 243. + + Ray, Edward, 10, 131, 133. + + 'Redan,' The, 194, 195. + + 'Ridge,' The, 96. + + Robertson, Allan, 105. + + Robertson, Mr. 'Nander,' 213. + + Robson, Fred., 26. + + Rolland, Douglas, 155, 177. + + Romford, 36-38. + + Rosapenna, 224. + + 'Royal,' 113, 118. + + Royal Liverpool Club, 71. + + Royal North Devon Club, _see_ Westward Ho! + + Royal St George's, _see_ Sandwich. + + Royston, 153. + + Rusack's Hotel, 175. + + 'Rushes,' The, 117. + + Ruck, Colonel, 231. + + Rye, 44, 57, 58-62. + + + 'Sahara,' The, 13, 47. + + St. Andrews, 4, 13, 19, 52, 59, 61, 68, 69, 85, 104, 105, 112, 149, + 165-180, 196, 203, 211, 212, 216, 227. + + St. Anne's, 123-126, 212. + + St. Augustine's, 50. + + St. Cuthbert, 202. + + St. Enodoc, 77. + + St. Nicholas, 202. + + 'Sandhills,' 212, 213. + + Sandwell Park, 141-144. + + Sandwich, 13, 18, 44-49, 50, 53, 55, 103, 106, 192, 204, 218, 233. + + Sandy Lodge, 34. + + 'Sandy Parlour,' The, 53, 131. + + Sayers, Bernard, 191. + + Seaford, 62. + + 'Sea-He'therick,' 205, 208. + + 'Sea Hole,' Rye, 60. + + 'Sea View' 110. + + 'Shelly' Bunker, The, 165, 172. + + Sheringham, 97, 100-1. + + Simpson, Jack, 177. + + Skegness, 108-110. + + Smith, Willy, of Mexico, 167. + + 'South America,' 178. + + Southerndown, 243, 246-249. + + Southport, 123. + + 'Spectacles,' The, 179. + + Spencer, Mr. Edmund, 243. + + 'Spion Kop,' 109. + + 'Station-master's Garden,' The, 16. + + Stoke Park, 27. + + Stoke Poges, 27-31. + + Stonham, 29. + + 'Strath,' 165, 172. + + Stuart, Mr. Alexander, 156. + + Sudbrook Park, 27. + + 'Suez Canal,' 49, 53. + + Sunningdale, 2, 4-11, 17, 185. + + 'Sutherland,' 165. + + 'Switch-back' Hole, 9. + + + Tait, Mr. F. G., 205, 210. + + Taylor, J. H., 68, 189, 212. + + 'Tel-el-Kebir,' 213. + + Toogoods, The, 92. + + 'Tower,' The, 94-96. + + Trafford Park, 126-129. + + Trees, 23, 31. + + Troon, 202, 211-214. + + 'Turnberry,' 213. + + + 'Valley,' The, 178. + + Vardon, Harry, 130, 131, 189, 207, 210, 212. + + Vardon, Tom, 9. + + + Wales, Courses of, 231-249. + + 'Walkinshaw's Grave,' 173. + + Wallasey, 81, 121-123. + + Walton Heath, 2, 4, 11-17, 85, 133, 185. + + 'Well,' The, 214. + + Welsh, Mr., 156. + + Welsh Courses, 231-249. + + West of Scotland Courses, 202-214. + + Westward Ho! 68-77, 132. + + Whins, 34. + + White, Jack, 9, 155. + + Whitecross, Mr., 191. + + Wimbledon, 1, 41-42. + + Woking, 1, 2, 17-22, 132, 133. + + Worlington, 147, 153-157. + + Worplesdon, 2, 61, 132, 185, 198. + + + Yorkshire and the Midlands Courses, 130-146. + + GLASGOW: PRINTED AT THE UNIVERSITY PRESS + BY ROBERT MACLEHOSK AND CO. LTD. + + +Transcriber's Note: + +On p. 243, the author comments on Penarth having "a glorious view over +the British Channel". The "Bristol Channel" was no doubt intended, but +"British" is retained. + +The following table describes any textual issues encountered, and their +resolution. Where the errors are most likely to be those of the printer, +they have been corrected. Where compound words appear both with and +without hyphens in mid-line, they have been retained. Should the +hyphenation occur on on a line break, the most frequent variant is used. + +p. 60 straightforward shot to play[,/.] Corrected. + +p. 69 has [is/it] not lately been remodelled Corrected. + +p. 85 The bunkering [in/is] something of a patchwork Corrected. + +p. 95 I will bold[l]y assert Added. + +p. 143 the zeal of the i[n]conoclast Removed. + +p. 160 at any[ ]rate Added. + +p. 168 he will find plent[l]y more Removed. + +p. 243 My other recollection[s] ... is of a.... Removed. + +p. 254 'Switch-back['] Hole Added. + + + + + + + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Golf Courses of the British Isles, by +Bernard Darwin + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK GOLF COURSES *** + +***** This file should be named 44623.txt or 44623.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/4/4/6/2/44623/ + +Produced by KD Weeks, Greg Bergquist and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This +file was produced from images generously made available +by The Internet Archive/Canadian Libraries) + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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