"We would all like to go rambling with a bag of clubs, following our
nose to see where it leads us. but it is not so easy to find
where to start. If I had my own time and patience, I would start
of course in Scotland where the game of golf began four centuries
ago. Yet if I did so I would miss a mass of fun ignoring the rest
of Britain. interesting courses abound in all the counties, and
david Worley has cannily struck upon an ideal pilgrim's progress,
starting his odyssey in the Southwest corner of the Kingdom, and
slowly putting his way North along the West Coast.
This is surely bliss, given good weather - which is not so
reliable - but then golf is a game played in the elements. Like
sailing , it needs a good stiff breeze to give it a special zest.
What he found in his peregrinations is that a bag of clubs and a fair
swing of the driver is the ultimate passport. It gets one
anywhere. It will establish friendships - immediate as Worley
found to his great delight. Golf is generally universal
language. And what was his reward? he discovered for
himself a long list of glorious courses known mostly only locally,
developed,maintained and treasured by local enthusiasts, who take great
pride in their possessions and in a manner of extreme politeness,
welcome strangers who are their 'own kind'.
This is the very essence of golf, a strength unknown to other
sports. It covers the road in truth, but is part of life in
Britain.
It is remarkable how golf spread in it's early years. What
sparked on the links of Scotland, travelled in the line of least
resistance to the South. And it wasn't always the Scots who
planted the seeds. The english took to the game like ducks to
water, and soon it wasn't just a pastime of the Macs. It was
played by Carters and Joneses from Cornwall to Devon, to Caithness and
beyond. Britain is one vast canvass of golf.
Many of these courses are modest and
unpretentious, their annual membership dues small, but adequate, and it
all adds up to what is the
real golf. It is not the grand extravaganza of professional golf
played in the hyped arena that gives golf its plasma. It is the
humble hits and miss hits of the average golfer on his club or
municipal course that gives golf its lifeblood. And these are
found everywhere one wanders, as David Worley discovered.
If you, dear reader, use this book as
a reference and guide, you cannot go wrong, provided you play the
visitors' role with good humour and dress. Your 'passport'
requires no visa to penetrate the borders. You will be welcomed
as the Worley's were. I wonder where they will bob up next!"
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"Fairways in Heaven , Bunkers from Hell " here.
