THE IMPRESSIONS OF A GOLFING NOVICE.

Press, Volume L, Issue 8534, 14 July 1893, Page 6

THE IMPRESSIONS OF A GOLFING NOVICE.

IBt w. a. c.j A novice may be described as an innocent experiencing his first season. The novice, io this instance, is one who iv his time has woft races from scratch at one, two, and four hundred and forty yards; who has played, his twenty matches at cricket in a season, with an average of twenty-five, and. who, until lately, could hold his own at tennis with the average youngster of half bis age. To such a one, golf may be pronounced a real blessing. He will take as kindly to the game as a duck to the water. His training of eye, hand and muscles to manipulation of a ball by an instrument, stand him in good atead and he will soon find that, whilst endeavouring to excel, he will occasionally make as good and better stroke* than the old hands who have played from their youth upwards. The quickness and activity required for- striking or catching a ball whilst it is moving—as iv cricket, tennis, ■ hockey and football —are here absent, the ball being struck only when at rest, and such arrangement accords well with the more deliberate movements of a inaturer age, but it doubtless. takes away from the interest of on-lookers, who, watching the game at a distance for the first time, generally opine that ie is uncommonly slow. If a man without prejudice wishes to form an intelligent idea of the game, he should closely follow a pair of scratch players during a round of nine holes. He will then surely declare, after the niceties of the game have been explained as they occur, that golf is not a game consisting of "hitting a ball with clubs as hard as you can, under irritating difficulties." Be will, moreover, have walked a mile or two in the pure fresh air, from one red flag to another, across burns, over hillocks and through bunkers, aud will probably have been so absorbed in the results of the play a« to be almost unconscious of his movements. An onlooker's interest will, however, be doubtless modified in accordance with bis adaptability to do likewise. If he cannot swing an axe without Cutting hia toes off, or drive a wire nail without bending it, and if in hie outdoor-leisure he has used bis legs only, he will make no mark at golf excepting on his ball. But the game has now become so popu- j lar, fashionable and universal, that no one need be afraid to try, for be will almost surely find some one beginning who is j little or no better than himself. The game U specially suited to sustain the player's interest. - The play to each hole is an Incident to itself, ;and acts as a stimulant, if the hole be won, to sustain the advantage, or, if Jos*, to play better for the next, whilstthereiaalways the "pleasur--able possibility that one's opponent may get into hcpeless difficulties at the last moment. ,i For beginners,- the best and most interesting game is .to join tbe older players in a foursome, as they have the opportunity of seeing, by means of their respective partners, what good play ia. The game ia much brisker for them than a single, and as the holes are accomplished in fewer strokes, there is less likelihood of wasting time in looking for a lost ball. The open admiration of the beginner compensates his crack partner for the loss of a good' single match, aud when this ceases it is time for bim to play singles... Like all. other, outdoor games, the ground' used should be as suitable and as perfect as possible, and the attainment of the object is necessarily in proportion to the strength und finances of the club. Mean while. a.« tbe writer has found healthy exercise and enjoyment in playing the game in all prevailing weather, from a north-west gale to a southerly drizzle, on a.ground which has much room for improvement, be can easily imagine that a round on a Home licks, with trained'caddies aud billiard table like putting greens would be so attractive to players, that devotees would be found there "from early dawn to dewy eve." Critics have declared golf to be a" selfish game, and this charge has, 1 believe, beeu candidly acknowledged by Mr Horace Hutchinson and others. It probably arises from the fact that players show a selfish eagerness, bordering on discourtesy, to secure the best partner obtainable for the day's play and to carefully avoid the duffer, the grumbler, or the indifferent and careless player. After pairing off and starting from the first hole, one pair following another, there is but slight chance of a. reassortment of partners. The faultfinder —a character not unknown in almost all kiods of cittbs—can then affect only bis unfortunate partner for the time being. To him, on the links, he appears as folio we:— 'Tis the voice of ths crumbier, I hear him complain Of the bunkers and hazards, the wind or .tho rain As a deor on its hingsa, so he with his tongue Will jibber and chatter, you with he was hung-. Ths groans are all lampy, the caddies no good The dabs ore iU-bmlaaoei, both, iron aad wood Th* players ahead ore '■ jasfc fooling around," And ha wants for himseif, sirs, the whole of the ground. . He malls all Ms tees, sirs, they're "tensers " to him, And vbts topping hia tall Its looks haggard and grim, Bat improre-M-t will come, if he will persevere. And lie may get a plate by the end of the year. Also if he Is capable of modification, he may some day catch the free joyous spirit of the following extract from a golfing song by Mr D. Jackson :—■ Coma let as fno the toon away. To Le?on Links, where rollers play. And bUthsly spend oar holiday Alans the lahks sao boa Die O. "We'll breathe mrAin t_» fresh, sea-air. And scent the flowers that blossom there. While nature's choicest gifts we chore Aling ths links sac bonnie O. We'll laugh and craokwi' hearty glee. And grasp oar clnbs -nd seek our Tea We'll mar" the BVa Kka Unties flee Along the Link? eae bonny O. And when the daak «te»!s ower the eky, We'fl belt our clnbs and homeward hie, Ad tun again wi' wistful eye To view the Links sac bonnie O. Chords— On Leren links, "raong braes aud bent, I'd play content wi' ony O. . TO ne'er forget the days Vre spent Along the Links sac bonnie O. <