Spirit of the links

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102
THE SPIRIT OF THE LINKS
VIII
Perhaps there is more to be said for keeping one's
score for the round when playing a match than is
allowed by many people who occasionally discuss this
matter with some heat. It may be agreed at once
that the golfer who consistently subordinates the
importance and interest of his match to his anxiety
regarding his aggregate score is to be condemned,
and more than ever so when his reckoning of his
figures is done openly and audibly, and when he is
guilty of remarking, for example, a splendidly fought
match being all square at the eighteenth tee, that he
has a 4 left for 79, showing in what direction his
strongest ambition lies for the time being. Such a
person is an undesirable opponent, and a nuisance
on the links. In match play the match is the thing,
and those who do not want the match, but only the
score, should go out alone with their caddies. Yet
at the same time it must be remembered that a man's
scores for the round are often the only real indication
that can be afforded him of knowing what exactly is
his form for the time being, and how well or badly
he is playing, and it is eminently desirable that he
should from time to time be posted with this know-
ledge, which in either case should act as an incentive
towards the improvement of his game. A man may
be winning all his matches with two or three holes to
spare, and if he is of a placid temperament and not
given to any closely discriminating analysis of the
details of his own game, he may often be living in a
fool's paradise with regard to the quality of his golf