Play This Ever Increasing Popular Sport Without

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The f i r s t Match - J u d i e Forbe.sa n d Dr. Mc:Gil l ieudd ' i

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138 W O R C E S T E R M A G A Z I N E

The New Municipal Golf LinksWorcester Joins the Ranks of Progressive American Cities and Provides a Modern Golf Links for

Her Citizens Where They May Play This Ever Increasing Popular Sport WithoutCost-A Notable Example of the Worcester Spirit in 1915

i M E= : : : : : : ; ; ; '.~ ~li .3 T A B L I S H E D primaril y w it h a vi ew of af-:fording recreation to th ose peopl e of Worces ter who ar e un abl e to belon g to clubs,

; 1 \~ I5 t t he fr ee publi c golf link s ? 1 ~_L i n co l n s t r ~ et

,< =~ . - ' not on l y ser ve to mark a hi ghly progr essivest ep in th e c ivi c li f e of th e c ity , bu t pl ace it in th e frontrank s of cit ies that hav c ac ted to so lve th e public amus emeut p robl em.

Th e man of s mall m eans ma y pl a y golf a t th e Li ncolns tree t cou rse at littl e or no exp ens e, T h e Hew golf coursepl ac es th a t f as cinating sport withi n th e r eac h of everyperson. 'I'h ro ug h the generosity of th e city an d th eactivi t ies of th e park commission er s it is th eir s to enjoy

to th e ut m ost. At the present tim e 500 peop le in th ecity of W or cester have an opportuni ty to enjoy go lf , Th ecity h as a pop ulation of appro xim at ely 170 ,000. - I f 500pl ay go If beca usc t hey can a fford t o, th e pa rk commission er s hav e sta ted th at th ey feel th e o ther 169 ,000 wouldplay go lf if th ey ha d th e chance .

I t is con se rva tiv ely es timated tha t th ose wh o belon g toclub s a nd enjoy golfin g privil eges th rough m embershipdo so a t a n expen se varying from $50 t o $500 a year.Y et , by th e action of th e ci t y coun cil in following ou tt he s ug g es tions of the parks co mmission er s, this form ofrecr eat i on a nd amusement, hith er t o a vailable largely tothe ma n of means, is placed within th e reach of everyp erson in Worcester at a cost so sm all as to be of noimpo rt a nc e.

Th e fr ee golf is to b e pl ay ed on th e o ld Wor cestercountry clu b g rounds . A leas e of th e g rounds h as beentaken b y th e c ity an d th e park s commiss ione r s will ha v edi r ect cha rg e of putting th e g rounds in shap e an d willsup erv ise a ll pla yin g at th e cours e. A t a r ece n t m eeting

of city cou n cil, memb er s , actin g on th e un anim ourecomm en d ation of th e finan ce committee, pa ssed ano rde r pr ov idin g for an appropria tion of $2000 to coveth e leas e of the ground s and to put t hem in fir st c lasconditi on fo r pl ayin g.

Accordin g to pr esen t plans tent ati vely dr aw n up byth e parks commissioners, there will b e a limit ed numberof golf clubs fo r us e of patrons of th e link s. Golf ballswill b e sold a t cos t . Later all playing equipment ma y bfurnish ed free of charge, bu t this is an im poss ibil it y fo rthe pr esent , a l t hough the commission ers a rc sparing noeffort to p lac e go lf, hitherto th e SPOl't of t he r ich manwithin reach of ever y body at a minimum ex pen se to til

p erson enj oy ing th e gam e.Wor ces t er is a mong th e few c ities in th e world pr ovidin g fr-ee go lf. In New York g rounds a re set asidefo r use o f th e publi c. Philad elphia , H ar t f ord, Bos tonChicago and B uffalo ar e among oth er cit ies whi ch havtak en up th e fr ee golf idea with enthu siasm a IH ] p ushedit alon g with vi gor until thousands of p eo ple a re enjoyin g th e ga me free of cost. England an d Sco tland havetheir fr ee p nblic golf courses the finest, perhaps, b eingW estward Ho and St. Andrews. W or ceste r s links, iis s aid, will compare favorably with th e bro ad ex panseof S cotlan d a nd England that ar e g iven o ver to th e u sof p ubli c fo r golf matches.

'1h e par k s commissioners had consid e red layin g ou tgolf COUl'S C a t Gr een Hill Park at a n est ima ted cost o$2 5,000 0 1' $3 0,000, bu t this id ea wa s a bandon ed in vi ewof May or Geo rg e lVI. Wrigh t s wish for rigi d economyI t was w ith relu ctance that th e commi ssion er s a bandonedthi s pl an , for th ey ha d seen an d heard enou gh to convin ce th em beyond the shadow of a do ubt th a t Worcester

G l Y I N t ; 'l' B ": l\ L, Y OR :\ l· f ;W P OI N 'r R R $ A LO J\G D RIY£ I X '1'1- 1 E I·'OHBE S -l\[ CG I LL I CUDU Y j } L~ 1 ' C l l



139ORCESTER

peopl e desi r e fr ee p ublic go lf . T hen a m embe r of th ecommi ss ion conce ived t he id ea of leasing th e old count rv c lub gr o u nds . I t was found that this cou l d be doneat a very mod erat e cos t. City council len t hearty suppor tto the p lan, a nd it w as worked ou t smooth ly to a success

ful comp letion.Th e gr o unds ar e now being put in shap e unde r th e

direct ion of ex p e rts. Th e g reens, desp it e disus e, we refound to b e in fu i rl y go od con d it ion. W ith a l itt le workand a t te nt ion t he pa rk s commission er s be lieve t ha t t heI ree li nks wil l be tire «q u a l, if not t he sup erior , of man ypri va t e g olf cou rses in t he co u ntry wh ere cl ub m em b er senjoy t ill' t hr i lling un ce rt a in ty of: t he ga me at a co nside ra b le burd e n of ex pense . 'I'u e cl ub ho u se is un d er going repa iIS, Pa t ro us of t ire I in ks w i II be privi leged torent locke r-s. S how cr baths will h e p rovid ed an d thos ewho enj oy t he fr ee links will ha v e ev ery pr ivil ege that isacco rded nH'1Il ben; of th e exclnsi ve g olfi n g organ izationsof t ire U nit ed Stat es an d Great Britain .

" O u r wis h is to m ak e th e cour se f r ee to al l, " sa y th epark s co uuni ssiouers. In t his s entence t he eo uun iss iou ersepitomiz e t he basi c p rinciple un d er l yi ng a ll th ei r a ct iviti es to p rivid c t he p eople o f W or cest er' w it h clea u,heal t hy u ruu semou t at a cost so s mall t ha t it shou ld bewithin t h e re ach of ev eryb ody . Th e c ler k 0 1 t he shophand is n ot o n ly besoug ht as a p a tr o n of th e links, b u tis urg ed to m ak e t he freest use of t h em . T he links ar e[01' t he wor-kin g m an , his t o enjoy to t he utmost. T hefr ee a nd ea sy d emocracy of the bas eba ll ga m e, wh ere a llmee t on (qllCl l t e rm s , is to b e fo un d at th e- li n ks. KingE dwar-d once Jace tiously remark ed : " A ll m en ar e equalon th e turf 01 u nder i t ." So it will b e at th e f r ee publicgol f cours e.

'I' ha f a ll \\ '110 desire to l earn th e in t r ica cie s of th ega m e to th e last de ta i l ma y do so, t he pa rk s commiss ionP I'S a re cons ider ing a pl an t o p rovid e fo r ex pe r t i nstr uction . I t is 1I0t t he inte ntion of t he commiss ione rs t hisyea r, a t leas t, to pa y a fixed sa la r y to a n instr uctor .'f he y propo se ra th er t ha t a n ex p er t golf p lay er sha ll bea t t he l in ks a nd m ak e what ev er a r rang eme nt s he maybe ab le to w ith patro ns in giv ing th em instru ctio ns th atwi ll improve t he t echni c o f th ei r ga m e an d in cr easeth ei r ski ll.

~ [ ( , 1 1 l 1 ) ( ' 1 ' ' ' of t he cit y council hav e shown a cooperation i ll t he matt er that ha s been most encou ra ging toth e parks com m issioners. Rec en t ly Co unci lman Corneliu s VV. Cor b ett sounded th e k eynot e of a p la n whi chwill wi thout do u bt mee t with mu ch favor , Cou ncil ma n

Corb et t p roposes that a di rect ap p ea l be ma d e to t heshop work ei-s to lis e t ile l inks fr e ely . H e u rg es shopworker s to m ak e fr e e us e of t he link s .

A noth er s uggestio n offe red by Counc ilma n Co rbett,aw l one t ha t is l ikely to find f a vor wi th go lf en t hus ias ts ,is th a t tvam s be se lected fr o m eac h of th e 10 wards of"Wo rce ster t o be e nt er ed in a tourn am ent. T here is noth-ing , in the opinion of C ouncilman Corb ett, t ha t will bemore e ffectiv e in a rousing in t er ests i n th e l inks to th ehighest pi t ch, t l13 11 a n introduction of t he c le me nt ofstron g, h ealthy com peti t ion into th ei r u se,

Durin g t he winter s cores of: emplo yes of shops, o fficesan d oth er p laces fin d re laxation, am us em ent in bowlingleagues in wh ich many t eams ar e en t er ed , T he suggestion 1S off ered by Co uncilman Corb et t that th ese work

ers , so fond of compet it ion an d exe r c ise, be offe red e veryencourage ment for a go lfing lea gu e fo r comp e tition .

MAGAZINE

Tn a stat em en t issued by th e p arks co mm issi oner s,m emb er s say th at as nearly as they ca n asc erta in, Tat-nuck conntry club spent $200,000 o n it s pr op erty , an dth e ni n e hol es a re considered b y m an y to b e in fe rior t oth e cours e lai d ou t at Lincoln s t reet an d us ed fo r venrs

by some of t h e leading e xponents of t he ga me w'it h ahi gh d eg r ee o f sa tisfact ion.

I t is fu r t her est imate d by ti le p ar k s comm issio ne r s t ha tt he W orc est er cou n tr y c lub will have e xpe nded f ull y$300,000 o n it s new p r op er t y on L in coln s t r eet b eforeth e wo rk is comp let ed . Th i s ex pendi tur e wi ll be fo r t heen jo y me nt of on ly a few, th e commission er s point ou t ,while fo r t he compara t ive ly small sum of $2000 , mo rethan 169,000 will fin d fr ee golfing p ri vi leg es withinth ei r r each, w ith no clu b dues to pay an d pr a ct ica ll y noexpens e to bear ,

O N T H ":; G RE I·:N

E ver y memb er of th e board of par ks com miss io n er sindor sed t h e pr o j ec t ov er his ow n sign at ur e befor e cit ycouncil wa s asked t o appropriate th e mo n ey . Si nc e th emon ey ha s been set aside, every memb er of th e COIll

mission ha s been g iving unsparin gly of hi s t im e au dlabor to in sure th e s uccess of th e p lan to the hi gh estd eg r ee .

Of th e s uccess of t he pl an t he pa rk s comm issio ne r sha ve no d oubt. Th ey be lieve t ha t th e p eo p le of Wo ["

cest er, the peo p le of av e rage m ean s, w ill en joy t h e g ameif g iv en a n opportun it y to d o so wi th out t he usua l h eavyb ur d en of ex penses b eing impos ed up on t hem , Th e comm ission er s believe that th e p eopl e of W or ceste r', th e lar gemaj orit y of th em, will s how their app reci ation of th elinks an d work a s a b od y to mak e t hem a s tr o ng ,perman en t an d flou r ishing feature of ou tdoor r ecrea tion.

" T h e ro y al g am e of a ncient Scotl an d " ha s sec u re d aphenom enal g r ip 011 th e pe op le of th e U n it ed St at es dur-ing th e p ast d ecad e, I ts po pularity i s gr o win g s teadi ly.'I'hat mo r e ar e no t p lay ing it i s du e to t he heavy e xpe nsewhi ch o n e mus t neces sar -ily in cur if he belo ngs to a clu b .With th is b u rd en of ex pe nse r emov ed , th rough t h e £1' 1'('

link s , th e co mmi ssio n er s look hop efull y f'or wa rd to t he

p r od uct i on of ch am pio ns and a pl a ce of hi gh p rorni neucef or W or cest er in t h e go lf ing w orld.

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Play This Ever Increasing Popular Sport Without