1898 - Golf in Hamilton

By the summer of 1898, the Hamilton Golf Club, still in its beginning years, had become an object of interest to those not already involved with the game.
On August 10, 1898 the Hamilton Times carried the following articles describing how the game was played and how it began as a sporting pursuit in the city just a few years before. The Times artist accompanied the reporter to the links in the city's southwest end and he added his impressions to the piece:

“A writer in a recent number of the Metropolitan Magazine offers the opinion that ‘all things considered – golf is the most popular game in the united States today.’ By those whose only knowledge of the ancient and royal game has been gained from the ‘Lady Slavey’ description ‘you hit the ball, and whoever finds it the same day wins’ the Metropolitan writers’ opinion will be taken with a large-sized pinch of salt, yet certain it is that golf has, within a very few years, firmly established itself as a popular game. A few years ago it was unknown in this country, but today it is played by hundreds of thousands and is daily securing new devotees. Four and a half centuries ago, it was played in Scotland, yet it was not looked upon with favor in official circles and was even legislated, being prohibited, together with football because, it was argued, those sports were interfering with the usual practice of archery. It is very general in England today, as ell as in Scotland, and it is amazing how it has caught on in the United States.

“As a health-giver, golf has few equals. It is inseparably connected with fresh air and green turf, long walks which time walking is merely an incident to an interesting contest, and to exercise for every muscle. It is said a man will walk two or three miles around a billiard table at night and wonder what makes him tired the new day, but in golf, he will walk as many miles over hilly ground without getting tired and will be positively fresher the next morning for having done it.

“It is only four or five years since a few gentlemen who had played the game in Scotland organized a club in Hamilton and introduced it here. They played at the Jockey Club grounds, but a couple of years ago secured the present links and a year ago last spring built the beautiful and cozy little club house which is now the admiration of all who pass on the H. and D. cars. The Hamilton club is particularly favored in the matter of links. There are other clubs in Canada which play on links that are, by nature, almost fitted for bowling lawns, and which have to be artificially rutted to give the bunkers which are necessary to the uncertainty of the game, but the Hamilton links are by nature, provided with hills and hollows, shrubs and trees and a rather too profuse sprinkling of stones which at times are apt to try the patience of the most expert golfer. The Links are situated between the H.& D. electric road and the mountain, and in making the circuit one ascends almost halfway up the mountain, and from ‘the summit has a magnificent view of city, bay, lake and country for miles around.

“In front of the Club House, on the opposite side from the railway landing, is a beautiful and well-kept lawn, and in front of it a ravine, now quite dry but in spring and fall sometimes having a rushing river in fore making the first stroke the player of the game is to drive the ball safely across this ravine. A timid stroke, a miscalculation or a twist of the driver may drop the ball into the bed of the roadway, and then you are done for. Hence the first step in playing the game on the Hamilton links is to ‘cross the Rubicon.’ Before making the first stroke, the player sets his ball upon a ‘tee,’ which is made by picking a thumb and forefinger of clean sand out of a box kept for the purpose, and placing it upon the green. After the first stroke is made, the succeeding one is made from wherever the ball rests.If he goes into a hollow or lodges against a stone or among shrubbery, so much the worse for the player. Howver, the golfer is allowed to cut grass or weeds or remove loose stones within a club’s length of his ball, but he cannot disturb the ball itself. At irregular distances around the links are ‘putting greens,’ which are spaces about sixty feet square, smooth and well-kept. In each one of these putting greens, marked by a small flag or something of the sort, is a hole four and a half inches in diameter, and the object of the play is to put the little ‘gutta percha’ ball into the hole with the least possible number of strokes. Having got the ball into the first hole, the player tries it again and starts for the second.

“Full golf links consist of eighteen holes which run anywhere from one-sixteenth to one-quarter of a mile apart. The Hamilton links have nine holes, twice around making the full circuit . Starting from the club house lawn, you ‘cross the Rubicon,’ and ascend gradually rising ground until you reach the first hole, a distance of 367 yards. A good player will make 175 or 200 yards with his first stroke; will generally take two more strokes to reach the putting green and one or two more to sink the ball. The next hole is 195 yards away, still up hill, with hollows on either side, and the next is 186 yards, also up hill, and with a clump of trees on one side, and a deep ravine behind it, so that a stroke that is a little too strong means the loss of the hole, and perhaps the loss of the ball as well. Then the links take a right angle turn to the west with a downhill tendency and obstacles in the shape of underwood and trees. The hole is 233 yards off and is at the of the rather steep ascent to Pisgah. It is rather a ticklish job to go up the hill. If you keep a straight course and do not strike stones, you will be lucky, but if you go to either side, you may be worse off than before you started, From Pisgha’s height you start for a hole 430 yards away. A veteran at the game will drive his ball clean over a deep hollow and to the high ground 225 or 250 yards beyond, in which case he will have reached a good ground for a second long drive, but he may just reach the foot of one hill and have another though smaller one to ascend. The ‘long hole’ should be made in anywhere from five to seven shots, but is apt to take more and is often done in less. The three remaining holes are on somewhat level ground, and the respective distances are 220, 252 and 322 yards. Thus the total length, in the shortest possible course for nine holes, is 2, 325 yards, or over a mile and five-sixteenths. A player who can make the one circuit in less than fifty strokes may could himself a pretty good golfer, but experts, some of those whose pictures appear herewith, can do it in about 43 to 48 and at that will travel more than two miles to make the same holes.

“The game is most frequently played by two persons. Each has his own boy to carry his clubs and find the ball before the player arrives for his next shot. This style is known as the ‘single’ game. The two players count holes. If one takes six strokes to make the first hole and his opponent five, the man who does it in five has won one hole. If they do it in the same number, they count half each. The total number of holes for the whole course are not counted. The other style of play is what is known as a ‘foursome.’ Two persons play against two others, partners playing alternatively and each side having its own ball.

“One great beauty of the game is that one person can play alone and get fun, exercise and health out of his efforts to beat his own record, and he can play at any time of the day and for eight months of the year. This year, in fact, play began on the Hamilton links in February, and will continue until November if not in later. It is no uncommon thing at the local links to see a dozen or fifteen playing in pairs, following a couple of strokes behind each other. An hour at it just after sunrise is most exhilarating.

“Connected with the club house is the professional’s quarters, where the club’s professional makes and remakes balls, and turns out all sorts of clubs for ordinary use. While there are a score ort more of different sorts of clubs, five or six suffice for almost every possible contingency. The ball is started off from the tee with a wooden driver. Then a driving iron is used for long drives not from the tee; a lifting iron or ‘lofter’ when the ball has to be pitched high; a niblic for raising the ball out of ruts and a cleet for ordinary driving. There are left and right hand clubs of each sort so that the professional outfit must be extensive.

“Senator D. MacInnes is the honorary president of the Hamilton Club, and Mr. A.G. Ramsay honorary vice-president. The other officers are Mr. P.D. Crear, Captain, and Mr. G. Herbert Browne, Secretary. There is an Executive Committee, composed of the Captain, Secretary, and Messrs. Geo. E. Bristol, Campbell Ferrie, and J.J. Morrison, and a House Committee consisting of Mr. Geo. E. Bristol, C. Ferrie, J. Morrison, R. Bruce and John Legatt.

“The club house affords the facilities for a refreshing and a quiet read or smoke after a journey over the links.

“The game is one that Hamilton’s young men should take hold of. It requires a good deal of skill and practice, but is a delightful pastime at all stages. The links are convenient to the H. and D. and Hamilton street railways, and an hour’s spare time can be put most profitably at any time.”