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.—An 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.
