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Wodehouse, P. G. (Pelham Grenville), 1881-1975

"The Clicking of Cuthbert"

"
* * * * *
Golf is in its essence a simple game. You laugh in a sharp, bitter,
barking manner when I say this, but nevertheless it is true. Where the
average man goes wrong is in making the game difficult for himself.
Observe the non-player, the man who walks round with you for the sake
of the fresh air. He will hole out with a single care-free flick of his
umbrella the twenty-foot putt over which you would ponder and hesitate
for a full minute before sending it right off the line. Put a driver in
his hands and he pastes the ball into the next county without a
thought. It is only when he takes to the game in earnest that he
becomes self-conscious and anxious, and tops his shots even as you and
I. A man who could retain through his golfing career the almost
scornful confidence of the non-player would be unbeatable. Fortunately
such an attitude of mind is beyond the scope of human nature.
It was not, however, beyond the scope of Vincent Jopp, the superman.
Vincent Jopp, was, I am inclined to think, the only golfer who ever
approached the game in a spirit of Pure Reason.


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