GOLF.

Auckland Star, Volume XXVIII, Issue 288, 11 December 1897, Page 2 (Supplement)

GOLF.

' Cheating at Golf was the subject of a controversy in the London ' Daily Mail' during lasb month. Ib arose from a letter signed ' A Disgusted Golfer,' an individual who professed to be shocked at the cheating rampant among followers of tbe game. The writer alleged that respectable middleaged men, who were in business and Social affairs above suspicion, ' stuck at nothing in the way of trickery of the meanest and lowest description' when playing golf: Players were accused of throwing balls out of bunkers, of moving their ball when in an unfavourable ' lie,' of tramping an opponent's ball underfoot, and of handing in incorrect scores. These charges were not allowed to go unchallenged, although the majority of the writers had to admit that cases of cheating had come under their notice. One writer stated thab he knew of cheating in championship matches. But the real note was struck in a letter signed ' Scotus,' which assigned cheating to a non-acquaintance .of the rules by English golfers, who played the game in a happy, haphazard style at variance with the serious traditions of Scotch players. A strange fact in the controversy is bhab all those who uphold 'A Disgusted Golfer' in his allegations are unanimous in the opinion that the greatest cheats are ladies. There do not appear to have been any complaints of cheating in the colonies.