Spirit of the links

ON BEING PUT OFF
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Usually a more or less lengthy journey has to be
made from the golfer's home to the first tee, and
it is this which is so much calculated to disturb
his playing temperament. No matter how you make
this journey it must be bad for your game, and the
only difference between one way and another is in
the degree of badness.
When a man has risen from his bed in the morn-
ing, thoroughly roused himself, and noticed that it is
a fine day, he is at his best for golfing. After that
all things put him off. Some authorities are very
adverse to the cold bath, and others have even said
that one's breakfast ought not to be regarded as an
absolutely loyal friend. But it is the journey to the
links—with all its delays, irritations, inconveniences,
and joltings—that does the most damage. Frequently
this journey is a mixture of cabs, omnibuses, and
trains. At one point or another you have very likely
to run for either the omnibus or the train, and this
is certain to do something towards putting you off.
It may be only a little, but it is this trifle added to
other similar trifles that make up a total sufficient
to bring disaster to your driving and putting. If
you do not need to run anywhere, you have to wait,
and this irritates and does harm. Then the great
vibration of the cab and the omnibus most seriously
affect the nervous system.
The golfer may not be conscious of it, but the
effect is there. How true this is may be judged by
taking the extreme case of the motor-bicycle. A
year or two ago large numbers of golfers who could
not afford motor-cars went in for the cheaper kind of
machine, but to a man they found them quite fatal
to golf, and particularly to their putting, the vibration
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