How to play GOOD GOLF

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 2, Issue 257, 22 June 1932, Page 3

How to play GOOD GOLF

I J-

McCORMlCK

= BY

| specially written eor the « MonNiija Post » I I BY J. McCORMlCK, | | Oeficiab Coach to the Rotorua Gole Club 1 | (All Itights Reserved) = 1 THE TRADITIONS OF THE GAME | | Now that I have taken you through the. whole game and | | explained how it should be played according to modern ideas, it = | is appropriate that something should be said about the game* = | and its origin. Many people have the. idea that golf is a modern | | game; actually it is one of the oldest, and varies less from its f | original form than most other games. Certainly it has increased | | tremendously in popular favour during the. last fe\v years, and, | | consequently, has come more into the public eye. The. word 1 | golf is essentially of Scottish derivation so far as present day 1 | ideas are concerned, but it is not certain that the Scots were | | the forerunners of the game as there are indications that it may i | have had its inception in Holland as the name is believed, by | | some authorities, to have been derived from the Dutch word | | "lcolfe." However that may be, there are records of it having | | been played in Scotland long before 1457, and when that year | | was reached, the club game had advanced so much in popular fav- 1 | our that the authorities of the day viewed it with, marked dis- | 5 favour!, on account of the faet that it threatened to interfere I | with the more important pursuit of archery. = | In fact, various decrees were issued in the quaint language | | of the day absolutely prohibiting the playing of the game. | | These acts of Parliament had little effect, however, and James i | IV. in 1491 issued a very angry pronouncement on the subject | | which ran as follows: — "Futeball and golfe forbidden. Item, it | | is statut and ordainit that in na place of the realme there be I | usit futeball, golfe or other silc unprofitabill sportis." I = * With James, however, it was not so much a case^of "do | | as I do," but "do as I say," for shortly afterwards he had taken | | up the game itself and was just as worried about his slice as | | any present day golfer. | E It is from Scotland that the game gets its stariding as 1 | being "Royal and Ancient" for after James IV., his brother, 1 | James V. toolc it up enthusiastically, and there are even records | | of tho unhappy Mary Stuart having been the fi'rst feminine de- | | votee of the game, although there is no ground to thinlc, in case I | non-golfers may be inclined to do so, that this fact had any I = bearing on her execution. = | With its roots so deeply imbedded in Scottish history, it | § is liitlo wonder that the game grew to *be the national pastime | | of Scotland. Where is there a golfer who has not heard of St. 1 | Andrews, that famous club which, in 1834, had William IV. as I | its patron. St. Andrews is to this day regarded as the logical I | headquarters of the game in the world and even the democratic 1 | Americans, who have taken up the game with characteristic | | thoroughness and success, visit the ancient linlcs more in the | | reverent spirit of pilgrims than golfers. The club was instituted ' 1 5 in 1754 and now its membership is far more numerous and dis- i | tinguished than any other. To win a medal at St. Andrews is I = the highest honour to which tho ambition of the golfer can 1 | aspire. 1 | Golf to-day has a world-wide appeal, and players of all I | nationalilies aro among its devotees. An interesting illustration I | of tho manner in which it is aeting as an intermediary between | | peoples of different races, was provided when the. Prince of | | Wales sponsored an Argentinian competitor in the British cham- | | pionship. = | Not so long ago, golf was generally regarded as a rich i = man s pastime, and, on this account, was referred to somewhat = | disparagingly by a great many people. With wider knowledge \ | of the fascinating features of the game, however, these prejudices I | are rapidly disappearing, and golf is being taken up enthus- \ | iastically by thousands of people in all walks of life and of botli \ | sexes. , \ | Witli its distinctive features, the game has also provided \ I a field for humour, but this is appreciated by no one better than \ | by the golfer himself. Not only does it possess a most interest- l | ing history, but the game these days is also developing a litera- ! ^ ture of its own, copious in both prose and verse. \ | It may lack the atmosphere of strife and clamour of = i somo of the more vigorous games, but as a test of character it j | is sccond to none. The person who can play golf and accept j | its joys with modesty and pleasure, and its disappointments j | with equanimity, is worthy of the ancient traditions of the game. | ^ In conclusion I hope that my articles have been of suffic- = ient merit to hold your attention and at the same time improve = your knowledge of, and interest in, the game. rniiiiiiiiiiiiiiimimiiiiiimiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiihiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiinihiiiiiiiiiiitimiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiifuiiiiiiiiii,,,,,,,,,,,,!!,