n done in only one over bogey, and a 24
handicap man has actually been beaten by 3 up and 2 to play--a conquest
which, if it is the first one, is rarely forgotten in the golfer's
lifetime. After that there is a steady settling down to mediocrity.
There is afterwards only an occasional fit of despair, the game is for
the most part thoroughly enjoyed, there are times when, after a round in
which driving and putting have been rather better than usual, the golfer
encourages himself over his cup of tea with the fancy that after all he
may some day win a medal and become a senior; but in the main the
conviction forces itself upon him that it is impossible that he can ever
become a really fine player. He argues that this is not at all his own
fault. He points out to himself that circumstances are too strong for
him. He considers that he is not very young--at least not so young as
many of the experts of his club who have been golfing ever since they
were boys. His limbs have not that suppleness which makes the scratch
player. His eye is not so keen as theirs. Besides, he is a business man
who has to give up so much of his time to the earning of his daily bread
that it is impossible he should ever devote himself to the game with
that single-mindedness which alone can ensure proficiency. He must take
himself as he finds himself, and be satisfied with his 18 handicap.
These are the somewhat pathetic excuses that he makes in this mood of
resignation. Of course he is wrong--wrong from the beginning to the
end--but there is little satisfaction in that for the earnest lover of
the game who would see all men excel, and who knows only too well that
this failure is but a specimen of hundreds of his kind--good golfing
lives thrown away, so to speak. If a man is not a cripple, if he suffers
from no physical defect, there is no reason why he should not learn to
play a good game of golf if he goes about it in the right way. There is
indeed a one-armed golfer who plays a very fair game, and one may admit
all these things without in any way suggesting that golf is not a game
for the muscles and the nerves and all the best physical qualities of a
well-grown man. No great amount of brute force is necessary, and
fleetness of foot, which men lose as they grow old, is never wanted; but
still golf is a game for manly men, and when they take it up they should
strive to play it as it deserves to be played.

Now I know what severe temptation there will