Spirit of the links

256 THE SPIRIT OF THE LINKS
I
I
harsher, and it sent a shiver through the wrapping of
the club that, often repeated, made for an eventual snap.
Certainly the decrease in the breakages seems to date
exactly from the beginning of the use of the rubber ball.
I have just said that it cannot be that beginners are
any better or more careful than they used to be, but
this is a statement that needs a trifle of qualification.
Your modern beginner has heard from many and
diverse authorities of the enormous difficulty of this
game, and of the necessity of treating it from the out-
set with the utmost possible respect; but the neophyte
of the olden days was often more of a slapdash, full-
blooded fellow, who needed to have two or three
strenuous rounds before the spirit in him was fairly
broken and he became amenable to the reason of the
links. A wonderful story of a wild opening to a
golfing career is that of Lord Stormont, when he was
initiated at Blackheath some fifty years ago. His
lordship had taken too much weight to himself, and
Sir William Ferguson, his doctor, being consulted,
suggested that he ought to have more exercise, and
thought that this might best be administered in the
form of golf. Sir William played golf himself, and,
like all good doctors, he recommended the game to lazy
pale-faced people whenever he thought the occasion
opportune. He said to Lord Stormont, " Go down to
Blackheath and put yourself in Willie Dunn's hands,"
Dunn then being professional at this historic course.
Lord Stormont had never seen a golf ball driven in
his life, but he took kindly to the idea and repaired
to Blackheath. Unfortunately he went there for the
first time on a club day, and on this day it was im-
possible for Dunn to give him his services. But he
did as well as he could in the circumstances, and
,
v� ,1.