Dear Subscriber:
Years ago, the late Peter Alliss reminded the editor of this letter about what we should be on about - without sciolism, pretense, or hesitancy:
Long may you continue your independent voice, bringing golfing points of view to our notice, praising many but also, on occasion, ‘slapping a wrist’ that needs to be slapped.
As our 36th year begins, and before broaching our anticipation of the year of golf that lies ahead, the following story is offered to slow things down a bit; to step away from ever-breeding bureaucracy, loud behavior, rushing, and the lord of money to reflect for a quick moment on how golf evolved through gentler centuries with quiet enthusiasm for the game and the propriety of conduct it produced at the most beautiful places on Earth.
In the film Monty Python and the Holy Grail, the Constitutional Peasant points out that, “strange women lying in ponds distributing swords is no basis for a system of government.”
Contrary to this comedic logic, Arthurian legend did impact British government. Similarly, the logic of science has not always governed our golf governors’ decisions about how to enjoy our game. Sometimes it’s just how we prefer the game to be played, or it’s more fun this way, or it doesn’t look right, or it’s not croquet.
It is the swords-from-strange-women-lying-in-ponds syndrome that is far more entertaining, and usually more effective, than endlessly flawed bumbledom, as the following story illustrates:
Hickory shafted clubs in the hands of a skilled player could produce a variety of different shots. Rigid, steel-shafted clubs were limited in the type of shots they could produce—they were, however, less expensive and propelled the ball longer distances. So, as steel became fashionable, players carried a greater number of steel-shafted clubs in order to satisfy the need for the various shots that might be asked for during a round of golf.
Lawson Little carried as many as 31 clubs in winning two consecutive British and two consecutive U.S. Amateur Championships in 1934 and 1935.
In 1936, the chairman of the Royal and Ancient’s equipment committee introduced a motion to limit the number of clubs a player could carry to 14.
Why 14?
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