Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 09.djvu/38

* GOLF. is played mostly by twos (singles), though some- times by two pairs (or foursomes), and it may be either "iiiedul play' or 'match play.' In the former all the strokes of the game are added together at the end of the eighteen holes, and he who has completed the round in the lowest number of total strokes wins; or, if match play, each hole is counted separately to the one who makes it in the fewest strokes, the winner being the one who has most holes to his credit. The play is begun by one player placing his ball on the tee, or striking-off place, and striking it with one of his clubs, called the driver, such a distance as will best land it in a favorable place for the next stroke. Then his opponent drives off, and they both proceed to where their respec- tive balls have fallen. In the ensuing strokes, and the clioice of clubs with which to make them, the players must be guided by conditions — the lengtli of the liole, the conformations of the ground to be covered, and the obstacles to be safely passed. The game is divided into three parts, distance shots, approaching, and putting. For the distance shots three clubs are generally used, the driver and the brassie. made of wood, and the cleek, made of steel. When the ball has been driven to within one hundred or one hun- dred and fifty yards of the hole, the approach shot, of which the object is accuracy rather than distance, may be made by using the mid-iron or the mashie. Around the hole the grass is cut short and the ground made as level as possible. This is called the putting-green. Putting, the third department of the game, consists of tapping the ball liglitly with a short club with the object of rolling the ball into the hole, which is four and one-half inches wide. The conventional kit of clubs consists of the driver, the brassie, the cleek, the mid-iron, the mashie, and the putter. There are, however, variations of these types, such as the spoon, the driving-mashie, the lofter. the cran-cleek, the hollow-faced cleek, the jigger, and the niblick, the last-named club being by reason of its shape and weight of particular value in playing out of sand or long grass. The ruies are based upon those of the Saint Andrews Club of Scotland. Players are of two classes, professional and amateur, and the na- tional championships are three: One for men (amateurs), one for women (amateurs), and an open championship for men, amateurs being at liberty to enter. In America the central authority is the United States Golf Association, organized December 22, 1894, when it consisted of the Cliicago f4oIf Club, the Country Club of Brookline, the Newport Golf Club, and the Saint Andrews Golf Club of Yon- kers. It now (1902) consists of nearly two hun- dred clubs, and there are subsidiary associations, the Metropolitan, Western, Southern, Intercol- legiate, Western Pennsylvania, and Florida Golf associations, the League of the Lower Lakes, the Pacific Northwest, New Jersey State, Indiana State, and several women's associations. Not included in these associations are hundreds of separate clubs. In the men's amateiir championship the en- tries are reduced by a preliminary sifting at medal play to the 64 lowest. These then play match play every consecutive day, whereby the numbers are day bv dav reduced, first to 32. then to 16, then to' 8,' then to 4, and finally to 2. The women's championsliip is not so exhaustive 20 GOLIAD. as the men's. In it the entries are reduced by one round at medal play to 32, who thereafter meet at match play in a round of 18 holes every consecutive day, as in the former case. The open championship is a contest of four times round the links, 72 holes, at medal play. Consult especiallv: Clark, (Jolf : .1 lioiinl and Ancient Game (New York. 1899) ; Kerr. The Golf Book of East Lothian (Edinburgh, 1896) : Lee, Golf in America (New York, 1895) ; Travis, Practical Golf (New York, 1901) ; Hutchinson, (?o?f, "Badminton Series" (London, 1890). B !i 3 GOLF CLUBS. 1. Driver. 2. Brassie. 3. Cleelv. 4. Driving mashie. 5. Mid-iron. 6. Mashie (ordinary). 7. Mashie (Taylor). 8. Putter. GOL'GOTHA. See Holt Sepulchre. GO'LIAD. The county-seat of CJoliad County, Tex., 134 miles south of Austin; on the San Antonio River, and on the Southern Pacific Rail- road. It contains a fine court-house and inter- esting remains of the old Spanish mission. La Bahia. The town has cotton-gins and cottonseed- oil mills, the products of which with live stock constitute a considerable trade. Population, about 2000. Here in 1747 was established the mission Esplritu Santo de Zuniga, and the presidio of Santa Maria de Loreto del Espiritu Santo, gen- erally known as 'La Eahia,' which had been founded about 1722 on the site of La Salle's Fort Saint Louis, and renioed to the Guadalupe River abotit 1727. In 1829 the place was raised to the rank of a villa, and was named Goliad (Goliath). In 1812-13 during the war between Jlexico and Spain, Gutierrez was besieged here for a short time by a large Spanish force ; on October 9, 1835, the place, then garrisoned by a Mexican force of about 50, was captured by an equal number of Texans under Captain Collingsworth. On Decem- ber 20. 1835, a declaration of Texan independence was made here, several months before the ofllcia!