500 By OUR BRITISH CORRESPONDENT. ONDON, March 10, 1911. Since my last despatch nothing has happened here to make any material difference to the situation as between the U. S. G. A. and the Royal and Ancient Club in regard to the rules and the future relations between those two bodies; and it does not appear likely now that anything will be done until the May meeting of the Club. Some of the chief members of the Rules Committee are on the continent at the present time enjoying the winter sunshine and warmth out there; and those who remain behind have taken care not to make any expression of opinion upon recent events. Writers on the game generally are very guarded in their statements and predictions; but there is no confidence that the Royal and Ancient will look kindly upon the suggestion that has been made for a conference between the chief powers of the game. In all the circumstances of the case it is perhaps best for the time being not to argue the matter any further, but to wait until the time comes once again, as it will do soon, for serious discussion. There is everything to gain and nothing to lose by good, quiet deep thinking upon the matter. Apart from this matter, however, there are people who are constantly prophesying trouble of all kinds in the near future for the Royal and Ancient, and it is impossible to deny that they make out very good cases for their predictions. The state of golfing affairs generally is becoming very complicated. It was recently announced as I think I informed you last month that the Midland Golf Association, the most powerful of the local bodies that we have, had persuaded the Rules Committee at St. Andrews to give it its assistance towards making a new code of bogey rules, and this code has just been finally adopted. It changes the character of bogey in this country from the match play idea to the stroke play, as, it is understood, you intend to do in the United States, and there is some reason to believe that this new Midland code and the one that you propose are practically identical, which, so far as it goes, is all to the good. There are, however, rocks ahead for all concerned on this side, and their existence does not appear to have been understood. The danger comes about in this way. It is practically certain that this new Midland code will come into general use throughout the country in place of the old one; for, even if it is not official from the Royal and Ancient, it is at all events the most official thing of its kind in existence here and has most authority behind it. But it has to be distinctly noted that neither the Rules Committee nor the Royal and Ancient Club take any responsibility for it, nor do they adopt it officially. It is the Midland code and nothing more. Now, as everybody knows, the
502 Archie Simpson, The former British professional who has been engaged by the Detroit Country Club. Rules Committee adjudicates officially on problems arising under the rules for match and medal play all over the country, and indeed all over the world; but it has always set itself steadily against doing the same thing in regard to bogey, because, as it says, and reasonably so in the circumstances, it did not make the rules for bogey and takes no cognizance of this kind of game, and therefore cannot be expected to trouble itself in the matter. But it is as certain as anything can be that difficulties will arise under the new Midland bogey code as they have always done under all others. They are not to be avoided. Who then will adjudicate upon them? The Midland Association will naturally be invited to do so; but after all this body exists only to look after the interests of golf in the Midlands, and has never had any concern with that outside its own area; and also it might very naturally shrink from doing anything which might seem to set it up as a general authority against St. Andrews. For all that, it is being urged, a certain responsibility and obligation will be cast upon it in this matter, because if neither St. Andrews nor the Midland Association will help the golfers of the country out of their difficulties of application and interpretation of the bogey rules when they get into them, who will? There are many who say that in such a situation it would be imperatively necessary to establish a new general authority. And again, if the Midland Association do accept a kind of general responsibility for the new bogey code and begin to answer questions upon it from all and sundry, they will then be set up as a kind of authority almost equal to St. Andrews itself, and the situation would be a most dangerous one. We shall see what we shall see. In its constitution the Midland Association declares its most profound loyalty to St. Andrews, and there can be no doubt that it is sincere in this matter; but for all that most people feel that in the end circumstances will be too strong for the maintenance of the existing order of things and that, when a change is made, the first steps will be taken naturally by this Midland Association, which has constantly shown a progressive and enterprising but still dignified attitude towards the game. It really stands for modern English golf as no other body or authority does, and, viewed in this light, this matter of the bogey laws becomes rather significant. Some time since with the concurrence of St. Andrews, it adopted a number of "local
504 rules" for use not by one club or any club but by all the clubs in its large area, and these rules which are in general use in its country cover questions of hedges and ditches which St. Andrews does not like to think of. To all intents and purposes they are extra rules and part of the general code as in use in the midlands, although this is a fact that is not generally appreciated. The members of both Houses of Parliament, including the officials and the representatives of the press, participate every year in a golf tournament of their own. Up to last year it was always a match-play tournament, the first two rounds all being played on one day when Parliament went off to a seaside course and had a feast of golf, and the other rounds being played off at places and times to suit the members concerned. Last year at the time when the tournament should have taken place, Parliament was so very busy that it cut the affair down to one day and played it off by bogey, the winner being Mr. Balfour, the ex-prime Minister. It is just announced that for this year the old order of things will be reverted to, and that the first two rounds of the tournament will be played off at Littlestone, one of the best of the seaside courses in the South, on May 6. Some people are saying that Parliament would have been in something like a difficulty if it had continued with its bogey play just now and had had to make its choice of playing under the old code or the new Midland one, but of course this is nonsense. In London the American golfers have a golfing society of their own and meet on different courses occasionally to hold competitions. On the anniversary of Washington's Birthday they went out to Bramshot, a fine inland course some thirty or forty miles out of London, where about thirty members took part in three competitions. The Park Cup was won by Mr. C. H. Ault with 85 net, the bogey competition by Mr. C. W. Findlay with 5 down, and the medal competition by Mr. Walter Phipps with 87 net. There are some very interesting items of news going about. The two leading universities are now engaged in the usual series of trial matches which they have against strong club and other sides just before they face each other in what is in many respects the best team match of the year. The impression one gathers from the matches that have already taken place is that neither Oxford nor Cambridge are quite so good as usual this year. They have decided to play their match at Rye on March 28. It has never been played there before; in fact this course like Littlestone misses most of the chief events, despite that it is within three hours' journey of London and is generally regarded as one of the best links in the whole country and a magnificent test of the game. Concerning professional matters Sandy Herd has now definitely decided to leave Huddersfield where he has been for some sixteen or seventeen years and to come south to the London district to the new course at Coombe Hill. It is the most important change that has been made in professional circles for a long time past. Harry Vardon is at Le Touquet setting his health in order. At the same time that they make their tour to Rome next month Braid, Taylor, Sherlock and Massy will visit various other continental courses and take part in tournaments which have been got up specially for their benefit, Nice, St. Jean de Luz, and Hyeres being
506 among the number. As there will be plenty of prizes and no other competitors, they should bring a fair amount of money home with them. Archie Simpson will be in the United States by the time these notes are printed. He left here some time ago, taking with him the very best wishes of a very large body of friends. As I have said before I think he is one members as they can get in order to make their profits larger. The new idea is to limit the club to 250 members, making them pay heavily, and with this limitation it is believed that congestion would be impossible and some sort of a game could be had in comfort. Probably the most successful of the very big ventures in the golf club The magnificent Club-house of the Burhill Golf Club, near London. of the best professionals that have ever left this country for America, and an extremely nice man into the bargain. I am sending you his photograph. There is said to be a scheme on foot for making what is described as a "millionaires' course" somewhere in the London district. All the good courses round about here suffer severely from congestion on the busy days and also on many others when the weather is fine; and, although the new clubs that are started generally put their subscriptions higher than others, the same thing happens in a little while, probably because most of these new ventures are after all commercial concerns and take as many line in recent times is that of the Stoke Poges Club near Slough which is near Windsor. It is only three years old but it has already obtained a better standing than other clubs attain in four or five times that period. One reason why this is the case is that it is in the region of the universities and some of the most prominent people connected with them have supported it from the start. It is run on a great scale of magnificence, and the clubhouse, which was a very fine country house and was not built specially, is probably the finest thing of its kind in the country, in fact that and the one of the Burhill Club also near London are certainly those we should put forward as our representatives if
508 we had to engage in a competition with America in this matter, the grand appearance of your country clubs, when pictures of them are reproduced, making a great impression among people here. I rather think we should win. Mention just now of millionaires, reminds me that the tale is going about that two of that kind recently played a seventy-two hole match on one of the London courses for two of the best and most expensive motor cars that were to be had. The make and the price, which was 2,600 or $13,000 for the two were stipulated, and at the finish the loser, after signing his cheque for the right amount, observed that he had never lost so much money in such a pleasurable manner before, which shows what a fine thing golf is. The winner paid for drinks. The annual meeting of the Ladies' Golf Union was held a few days since and passed off without any of the trouble that was prophesied for it. The Union was shown to be in a very healthy state both financially and otherwise. The recently formed rival body, the National County Golf Alliance, is struggling on but does not seem to make much headway for all that, and its future is very doubtful. The interesting news reaches us that Miss Dorothy Campbell, our ex-lady champion, who has been in your part of the world ever since she went to win your ladies' championship the year before last, and of whom some of her Scottish lady friends are said to be singing the plaintive Scottish song which begins "O, will ye no' come back again?" will positively be over here for the British Ladies' Championship which takes place at Portrush in the north of Ireland in May. It is not stated whether she intends to remain here, but the report rather suggests that she does not.