THE SPIRIT OF THE LINKS
BY
HENRY LEACH
METHUEN & CO.
36 ESSEX STREET W.C.
LONDON
First Published in 1907
THE SPIRIT OF
THE LINKS
To discover the secret of its wonderful charm is not the least of theproblems of golf. It is a game that encourages the reflective andphilosophical mind to close investigation, and so it is not enough forthe worthy player that he should take the things that he sees and feelsfor granted, with no questions concerning the mystic influences thatseem constantly to brood over the links, and the people who are of them.Each day as we go forward to the game, and in particular if it marks thebeginning of a special period of play, we feel these influences strong,and it may happen that for a moment we wonder again as to their causeand their origin.
Many minds have made great efforts towards the discovery of this secret,but the fruits thereof have not been satisfying. Golf is not like othergames which stir up great enthusiasms in their players. Long spells offailure or of ambition thwarted often kill[2] the passion that has fed theenergy of the players of these games; but that is not the case withgolf, and golf almost alone. Nor does a surfeit of play lessen thedesire for it as it does in the case of other field sports, which needclose seasons for their healthiness. When one day’s golf is over, thethought is of the next that will succeed it, and the hope already goesforward to anticipation of the superior delights that may be in store.And it makes the same appeal t