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Show " ColfV-2,ooo,ooo 11 V 4i ! '''A MJi&?.?:Zt Iff t&W Tlu-y. a' growff, they a' growtr. reach such a pass that a movement is 1 I The beitxar and the Draw sow ft. started to. restrict the unlimited mnnu- f"cture of wd they have but . , VJTK Ye make them hrlthers a', gowlT: to introduce the conservation leaders AW'I-V Ye've s'.o'cn (he hearts o' a1, sowrf. to the nearest links, let them play their U vW'f Ve've turned the heida. o' a', gowff, Hrst nilie iu,ies BIUi the trick will he Ak . , f ! sBtS The club and ba' bewitch us a'. , ,,.. .,i.., S. X, v ? K r I We're a' daft on gowir. turned. Once a goiter, ah ays a rX ? JiJ l JOHN KERR. Kolfer. The veriest du'.i will yield t-syg- whatever conservation principles he JOC? ' 7IZlF(?Jjrfl?02r By JOHN DICKINSON SHERMAN may have in unqualified allegiance to. AAm.w 7 They, a' growff, they a' grown. The beitxar and the braw gowff. The .sum' an' great in kirk an' state Ye make them hrlthers a', gowff: Ye've s'.o'en the hearts o' a', gowff. Ye've turned the heida, o' a', gowff, The club and ba' bewitch us a'. We're a' daft on gowff. I JOHN KEIiR. By JOHN DICKINSON SHERMAN V'TOL1'' 2.000,XX) Americans, at the lowest estimate, are playing it. And Hie 111 r' number of devotees of Xjjjjk "ye royall and autient game" are hicrt'tiing JJg heyoml all counting. It was only a generation ago that a few hundred jf si Ainericsins were mi-J mi-J mercifully ridiculed for their "cosv-pasture pool." The golf clubs of the country could he counted In less than two figures. It was called a rich man's game and an old mi: it's game. , Now, Chicago using it as an example ex-ample of the change has IK? large golf clubs each with a long waiting list. It has many small clubs. It lias eleven municipal courses, Willi lour more in immediate prospect and pressing need for double tiie number on the public links m Lincoln park last year 105,1)00 people leed off. It. lias successful "commercial" coui'shs Many commercial and industrial bodies tire forming their own clubs. Vov in-stance in-stance the other day representatives of tl.e printing industry and allied trades f.a'iiied the Printing Trades (iolf association asso-ciation with (JG charier members. It will hold three tournaments this season, sea-son, liven the high schools have their annual tournaments for boys and girls. t'ities vary greatly in their attitude toward golf. Detroit, for example, goes in for expensive golf in exclusive i luiis. Membership probably c-osls $1.-O.m $1.-O.m a year in a least twenty-six of its clubs. It has not a single municipal golf course. Seattle, by way of contrast, is building build-ing a second municipal course from ihe profits of the one established in 1915. So many people are playing golf tl.at the American Forestry ussocia-l:on ussocia-l:on is getting anxious. Thus far the advocates of forest conservation have been generous enough not (o look with extreme disfavor on the use of wood for golf clubs, but if golf continues to win adherents at the rate it lias in the past few years, and the factories are forced to double their output of shafts for golf dubs, one hesitates to s.iy what will happen. Since two million mil-lion people are said to be handling golf sticks ami since these peop.e are siid to own from leu to sixteen million W them, the amount of wood ued for their production is no small quantity. In fa't Ihe steel-shafted club l.iis ulieaily made its appearance. The toiled Slates Golf association ha-; birred its use; the Western (Iolf asso-ciilion. asso-ciilion. at this writing, has made no i lit :ng on tlie subject. The golfers retort that pn-erved woodlands and golf couises a: e lirsi cii'.'.miis. sime no golf course is ideal 'Jiile-is it Ims woods ,,n it or around It. They also say that should mailers reach such a pass that a movement is started to. restrict the unlimited manufacture manu-facture of wooden clubs they have but to introduce the conservation leaders to the nearest links, let them play their first nine holes and the trick will be turned. Once a golfer, always a golfer. The veriest dub will yield whatever conservation principles he may have in unqualified allegiance to the sport that is at once his glory and his despair. The photographs reproduced herewith here-with have real significance. In President Presi-dent Harding is seen the "biggest man in the United States" playing golf for enjoyment, for relaxation from the tremendous labor and responsibility of his high place and for the preservation preserva-tion of bis health and vigor. In John D. Kockefeller is seen the "richest man in the world" playing golf because with all his millions or is it billions? he knows no keener enjoyment, no sport more lilted to his advanced age, no better method of prolonging his years. In Miss Margaret Cameron of I.os Angeles is seen a line type of the modern American girl who plays golf for its many advantages as an outdoor out-door recreation and an antidote for many of the ills of a civilization that is too complex to he entirely safe, sane and sober. In Jock Hutchinson is seen a good sample- of the high-class professional whose championship skill is a mark for every aspiring golfer to shoot at, whose instruction is adding yearly to the good gulling of (he country. A sure indication of golf's increasing increas-ing popularity is that there is a widespread wide-spread movement to reduce the cost of the game. Kvery municipal course with nominal charges increases local enthusiasm and adds to the number of players. This is the secret of the success of the commercial course it is cheaper to pay a green's fee tliap to belong to a golf club that spends (plite half of its revenue on social activities. Deflation of golf expenses is the topic of conversation among gol fers every w litre. Coif in certain of its phases makes for democracy and is a big help to the melting-pot process. It is easily seen that municipal courses in this respect" function much iike the community com-munity centers and playgrounds hove of the game, like politics, makes strange bed fellows and holiest - competition com-petition is a great tiling to bring men closer to one another. President Harding, the other day. paid his dues in the Washington .Newspaper .News-paper Golf club. The President's note inclosing the money was written in his own hand and he said he hoped "to he able to show some of the younger fellows how to make a good score." Perhaps are explanation of the hold tlie game bus on all kinds of people is that no able-bodied man or woman grows too oiil to play and boys and girls soon grow old enough to learn Ihe fundamentals and start to play. The ntib of the secret of the popularity popu-larity of golf, however, is that II is a great game. "Catching lish is im I 11 u)' limbing," say ihe anglers and I lie ; faying contains a great truth that is of widespread application. So, hitting tlie hall is not all of golf. Mechanical skill with the clubs is very far from being all there is to the ame. Certain benefits, such as fresh air, exercise and the rest that comes from change of scene and occupation are obvious. There is no way to reach that mysterious thing which we call the brain, except through the muscles and the senses. Therefore to play hard and happily in the open air is at once the best antidote and preparation prepara-tion for work. Walking is good, but it doesn't always prevent the mind from keeping on with its troubles: Here's where-golf comes in and tills the bill. You can't play golf and keep your mind on something else. Students of games say that the very best game in tlie world is old-fashioned American poker. Why? Because it is the happiest possible combination of skill and luck. There are people who hold that n finished course in poker is the nearest equivalent to u 1 liberal education. A game of golf, by the way, can be made several games in one. Von may play, for instance, against an opponent, against Colonel Bogie, and against your own best score. Golf may or may not equal poker as a "liberal education," but unless the player is a fool golf will teach him many things. Golf has always taught sobriety. A man cannot play good golf unless be keeps his eye on the ball and the average man cannot drink and keep his eye on the ball. Golf leaches mental concentration. One can't just hit tlie hall and trust to luck. He's got to wake up his mind to do a certain thing, and try his best to do it. Golf teaches self-mastery. A man can't lose his temper and play golf. He can't lose his nerve and play golf. He can't lose his head and play golf. Golf leaches honesty as many i man has learned to his surprise. How often has a man who wouldn't cheat on his score been tempted to improve the lie of his ball? Some men who wouldn't cheat an opponent have found themselves cheating themselves. Golf teaches good sportsmanship. What is tlie good sportsman? He Is the gentleman of sport. Many a man is sportsman enough to lose gracefully: grace-fully: it is harder for many to win gracefully. Golf teaches a man to pick out the right men for friends to tie to. "Go camping with a man to try him out." is the motto of the woodsmen. So, golf shows uii "'0 player. It lays bare the boaster, I lie (heater, the bluffer, the fellow-with a yellow streau and the chap with temper mid malice and jealousy. It reveals the fighter, tlie sportsman and the "while man." |
