1872. Tom Morris, jun., St Andrews 166--at Prestwick.
1873. Tom Kidd, St Andrews 179--at St Andrews.
1874. Mungo Park, Musselburgh 159--at Musselburgh.
1875. Willie Park, Musselburgh 166--at Prestwick.
1876. Bob Martin, St Andrews 176--at St Andrews.
1877. Jamie Anderson, St Andrews 160--at Musselburgh.
1878. Jamie Anderson, St Andrews 157--at Prestwick.
1879. Jamie Anderson, St Andrews 170--at St Andrews.
1880. Bob Fergusson, Musselburgh 162--at Musselburgh.
1881. Bob Fergusson, Musselburgh 170--at Prestwick.
1882. Bob Fergusson, Musselburgh 171--at St Andrews.
1883. W. Fernie, Dumfries 159--at Musselburgh.
1884. Jack Simpson, Carnoustie 160--at Prestwick.
1885. Bob Martin, St Andrews 171--at St Andrews.
1886. D. Brown, Musselburgh 157--at Musselburgh.
1887. Willie Park, jun., Musselburgh 161--at Prestwick.
1888. Jack Burns, Warwick 171--at St Andrews.
1889. Willie Park, jun., Musselburgh 155--at Musselburgh.
1890. Mr John Ball, jun., Hoylake 164--at Prestwick.
1891. Hugh Kirkaldy, St Andrews 166--at St Andrews.
1892. Mr H. H. Hilton, Hoylake 305--at Muirfield.
1893. W. Auchterlonie, St Andrews 322--at Prestwick.
1894. J. H. Taylor, Winchester 326--at Sandwich.
1895. J. H. Taylor, Winchester 322--at St Andrews.
1896. H. Vardon, Scarborough 316--at Muirfield.
1897. Mr H. H. Hilton, Hoylake 314--at Hoylake.
1898. H. Vardon, Scarborough 307--at Prestwick.
1899. H. Vardon, Scarborough 310--at Sandwich.
1900. J. H. Taylor, Richmond 309--at St Andrews.
1901. J. Braid, Romford 309--at Muirfield.
1902. A. Herd, Huddersfield 307--at Hoylake.
1903. H. Vardon, Ganton 300--at Prestwick.
1904. J. White, Sunningdale 296--at Sandwich.
1905. J. Braid, Walton Heath 318--at St Andrews.
1906. J. Braid, Walton Heath 300--at Muirfield.
1907. Arnaud Massey, La Boulie 312--at Hoylake.
1908. J. Braid, Walton Heath 291--at Prestwick.
1909. J. H. Taylor, Richmond 295--at Deal.
1910. J. Braid, Walton Heath 298--at St Andrews.
The Amateur Championship is of far more recent institution.
1886. Mr Horace Hutchinson at St Andrews.
1887. Mr Horace Hutchinson at Hoylake.
1888. Mr John Ball at Prestwick.
1889. Mr J. E. Laidlay at St Andrews.
1890. Mr John Ball at Hoylake.
1891. Mr J. E. Laidlay at St Andrews.
1892. Mr John Ball at Sandwich.
1893. Mr P. Anderson at Prestwick.
1894. Mr John Ball at Hoylake.
1895. Mr L. Balfour-Melville at St Andrews.
1896. Mr F. G. Tait at Sandwich.
1897. Mr J. T. Allan at Muirfield.
1898. Mr John Ball at Prestwick.
1899. Mr F. G. Tait at Hoylake.
1900. Mr H. H. Hilton at Sandwich.
1901. Mr H. H. Hilton at St Andrews.
1902. Mr C. Hutchings at Hoylake.
1903. Mr R. Maxwell at Muirfield.
1904. Mr W. J. Travis at Sandwich.
1905. Mr A. G. Barry at St Andrews.
1906. Mr J. Robb at Hoylake.
1907. Mr John Ball at St Andrews.
1908. Mr E. A. Lassen at Sandwich.
1909. Mr Robert Maxwell at Muirfield.
1910. Mr John Ball at Hoylake.
The Ladies' Championship was started in 1893.
1893. Lady M. Scott at St Annes.
1894. Lady M. Scott at Littlestone.
1895. Lady M. Scott at Portrush.
1896. Miss A. B. Pascoe at Hoylake.
1897. Miss E. C. Orr at Gullane.
1898. Miss L. Thompson at Yarmouth.
1899. Miss M. Hezlet at Newcastle.
1900. Miss R. K. Adair at Westward Ho.
1901. Miss M. A. Graham at Aberdovy.
1902. Miss M. Hezlet at Deal.
1903. Miss R. K. Adair at Portrush.
1904. Miss L. Dod at Troon.
1905. Miss B. Thompson at Cromer.
1906. Mrs Kennion at Burnham.
1907. Miss M. Hezlet at Newcastle (Co. Down).
1908. Miss M. Titterton at St Andrews.
1909. Miss D. Campbell at Birkdale.
1910. Miss Grant Suttie at Westward Ho.
There have been some slight changes of detail and arrangement as time
has gone on, in the rules of the game (the latest edition of the Rules
should be consulted). A new class of golfer has arisen, requiring a code
of rules framed rather more exactly than the older code. The Scottish
golfer, who was "teethed" on a golf club, as Mr Andrew Lang has
described it, imbibed all the traditions of the game with his natural
sustenance. Very few rules sufficed for him. But when the Englishman,
and still more the American (less in touch with the traditions), began
to play golf as a new game, then they began to ask for a code of rules
that should be lucid and illuminating on every point--an ideal perhaps
impossible to realize. It was found, at least, that the code put forward
by the Royal and Ancient Club of St Andrews did not realize it
adequately. Nevertheless the new golfers were very loyal indeed to the
club that had ever of old held, by tacit consent, the position of fount
of golfing legislation. The Royal and Ancient Club was appealed to by
English golfers to step into the place, analogous to that of the
Marylebone Cricket Club in cricket, that they were both willing and
anxious to give it. It was a place that the Club at St Andrews did not
in the least wish to occupy, but the honour was thrust so insistently
upon it, that there was no declining. The latest effort to meet the
demands for some more satisfactory legislation on the thousand and one
points that continually must arise for decision in course of playing a
game of such variety as golf, consists of the appointment of a standing
committee, called the "Rules of Golf Committee." Its members all belong
to the Royal and Ancient Club; but since this club draws its membership
from all parts of the United Kingdom, this restriction is quite
consistent with a very general representation of the views of north,
south, east and west--from Westward Ho and Sandwich to Dornoch, and all
the many first-rate links of Ireland--on the committee. Ireland has,
indeed, some of the best links in the kingdom, and yields to neither
Scotland nor England in enthusiasm for the game. This committee, after a
general revision of the rules into the form in which they now stand,
consider every month, either by meeting or by correspondence, the
questions that are sent up to it by clubs or by individuals; and the
committee's answers to these questions have the force of law until they
have come before the next general meeting of the Royal and Ancient Club
at St Andrews, which may confirm or may reject them at will. The ladies
of Great Britain manage otherwise. They have a Golfing Union which
settles questions for them; but since this union itself accepts as
binding the answers given by the Rules of Golf Committee, they really
arrive at the same conclusions by a slightly different path. Nor does
the American Union, governing the play of men and women alike in the
States, really act differently. The Americans naturally reserve to
themselves freedom to make their own rules, but in practice they conform
to the legislation of Scotland, with the exception of a more drastic
definition of the status of the amateur player, and certain differences
as to the clubs used.
A considerable modification has been effected in the implements of the
game. The tendency of the modern wooden clubs is to be short in the head
as compared with the clubs of, say, 1880 or 1885. The advantage claimed
(probably with justice) for this shape is that it masses the weight
behind the point on which the ball is struck. Better material in the
wood of the club is a consequence of the increased demand for these
articles and the increased competition among their makers. Whereas under
the old conditions a few workers at the few greens then in existence
were enough to supply the golfing wants, now there is a very large
industry in golf club and ball making, which not only employs workers in
the local club-makers' shops all the kingdom over, but is an important
branch of the commerce of the stores and of the big athletic outfitters,
both in Great Britain and in the United States. By far the largest
modification in the game since the change to gutta-percha balls from
balls of leather-covering stuffed with feathers, is due to the American
invention of the india-rubber cased balls. Practically it is as an
American invention that it is still regarded, although the British law
courts decided, after a lengthy trial (1905), that there had been "prior
users" of the principle of the balls' manufacture, and therefore that
the patent of Mr Haskell, by whose name the first balls of the kind
were called, was not good. It is singular to remark that in the first
introduction of the gutta-percha balls, superseding the leather and
feather compositions, they also were called by the name of their first
maker, "Gourlay." The general mode of manufacture of the rubber-cored
ball, which is now everywhere in use, is interiorly, a hard core of
gutta-percha or some other such substance; round this is wound, by
machinery, india-rubber thread or strips at a high tension, and over all
is an outer coat of gutta-percha. Some makers have tried to dispense
with the kernel of hard substance, or to substitute for it kernels of
some fluid or gelatinous substance, but in general the above is a
sufficient, though rough, description of the mode of making all these
balls. Their superiority over the solid gutta-percha lies in their
superior resiliency. The effect is that they go much more lightly off
the club. It is not so much in the tee-shots that this superiority is
observed, as in the second shots, when the ball is lying badly; balls of
the rubber-cored kind, with their greater liveliness, are more easy to
raise in the air from a lie of this kind. They also go remarkably well
off the iron clubs, and thus make the game easier by placing the player
within an iron shot of the hole at a distance at which he would have to
use a wooden club if he were playing with a solid gutta-percha ball.
They also tend to make the game more easy by the fact that if they are
at all mis-hit they go much better than a gutta-percha ball similarly
inaccurately struck. As a slight set-off against these qualities, the
ball, because of the greater liveliness, is not quite so good for the
short game as the solid ball; but on the whole its advantages distinctly
overbalance its disadvantages.
When these balls were first put on the market they were sold at two
shillings each and even, when the supply was quite unequal to the
demand, at a greater deal higher price, rising to as much as a guinea a
ball. But the normal price, until about a year after the decision in the
British courts of law affirming that there was no patent in the balls,
was always two shillings for the best quality of ball. Subsequently
there was a reduction down to one shilling for the balls made by many of
the manufacturing companies, though in 1910 the rise in the price of
rubber sent up the cost. The rubber-cored ball does not go out of shape
so quickly as the gutta-percha solid ball and does not show other marks
of ill-usage with the club so obviously. It has had the effect of making
the game a good deal easier for the second- and third-class players,
favouring especially those who were short drivers with the old
gutta-percha ball. To the best players it has made the least difference,
nevertheless those who were best with the old ball are also best with
the new; its effect has merely been to bring the second, third and
fourth best closer to each other and to the best.
Incidentally, the question of the expense of the game has been touched
on in this notice of the new balls. There is no doubt that the balls
themselves tend to a greater economy, not only because of their own
superior durability but also because, as a consequence of their greater
resiliency, they are not nearly so hard on the clubs, and the clubs
themselves being perhaps made of better material than used to be given
to their manufacture, the total effect is that a man's necessary annual
expenditure on them is very small indeed even though he plays pretty
constantly. Four or five rounds are not more than the average of golfers
will make an india-rubber cored ball last them, so that the outlay on
the weapons is very moderate. On the other hand the expenditure of the
clubs on their courses has increased and tends to increase. Demands are
more insistent than they used to be for a well kept course, for
perfectly mown greens, renewed teeing grounds and so on, and probably
the modern golfer is a good deal more luxurious in his clubhouse wants
than his father used to be. This means a big staff of servants and
workers on the green, and to meet this a rather heavy subscription is
required. Such a subscription as five guineas added to a ten or fifteen
guinea entrance fee is not uncommon, and even this is very moderate
compared with the subscriptions to some of the clubs in the United
States, where a hundred dollars a year, or twenty pounds of our money,
is not unusual. But on the whole golf is a very economical pastime, as
compared with almost any other sport or pastime which engages the
attention of Britons, and it is a pastime for all the year round, and
for all the life of a man or woman.
_Glossary of Technical Terms used in the Game._
_Addressing the Ball._--Putting oneself in position to strike the
ball.
_All Square._--Term used to express that the score stands level,
neither side being a hole up.
_Baff._--To strike the ground with the club when playing, and so loft
the ball unduly.
_Baffy._--A short wooden club, with laid-back face, for lofting shots.
_Bogey._--The number of strokes which a good average player should
take to each hole. This imaginary player is usually known as "Colonel
Bogey," and plays a fine game.
_Brassy._--A wooden club with a brass sole.
_Bulger._--A driver in which the face "bulges" into a convex shape.
The head is shorter than in the older-fashioned driver.
_Bunker._--A sand-pit.
_Bye._--The holes remaining after one side has become more holes up
than remain for play.
_Caddie._--The person who carries the clubs. Diminutive of "cad"; cf.
laddie (from Fr. _cadet_).
_Cleek._--The iron-headed club that is capable of the farthest drive
of any of the clubs with iron heads.
_Cup._--A depression in the ground causing the ball to lie badly.
_Dead._--A ball is said to be "dead" when so near the hole that the
putting it in in the next stroke is a "dead" certainty. A ball is said
to "fall dead" when it pitches with hardly any run.
_Divot._--A piece of turf cut out in the act of playing, which, be it
noted, should always be replaced before the player moves on.
_Dormy._--One side is said to be "dormy" when it is as many holes to
the good as remain to be played--so that it cannot be beaten.
_Driver._--The longest driving club, used when the ball lies very well
and a long shot is needed.
_Foozle._--Any very badly missed or bungled stroke.
"_Fore!_"--A cry of warning to people in front.
_Foursome._--A match in which four persons engage, two on each side
playing alternately with the same ball.
_Green._--(a) The links as a whole; (b) the "putting-greens" around
the holes.
_Grip._--(a) The part of the club-shaft which is held in the hands
while playing; (b) the grasp itself--e.g. "a firm grip," "a loose
grip," are common expressions.
_Half-Shot._--A shot played with something less than a full swing.
_Halved._--A hole is "halved" when both sides have played it in the
same number of strokes. A round is "halved" when each side has won and
lost the same number of holes.
_Handicap._--The strokes which a player receives either in match play
or competition.
_Hanging._--Said of a ball that lies on a slope inclining downwards in
regard to the direction in which it is wished to drive.
_Hazard._--A general term for bunker, whin, long grass, roads and all
kinds of bad ground.
_Heel._--To hit the ball on the "heel" of the club, i.e. the part of
the face nearest the shaft, and so send the ball to the right, with
the same result as from a slice.
_Honour._--The privilege (which its holder is not at liberty to
decline) of striking off first from the tee.
_Iron._--An iron-headed club intermediate between the cleek and
lofting mashie. There are driving irons and lofting irons according to
the purposes for which they are intended.
_Lie._--(a) The angle of the club-head with the shaft (e.g. a "flat
lie," "an upright lie"); (b) the position of the ball on the ground
(e.g. "a good lie," "a bad lie").
_Like, The._--The stroke which makes the player's score equal to his
opponent's in course of playing a hole.
_Like-as-we-Lie._--Said when both sides have played the same number of
strokes.
_Line._--The direction in which the hole towards which the player is
progressing lies with reference to the present position of his ball.
_Mashie._--Ah iron club with a short head. The _lofting mashie_ has
the blade much laid back, for playing a short lofting shot. The
_driving mashie_ has the blade less laid back, and is used for longer,
less lofted shots.
_Match-Play._--Play in which the score is reckoned by holes won and
lost.
_Medal-Play._--Play in which the score is reckoned by the total of
strokes taken on the round.
_Niblick._--A short stiff club with a short, laid back, iron head,
used for getting the ball out of a very bad lie.
_Odd, The._--A stroke more than the opponent has played.
_Press._--To strive to hit harder than you can hit with accuracy.
_Pull._--To hit the ball with a pulling movement of the club, so as to
make it curve to the left.
_Putt._--To play the short strokes near the hole (pronounced as in
"but").
_Putter._--The club used for playing the short strokes near the hole.
Some have a wooden head, some an iron head.
_Rub-of-the-Green._--Any chance deflection that the ball receives as
it goes along.
_Run Up._--To send the ball low and close to the ground in approaching
the hole--opposite to lofting it up.
_Scratch Player._--Player who receives no odds in handicap
competitions.
_Slice._--To hit the ball with a cut across it, so that it flies
curving to the right.
_Stance._--(a) The place on which the player has to stand when
playing--e.g. "a bad stance," "a good stance," are common expressions;
(b) the position relative to each other of the player's feet.
_Stymie._--When one ball lies in a straight line between another and
the hole the first is said to "stymie," or "to be a stymie to" the
other--from an old Scottish word given by Jamieson to mean "the
faintest form of anything." The idea probably was, the "stymie" only
left you the "faintest form" of the hole to aim at.
_Tee._--The little mound of sand on which the ball is generally placed
for the first drive to each hole.
_Teeing-Ground._--The place marked as the limit, outside of which it
is not permitted to drive the ball off. This marked-out ground is also
sometimes called "the tee."
_Top._--To hit the ball above the centre, so that it does not rise
much from the ground.
_Up._--A player is said to be "one up," "two up," &c., when he is so
many holes to the good of his opponent.
_Wrist-Shot._--A shot less in length than a half-shot, but longer than
a putt.
BIBLIOGRAPHY.--The literature of the game has grown to some
considerable bulk. For many years it was practically comprised in the
fine work by Mr Robert Clark, _Golf: A Royal and Ancient Game_,
together with two handbooks on the game by Mr Chambers and by Mr
Forgan respectively, and the _Golfiana Miscellanea_ of Mr Stewart. A
small book by Mr Horace Hutchinson, named _Hints on Golf_, was very
shortly followed by a much more important work by Sir Walter Simpson,
Bart., called _The Art of Golf_, a title which sufficiently explains
itself. The Badminton Library book on _Golf_ attempted to collect into
one volume the most interesting historical facts known about the game,
with _obiter dicta_ and advice to learners, and, on similar didactic
lines, books have been written by Mr H. C. S. Everard, Mr Garden Smith
and W. Park, the professional player. Mr H. J. Whigham, sometime
amateur champion golfer of the United States, has given us a book
about the game in that country. _The Book of Golf and Golfers_,
compiled, with assistance, by Mr Horace Hutchinson, is in the first
place a picture-gallery of famous golfers in their respective
attitudes of play. Taylor, Vardon and Braid have each contributed a
volume of instruction, and Mr G. W. Beldam has published a book with
admirable photographs of players in action, called _Great Golfers:
their Methods at a Glance_. A work intended for the use of green
committees is among the volumes of the _Country Life_ Library of
Sport. Much interesting lore is contained in the _Golfing Annual_, in
the _Golfer's Year Book_ and in the pages of _Golf_, which has now
become _Golf Illustrated_, a weekly paper devoted to the game. Among
works that have primarily a local interest, but yet contain much of
historical value about the game, may be cited the _Golf Book of East
Lothian_, by the Rev. John Kerr, and the _Chronicle of Blackheath
Golfers_, by Mr W. E. Hughes. (H. G. H.)