Page:LA2-NSRW-2-0321.jpg



GOLF

779

GOMEZ

republished as The Citizen of the World. The next year he published the Life of Richard Nash and sold a one third share of his unpublished Vicar of Wakefield. In 1764 he earned fame as a poet by his Traveler, and two years later the Vicar of Wakefield brought him renown. The drama was yet untried, but, before his immense success with She Stoops to Conquer, he published his greatest poem, The Deserted Village, in 1770. He died at London, April 4, 1774. See Goldsmith, in English Men of Letters Series, by Wm. Black.

Golf. An outdoor game, claimed to be of Dutch origin but played in Scotland previous to 1457 and now popular throughout all parts of the British Empire and the United States.

It is played on rather extensive and somewhat prepared grounds called links. The links consist essentially of a course with artificially constructed holes four and a half inches in diameter at intervals of from 100 to 500 yards, each hole surrounded by a smooth surface of ground about 30 feet in diameter called a "putting-green." The object of the game is to drive the small, hard ball, by means of clubs, successively into the 18 holes making up the entire length of the course, in as few strokes as possible. The best ground for a links is a stretch of undulating land or sandy soil covered with short grass. Preferably it should have a number of small streams, holes, gullies, ridges or other natural obstacles and irregularities called "hazards." Much of the skill required in the game consists in so driving the ball that it will not be landed in places where its further progress will be interfered with by these hazards. In case there are not enough natural hazards in the course, artificial ridges called bunkers may be erected at different places along the course. The smoothed surfaces called putting-greens, surrounding each of the 18 holes, are for the purpose of preventing any interference with accurate "putting" for the hole in the center, after the ball has been landed upon the putting-green. A special club called a putter is used for this purpose.

Most players use six or eight different kinds of clubs, each adapted for its own particular kind of stroke. The clubs have a strong, slender handle about three feet in length, often made of hickory, and a strong wooden or iron head with which to hit the ball. In beginning a game, and also in starting out for another hole after one hole has been reached, the ball may be placed upon a little elevation of sand or cone of india-rubber, to give the player a chance to get a good square hit at it. This little elevation is called a "tee." In knocking or "driving" a ball from a tee, a club called a driver is usually used. It has a long handle and a wooden head,

and is especially adapted for driving the ball a long distance. Two hundred yards is considered a good drive. Should the ball get into a slight depression along the course, a club called the brassy, very much like the driver but rather better adapted for raising the ball, is generally used. Its head is tipped with brass. There are various other clubs, such as the mid-iron, cleek, mashie, lofter, etc., especially adapted for extricating the ball from long grass ruts, etc. or for lifting it so as to land it accurately in a certain spot, rather than to drive it a long distance.

The balls are now made for the most part of gutta-percha. They are if inches in diameter, hard enough not to be easily cut by the clubs, and heavy enough to carry a long distance.

There are two principal methods of scoring, namely, by match play and by medal play. In match play the players drive in turn from the tee at the starting place, and the stroke is then taken by the one whose ball is farthest from the hole aimed for, until all the players have "made " the hole, that is, played their ball into it. The player making the hole in the least number of strokes wins the hole, and the one who wins the greatest number of holes in going round the entire course wins the game. In medal play each player keeps track of the number of strokes he took to complete the entire course, and the one who completes it with the least number of strokes wins, no matter whether he won the most holes or not.

Although the game was introduced into England from Scotland in the early part of the seventeenth century, it was not played extensively in England till after 1864. It was started in New York about 1890, and then taken up rapidly throughout America generally. On account of the expense involved in providing and in keeping up the links, m paying caddies for carrying clubs, hunting up balls, etc., the game has a tendency in some places to be limited more or less to wealthy persons; but where the rent of suitable land is not high, this need by no means be the case.

Gomez (go'mas}, Maximo, Cuban patriot and soldier, was born at Bani, San Domin-

§o, Aug. 25, 1826, of panish parents, and early in life served in the Spanish army. In 1868, when the ten years' war in Cuba broke out, he ranged himself on the insurgent side, and on the death of General Agramonte commanded one of the departments into which the island was divided, and fought at Las Guasimas. In

MAXIMO GOMEZ