The ArT of Golf - Society of Hickory Golfers

Willie Park Sr. – the
first guttie champion
by doug marshall
Born in 1833, Willie
Park was just a
young child when he moved
with his family into a home
across the street from Musselburgh
Links. As he grew
older it was a natural step for
Willie and his two brothers,
Mungo and David, to
become caddies at the golf
course. It was the best job
available and, as a side benefit,
the boys could play golf
after 5 p.m. when there was
little play on the course.
So, the caddies took to
the course and, using home
made clubs and feathery
balls they had found, honed
their skills in daily matches
with each other. Willie’s
first club was a curved stick,
described as a “shinty.”
With his primitive club the
talented Willie began to hit
feathery balls farther than
his fellow caddies. He also
putted better than anyone
else. He clearly was the best
of this scruffy bunch. Their matches were hard fought, however,
stopped only when darkness sent them home for the night.
By the time he was 20 and the best player at Musselburgh,
Willie began looking to expand his horizons. He had become a
ballmaker but that paid very little. If he was to increase his income,
he needed access to the money matches by which the best
players earned their living. He went to St. Andrews to learn the
course and seek competitive matches with the best players from
that links.
It was around 1853 and the gutta percha ball, introduced a few
years earlier, had begun to supplant the feathery. Over at St. Andrews,
the reigning players were Allan Robertson, Willie Dunn
and Tom Morris. Willie tried to get matches with these players
but had to settle for games with lesser players. Clearly they had
no interest in risking their reputation against this young upstart.
Willie in early 1854 put an add in the “Scotsman” challenging
the other three to a match for 50 pounds over the St. Andrews
links. No takers! He eventually settled for a match against George
Morris, Old Tom’s brother. This he won easily thus motivating
Tom to defend the family honour. A match was arranged between
the two over the St. Andrews links, which Willie won by 5-4.
willie park sr. as painted by renowned golf artist Arthur Weaver.
Allan Robertson, considered the greatest player at this time was
quoted as saying, “he frichtens us a‘ wi‘ his lang driving.”
Willie often drove the primitive guttie more than 200 yards. No
small feat, as drives of 165-185 were considered well done. Even
more intimidating was his putting, for he was the best putter of
his time. Tall and strong he was a very bold player, making up for
occasional wild shots with a brilliant short game. Sounds familiar
doesn’t it?
Willie became a “player,” in modern lingo,
and was a factor in most of the great matches
from this time forward. Later that year he
played a three-green match (three courses –
Musselburgh, Prestwick, St. Andrews) with
Willie Dunn and won by 12 holes. Allan Robertson
never did agree to a match with Willie,
and with his death in 1859 at age 44 that was
the end of that. (Allan was also able to take
the title of “The Undefeated” to his grave.)
Matches were popular and played regularly,
but Willie’s main opponent was Old Tom.
They played many matches over the years
with Willie winning most of them.
The first Open was played in 1860 at Prestwick
with only eight competitors. It did not
attract much notice. Willie won that event and
over the next eight years would record two
more victories, four second place finishes and
two fourth place finishes. He won his fourth
Open in 1875 and continued to compete
through 1882.
Despite these victories, the challenge money
matches were considered more important
and these Willie seldom lost. He was clearly
the best player of his time until young Tom
Morris came along.
Willie had come up in golf as a ballmaker
and it is clear made his own balls. As there
were no standards, each maker made them to suit themselves and
their customers. Here are Willie’s thoughts on the ball:
“Some balls when placed in water will float, while others will
sink, because they are heavier. Floaters are too light: they will
leave the club quickly and their carry is soon exhausted... of
course it requires more strength to play with a big heavy ball than
with a light one, and I would say to golfers, play with as big of a
ball as you are able to manage comfortably.”
Willie obviously had done a lot of experimentation to come
up with these conclusions and had created a ball that served him
very well. He was the first long hitter of the guttie era but not
the last. Even as the 20th century dawned, Harry Vardon resisted
switching to the Haskell wound ball as he felt he had adequate
distance, and could control the ball better nearer the greens.
Doug Marshall loves guttie golf and founded and ran the C.B.
MacDonald matches at Niagara-on-the-Lake in Ontario, Canada.
He believes that refinements in modern guttie ball manufacturing
are close to producing something akin to what Old Willie
might have done in his day.
society of hickory golfers 14
spring 2012
Arcane and Quaint words
of Arnold Haultain –
Wordsmith Extraordinaire
The Mystery of Golf
A brief Account of its Origin, Antiquity
& Romance; its Uniqueness; its Curiosness;
& its Difficulty; its anatomical,
philosophical, and moral Properties;
together with diverse Concepts on other
Matters to it appertaining.
by jim davis
Does this just not beg to be read? The
discerning golfer cannot fail to be piqued
by this opening salvo, indeed the subtitle
to the work called “The Mystery of Golf.”
The 1908 publication by Arnold Haultain
had no pretensions to literary glory. The
author turned his literary ambitions to a
variety of subjects, but it was on this matter
of golf that Haultain excelled.
As Herbert Warren Wind noted in the
modern preface, Haultain “had the mentality
to probe the enigma more deeply than
anyone had ever managed to before, and
Page No. (1986 Ailsa edition)
6 Puerility n. Silly, immature
8 Epiphyses n. pl. End of a long bone where it was separated
by cartilage to allow bone growth.
8 A Posteriori adj. The process of reasoning from facts or particulars
to general principles or from effects to causes.
10 Supposititious adj. Substituted for something else to deceive.
19 Sempiternal adj. Lasting forever.
23 Recondite adj. Requiring a high degree of scholarship or
specialist knowledge to be understood.
26 Internecine adj. Relating to or involving conflict with a
group or organization.
26 Exiguous adj. Extremely scanty or meager.
32 Phantasms n. Something you imagine you see but not real.
34 Embonpoint n. Round body shape caused by excess weight.
34 Puissant n. Powerful or mighty.
35 Ideational adj. Capable of conceiving or imagining.
36 Aetiology n. Variant of etiology – study of causes.
41 Disparagement n. To refer disapprovingly or criticize.
41 Disquisition n. Formal, long essay.
42 Maugre prep. archaic In spite of.
44 Decalogue n. Bible; a fundamental set of rules having
authoritative weight.
47 Flagitious adj. Notorious; vicious or cruel crimes.
47 Terraqueous adj. Areas of water and areas of land.
51 Mephitic adj. Relating to or resembling a foul smell.
54 Pervicacious adj. Determinedly resolute in purpose, belief,
or action; obstinate; refractory.
55 Sclaff adj. A poor golf stroke in which the club head hits
spring 2012
then had the talent to articulate his findings
with a brilliance and a clarity that are
quite astonishing.”
“The Mystery of Golf” is organized
into a series of connected essays that
range from the “Origin of Games,” to the
“Influence of Mind” and the “Futility of
Theory.” They are at once witty, learned,
full of insight and a delight for those who
appreciate a well-turned sentence. It has
become a welcome vade mecum of this
writer’s every trip, the slender volume
easily tucking into a jacket pocket for
ready reference or to pass a few pleasurable
minutes en route to the next hickory
tournament.
Only 400 copies were printed in 1908,
but a second, expanded, edition was
produced in 1912 with additional essays.
Several publishers have reprinted the book
since then. I prefer the shorter, original,
version. My Applewood Books edition
15
“How peccant,
how very peccant,
human nature is!”
From The Mystery of Golf
of 1965 (Serendipity Press) is a favorite
because of the wry marginal commentary
delivered in an archaic English.
Clearwater, Fla. SoHG member Richard
Bullock recently discovered the book
and was enthralled with it. Bullock, who
knows good writing when he sees it (his
wife, Kathy, is an accomplished author)
loved the book but admitted that he had to
set it down repeatedly to search for a dictionary.
Part of the fun of reading Haultain
is his alluring use of uncommon words.
Bullock began to write them down. Below
is the list he compiled.
Bullock used the 1986 Ailsa edition with
the foreword by Wind and an afterword by
John Updike. It is 151 pages.
It’s best to locate the following words
where they live so well within Haultain’s
book. After that, see how many you can
glibly produce in your next conversation
at the 19th Hole.
the ground before hitting the ball.
56 Declivitous adj. Sloping downward.
62 Insuperable adj. Impossible to overcome, get rid of, or deal
with successfully; insurmountable.
63 Peccant adj. Guilty of a sin.
64 Descant n. A comment, remark, or criticism on a particular
subject. Also an ornamental melody or counterpoint.
64 Lucubration n. A written work resulting from prolonged
study, often having a scholarly style; late night study.
70 Corpora striata n. Either of two gray and white, striated
bodies of nerve fibers located in the lower lateral wall of
each cerebral hemisphere.
79 Foozler n. One does something badly or clumsily, especially
with regard to a poor shot in golf.
78 Adumbrations n. pl. To give an incomplete or faint outline
or indication of.
82 Paresis n. Muscular weakness or partial inability to move
caused by disease of the nervous system.
83 Irrefragable adj. Impossible to refute.
89 Encephalon n. The brain of a vertebrate.
99 Duck’s egg (cricket) n. A score of nothing by a batsman.
116 Sphygmographs n. Blood pressure and pulse variation
indicators.
121 Innominable adj. Having no specific name, anonymous.
131 Inexpugnable adj. Impossible to overcome.
146 Boscage n. Densely growing trees and bushes.
151 Pisgah n. Refers to a “high place” like the top of a mountain
or to a “cleft”. This is also an Old Testament reference to
those mountain slopes northeast of the Dead Sea. From one
of these, Mount Nebo, Moses viewed Canaan.
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