Democratic Sentinel, Volume 17, Number 44, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 17 November 1893 — How to Play Golf. [ARTICLE]

How to Play Golf.

For centuries past the game of golf has been the national pastime in Scotland. It is also very popular in England and Canada, and Americans are slowly learning to wield the golf club. Golf grounds are called links, and are open downs, bordered by rough country. Three miles is a popular length for a golf course, although some Courses are five miles. They are usually circular, like a race course, so that several games may be played at the same time, one set of players following another with sufcient interval between them so that they will not conflict A small gutta-percha ball and from three to seven clubs of different styles are used by each player. These clubs are carried by the player’s caddie, or attendant, who also officiates as adviser. The necessary clubs are two wood clubs, the driver and the putter, and one iron club, the cleek or lofter, for work on rough or sandy soil.

The starting point of a golf course is called the teeing ground, and is designated by two marks across the course and at right angles with it. The tee is the slight elevation from which each side strikes its ball at the opening of the game. From nine to eighteen holes, lined with iron and four inches across, are sunk in the course from one hundred to four hundred yards apart. Eighteen holes is the usual number, but nine maybe used if the course is a short one. These holes are placed in the center of a level stretch of green about sixty feet square, called the putting green, and the location of each hole is indicated by a flag, which is taken from the hole when the players approach. In golf singles one person ,plays against another, in foursomes two persons contest against, an equal number of opponents, the partners playing alternately. In golf matches an expert player contests against two or more opponents.

Golfing is begun at the teeing ground, near the first hole, by each side striking the ball toward the second hole. The club alone may be used in moving the ball, and stroke after stroke is played by one side after another until one side puts its hall in the first hole. The player or side that puts the ball in with the least number of strokes wins the hole. If both sides hole their balls with the same number of strokes, each player is credited with half the hole. The players then proceed from hole to hole until the circuit of the course is made, when the side that has won the most holes is declared the winner.