SPORTS ORDEALS

Evening Star, Issue 18160, 28 December 1922, Page 8

SPORTS ORDEALS

KKR VJvRAGEING EXPERIENCES. r lljo ordeal of the Prince of Wales in playing himself into the office of captain of the Royal and Ancient Golf Club at St. Andrews has called forth a great deal of comment in English newspapers. A writer in the ‘ Manchester* Guardian ’ points out that the Prince was but carrying on the traditional association of the Royal House with “ that peculiar exercise of the Scots.” In spite of an Act of Parliament (1491) condemning “ sik unprofitabill sportis ” as golf, that athletic monarch James IV. was a keen patron of the game, the accounts of the Lord Treasurer of Scotland' pointing pretty dearly to the fact that at least on one occasion he exercised his skill with “ golf clubbes and balles ”■ at St. Andrews. James IV. seems to have followed in his father’s footsteps. And, if wo can trust the evidence brought before Queen Elizabeth’s Commission at Westminster, the hapless Mary fjjjpart outraged public opinion and proclaimed her own indifference to Darnley’s murder a few days after that tragedy by passing to Seyton and indulging in a round of golf “ rioht opinlie.” The golfiing instinct seerris to have been implanted deep in the Stuart family (adds the correspondent). It has been questioned whether James VI. (First of lingland) had any personal connection with the game. But the expenditure noted in the manuscript of the Lord Treasurer’s accounts (1560-61) for “twa golf clubbis ” and 40s for golf balls seems to leave little room for doubt. According to a wellknown tradition, Charles I. was playing on the links'at Leith when the news of the Irish Rebellion reached Edinburgh and rudely interrupted his game. During his residence in the north the Duke of York (later James II.) was wont to resort to the Leith course for an occasional round. Had he only been left to exert his talents in this sphere the end of the unfortunate sovereign might have been a less inglorious one. Selecting as his partner one John Paterson, a Scotch shoemaker, the Duke accepted the challenge of two English members of his suite to a golf match and carried off the honors of the day. The old house in the Canongate, Edinburgh, known as “ Golfer’s Land,” was built by the shoemaker with his share of the prize,) and testifies to the high value of thp stake. The Prince’s ordeal was later referred to by another writer in the same journal, who said that even professionals have confessed to a shakiness at the beginning of an important match. At the same time there are many golfers who regard the critical putt as a much more severe test, especially in a foursome where a partner’s half-crown may depend on it. What about cricket ? The first appearance on a really big ground and the long walk from the pavilion to the wicket have been the undoing of many a young batsman. But is this more nerve-racking than the wait by the pavilion rails for the ballooning hit which seems to be hours on Its way ? The kick-off in either code of football is hot specially nerverending; perhaps the worst moment is that of the goalkeeper in Association who has to decide whether to run out or to stay in; or of the full-back in Rugby who must “ go 'down at the feet ” of a pack of forwards with the ball. _ Lawn tennis is more kindly in this respect than other games, but all rowing men know the dreadful period of waiting before it is time to launch the boat tor a big race. In boxing Si Id provided sufficient evidence of the. feelings of a comparatively new man facing a champion. Hunting, men, with plenty of- confidence once they are away, have itonfessed to some qualms in the long wait at the cover-side; and the deer-stalker is not often master of himself when, for the first time, the rifle is pushed into his hand and he is bidden to shoot,