THE HAPPY “DUFFER.”

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 75, Issue 140, 16 June 1932, Page 6

THE HAPPY “DUFFER.”

UNCERTAINTY is the salt of life and presumably the duffers at golf have sueh a lot that it makes them happy, writes the golfing correspondent of the Yorkshire Post. He continues: “They never know what is coming next. There are people who think that the state of dufferdom is unhappy—like rheumatism oi- insomnia, which are often advanced as its causes. It would be a great good thing for the golfing world to realise that the individual who executes a lot of bad shots taps the sweetest pleasures of the game on his occasional good ones.’’ This worthy writer then proceeds to paint the gloom of the scratch player when he fails to play down to bogey, and returns to the happy picture of the. duffer returning to health, and home and office to bore all and sundry with the great gay news that he has made three good drives during the day. This is a charming picture, but alas it is false. The duffer does not mind the miss hits; he does not mind the high scores; and he does not mind the taunts of his neighbours on his long handicap. But who shall make so bold as to proclaim that he gets a thrill out of digging in a gorse bush, or puddling in a swamp searching for a golf bal] 1 What compensations are there for a ball hit well—too well, because it has gone out of bounds? There are no such compensations. No, none whatever. The Happy Duffer, indeed! Ask one whether he is happy? He will possibly say that he is, but when the psalmist talked in his haste he included all men in that awful category he mentioned, and that includes the “happy’’ duffer.