Holworthy Hall

“ So we have two theories, one that Smith's ball is now at rest, in a lie from which the next stroke must be played; the other, that it has n't come to rest after the stroke he did play. So that if he goes to the green and with some other club knocks the ball off the mashy into the cup, he will have taken three strokes, which gives him the hole. If we adopt the other theory, and he merely shakes the ball into the hole without using a separate club for the purpose, he will have holed in two, which again gives him the hole. In either case he wins. Brown is dormy two. ”

“ The luck had apparently turned, and the sentiment of the gallery had changed. The applause was all for Smith, and Miss Robinson's smiles, too, were frequently directed at him. He was as calm and unconcerned as though the match were for nothing more important than the caddy fees; Brown, on the contrary, was noticeably afflicted with nerves.
"And the sixteenth hole was no place at all for a man with nerves. Directly before the tee an impenetrable morass, a region of swamp and swale, yawned hungrily for a topped drive. To the left, a deserted quarry; to the right, a corn-field. ”

“ Public sentiment generally rules in favor of a good loser, but public sentiment always inclines toward the good fellow who has a little luck. It was about half and half. The merits of the case were still in abeyance.
"Once more Brown drove poorly, and once more Smith cracked out a shot with the trajectory of a bullet. Nevertheless, both were on in three. Brown putted, and Smith prepared to putt. The club went back in the pendulum stroke; it descended; the ball traveled straight for the cup.
" 'My hole!" said Brown, gaily. ”

“ She read the newspapers; she talked politics like a man; she was created to be an executive and a disciplinarian. She could sit a horse like a bronco-buster; but she believed that women are downtrodden and oppressed. The equality of marriage was one of her principles. Obviously, she was n't popular among old-fashioned young men: but Smith and Brown were bowled over simultaneously: they saw what a life partner that girl would make.
"Make no mistake; they were still friends—friends when Smith must have appreciated the almost insuperable obstacles placed in his path by the luck of Brown ”

“ For whom? They had made of themselves laughing-stocks forever; they had gained for themselves the reputation of poor sportsmen, and worse. The executive committee held a special meeting in the grill-room; its announcement that both Smith and Brown were expelled for gambling on the links followed by only five minutes the shock that came from the knowledge that she who had inspired them to do this thing had eloped with the referee! And think what might have been! If Brown had been less sharp, he might have won a bride, even though he lost the match. ”

“ I said, "you must have had great provocation."
"The cause of our grandeur is generally the cause of our downfall," said the fat man, permitting his features to relax dolefully. "And a golf tournament is like a pool of stagnant water: it corrupts itself and everything else in the neighborhood. I suffer so keenly in a golfing atmosphere that I may be offensive to you. ”

“ The gallery cheered delightedly; even Miss Robinson had to applaud. Nobody paid any special heed to Smith, who was stinging another clean shot down the alley; a lot of people can hit straight balls! Why, when the crowd found that Brown was all teed for his iron shot, they cheered him again, just as though some merit accrued to him for being lucky! And nobody thought to groan because Smith was squarely behind a mole-cast!
"No, not even when Smith played a masterly cut shot to the edge of the green did he get the sympathy of the proletariat ”

“ This club of mine has been in the match since we started; so have I.'
" 'It—it is n't good golf,' said Brown, paling.
" 'Never mind. It is n't luck, either More than that,' said Smith, 'if you jostle me, that 'll constitute an infringement of my right to play my own game. You 'll be deliberately disturbing the lie of my ball. I leave it to the referee.'
" 'Smith is right,' pronounced Jones, can't think of any rule to cover the point, so we 'll decide it in accordance with common law. The ball must be played from where it lies. Smith played it from there It now lies on the face of his mashy. ”

“ We lie alike.'
" 'I waive!' said Smith.
" 'You can't!' said Brown.
" 'The referee states,' said Jones, rather faintly, 'that a penalty may not be declined. Proceed.'
" 'Very well,' said Smith. 'I have my own ideas of sportsmanship!' He intentionally drove out of bounds. 'Drop another ball, caddy! Now I'm three, and you 're two.'
" 'Observe this!' said Brown, taking his stance. 'In the act of addressing this ball, I cause it to move. That costs me a stroke. We lie alike again.' They glared at each other like two strange bulldogs. ”

“ While Smith and Brown were risking their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor, she had eloped with the referee Jones, leaving behind her a note to say that she could n't marry a man as perennially unlucky as Smith, nor yet one as sharp as Brown. ”

“ Brown, you recall, took eight. Smith made nearly three hundred yards off the tee, and was on the green in two. Miss Robinson's bull-terrier, which had joined the gallery recently, picked up the ball in his mouth, and started for the club-house with it. I claim that it was wholly natural and spontaneous for Smith to run after that dog, and feint at it with a putter. I shall always insist that there was sufficient aggravation for Smith to hit the dog with the putter. Of course it was injudicious of Smith to punish an animal for playfulness in the sight of its owner ”

“ After a moment or two of skirmishing, the terrier retrieved the ball, and deposited it on the green. Smith, not daring to glance toward Miss Robinson, holed out, and said, 'Three.'
" 'Not three—eight,' said the referee.
" 'That's what I made it,' agreed Brown.
" 'I—don't understand,' faltered Smith. 'If a ball at rest is displaced by any agency outside the match except wind, the player shall drop a ball as near as possible to the place where it lay without penalty.'
" 'You did n't drop it; the dog dropped it,' said Brown. ”

“ It presented a very decent lie for the next shot.
"Brown looked wickedly at his opponent and then at Miss Robinson. He failed to catch her eye, because she was looking somewhere else; but the roar of the gallery encouraged him, and swiping prodigiously with his nickel-plated lofter, he carried the slope of the green.
" 'Shoot from there!' he called cheerily to Smith.
"Smith did his best; it was n't good enough: the ball imbedded itself farther in the mire. He struck once more; his club came over his left shoulder at the finish of a fine swing, but the ball did n't soar away as it should. ”

“ Go on and play your extra hole, settle your match once and forever, but bear this in mind while you 're playing it: the race is n't always to the swift—nor to the lucky. He laughs best who sees the point of the joke. ”

“ To resume. Brown drove. As usual from the first tee, he sliced. A bunker was placed for the specific purpose of catching a sliced drive from that point. Brown hit the bunker.
" 'Tough luck!' said Smith, who was by far the better sportsman of the two.
"Smith drove perhaps two hundred and fifty yards straight down the course, and the gallery applauded; but Smith ignored them. It was his customary drive.
"The aggregation set itself in motion; on arriving at the bunker Brown began to hunt for his ball.
" 'Over here,' said his caddy, pointing. ”

“ Brown holed in four, and Smith was sure of a half—the putt was n't over two feet.
"Now, a good many matches are won and lost within two feet of the hole. Vardon has lost some, and Braid and Chick Evans and Hal Reed have; but mighty few golfers ever missed a putt as short as that for the same reason that poor Smith missed it. He hit a grasshopper.
"Long before this. Miss Robinson had begun to share with the players the attention of the crowd. Regardless of appearances, she trudged along with the referee. ”