Edinburgh, March 3.
Climate should have a decided influence on the character of our golf. There is nothing in the weather catalogue which the golfer need be without in the course of a year if he cares to make use of the experience. Some years ago a certain Scottish championship hi was stopped on account of fog. More surprising, in view of locale, a recent competition at Monte Carlo was interfered with by alli: similar visitation. So far as weather affects play it is the golfer abroad who appears to suffer more than his fellows at home. His weather at home may be a poor thing, but it is his own, and he knows it. When he goes to another country, say with an eye to ® championship, he discovers that the difference in climate may be an appreciable factor in his chances. This is especially the case as between British and American players.
Britisu Hanpicarrep 1x THe Staves.
Mr. Hilton has always held that the climate in the States handicaps our players when they go there. The fact that players like Bob Andrew take up residence in America and fail to justify the hopes of their friends in the matter of play is sometimes adduced as evidence. Nor is Mr. Hilton, our one amateur to capture an American title, likely to forget the ox. perience which he and the late Mr. Norman Hunter shared at Wheaton, in the Chicago area, in 1912. The heat was terrific, and when the gallant officer who figures on the golf roll of honour in the war, was going strongly through the tourna, ment, he collapsed altogether. The odds in the matter are heavier against the British player in the States, and far heavier than against the American player who comes across the Atlantic. It used to be thought that windy conditions on our seaside courses constituted the worst foo for our visitors, but glimpses of both American profes. sional and amateur play have shown us that players of have learned much. both kinds Th A Gay axp Goop Fient, Even allowing that the standard of American golf was not so good as it is now, the success of the Oxford and' Cambridge. Society team on their historic tour of the States is none the less remarkable. hey were a dining as well as playing company; they had a great deal of travelling to do: and they Were in a different atmosphere to what they were accustomed to; but they lost only one match, and John L. Low, who was their cap. tain. and is included in the recent. ly elected new golf authority, lost
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