Atlanta Georgian. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1912-1939, June 01, 1913, Image 141

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I Some human beings go through life as mere spec tators, looking on at a game in which they take no real part, watching those that ac complish results or achieve destruction—and themselves adding nothing to the re sults or the distinctions of their day. How many go through life watching what other men do, and doing nothing for themselves f Please do not imagine, To see a wonderful game of skillful baseball occasion ally is a good thing. To watch the wonderful skill of trained billiard players— VERY RARELY—is a good thing. Anything you watch is good if it inspires you TO DO SOMETHING ON YOUR OWN ACCOUNT. But when you watch mere ly for the pleasure of watch ing—when you sit around a baseball game or a football game or, a running race as the men and women of Rome used to sit and watch the gladiators murder each oth er—YOU ARE SIMPLY WASTING YOUR MIND, WASTING YOUR TIME, DWINDLING DOWN INTO A POOR, MISERABLE WATCHER. —From a Briabana Editorial. By Percy H. Whiting. HE "Get out of the grand stand" Idea Is gaining ground In Atlanta. And it should, itching games should be the usement of the old and the itned. The playing of games Is at builds up health and strength 1 makes for riiore efficient men 1 women. Vatching baseball games Is a •mless pastime. It takes the en- isiasts out In the fresh air and jrds a pleasant and harmless di- slon. But the ball players are ting the chief benefit. Sail parks for amateurs, tennis irts, swimming pools and golf irses are among the most useful Atlanta Institutions. They get iple out In the fresh air and en- irage healthful exercise. Long y they wive. • * * F ALL the exercises available for the health and pleasure- leers of Dixie, the best, to my don, is golf. Baseball Is good, t It Is all too violent except for • young. Tennis is In the same egory. 3olf affords pleasant exercise, but i exercise is not violent. It is lugh to tire one out, without lausting him. ... "S an odd thing about golf, but there will always be as many yers In any city as there are ac- nmodations. Open a five-hundred mber course and five hundred fers will develop. Open another » of the same size and five hun- id more will take up the game— t all in a day, but in a few >nths. *o city in the world has yet been ;e to supply enough golf courses its population. • -V the same has held true of resorts. The city of Plnehurst Is the only one that ever attempted to keep pace with the demand and It now has four full eighteen-hole courses—and more building. * * • A LL of which being true, it is of interest to the lovers of outdoor sports that Atlanta will soon have a new nine-hole course at Ansley Park—a course entirely inside the city limits of Atlanta, fifteen min utes from Five Points by automo bile and soon to be on a direct car line from the city. This course was a natural out growth of the demand for more courses in Atlanta—which stands to-day as the foremost golfing city in the South and as one of the most amazing, considering the popula tion, in all the world. It is probable that no city on the globe to-day numbers as many golf ing enthusiasts In relation to the white population as this Gate City of the South. Another two hundred and fifty, most of them residents now of that section of the City north of Tenth Street, will be developed when the Ansley Park course is opened—and it will be before long. • * • J UST by way of seeing what they had out there. I went out and took a look around yesterday, tramping every inch of the course and getting a pretty clear idea of what it w'ill be like a few' weeks hence when, they roll it, cut the grass, put in the cups, brush up the tees a bit and declare it formally open. Right now the only thing lacking is a little rain to put the finishing touches on the turf. It is all there, underneath the surface or springing through. Another rain or two and the last bare spots will cover and afford excellent lies. 'T' HEY tell me a matter of $135,- * 000 has been spent on the golf course and the land immediately surrounding it, and knowing the cost of preparing courses, I haven't the least reason to doubt it. It was pretty nice land, too, before they did anything to it, having the easy roll that is so desirable on golf courses, combined with good soil and gome picturesque little streams that are neatly used In providing hazards. The location of the proposed club house is a pleasing one, on a knoll w'here It will afford • not only a view of most of the course, but of a delightful section of Ansley Park and of Atlanta itself as well—the skyscrapers, that is. The club house has not been built as yet, but plans have been pre pared by W. L. Stoddart for a rus tic building of octagon shape, with big verandas, assembly room with a dancing floor, restaurant, and all the improvements and accessories of a modern country club house. One of the features will be a dress ing room on the top floor instead of in the basement, as is usually the case—an innovation which has de sirable features that any golfer will appreciate. * • * NE of the prize features of the ^ new club will be a swimming pool quarried out of the solid rock. This will be connected with the club house by a pergola. Bath houses will be built near the swimming pool for those w'ho prefer to dress there rather than in the club house. * * * A EL of which is very attractive— but the “main chance” is the golf course. The be9t club house in the world is wasted if the course isn't right. A good course will at tract players by the hundreds if there isn’t a club house within miles. And when you combine the two, you have something worth talking about. The Ansley Park Club seem* In a fair way to have that combination. • • • r T' HE real foundation of a eucceag- A ful golf course Is the turf. To secure a good covering of gTass much work was done on the new course. It was first plowed four times to a depth of sixteen inches. Next it was cut with a harrow and then smoothed off. AfteT that It was loaded with Bermuda grass, Italian rye and mixed grass seed* The first rains brought this grass shooting through the soil, and al ready it is covering nicely and promises a find stand of grass. The soil Itself is rich and free from stones and clay. It should afford a fine turf. * * • nr O give you an idea of the course it will be necessary to take you over it and to tell you, hole by hole, how it looks. So here goes: First hole, 260 yards—The tee is located near the club house and the drive is over a road, down a drop of 35 feet or so to a level plateau beneath. On the left are trees and “rough.” On the right Is “rough.” The second shot is open, but be yond the green are a creek, trees and “rough,” while farther back and to the left is a railroad embank ment. This is a good, open hole, with little trouble—which is as it should be with all first holes, in or der that the golfers may get away in good style and without tying up in any troublesome hazards. It Is a simple two-shot hole, offering a drive and a pitch for the green. Second hole, 170 yards—This is a a good stiff one-shot hole, for the drive is up hill. Trees on the left will punish a hook, while on the right there are trees and some ex tremely rough ground. The shot is over a road. Third hole, 220 yards—While the tremendous driver may occasionally reach this green in one shot, to the average player it Is a neat drtve- and-pitch hole. Playing It with a drive and an approach the first shot is over a small stream, about 125 yards from the tee. To the left are trees, to the right a railroad embankment. However, the fair green is 400 feet wide, affording plenty of elbow room. The tee Is on high ground. Then comes the dip down to the stream and then a rise on the other side. The stream itself Is small, but the ditch is eight or ten feet wide, and it plows across the course nearly at right angles in general direction, but making three reverse curves and broadening out in such fashion as to be troublesome for a short slice, or a slightly long er hook. The stream runs through pipes on the left, and a road at that point offers an easy place to cross. Going up the hill beyond the creek the ground falls away sharply at the left, making it bad for a pulled shot. On the right is the railroad right- of-way. The green is a hundred feet square and located on high ground. On the right the land runs up to a bank, on the left It falls away, giving a chance for fine trou ble with a hooked approach. Fourth hole, 469 yards—This is the first long hole, and it affords a fine test of golf, without being un duly difficult. From the tee the ground drops away to a ditch, just as it does on the third hole. This ditch is about the same distance from the tee and about the same w’idth. A hooked hall finds ground that falls away a bit, accentuating the pull, and If It is a long one it finds the extension of the stream and ditch that crosses the course. On the right, to keep the sheers from carelessness, is the railroad embankment and some ferocious rough. The drive should land a man somewhere at the top of the first rise. The player ready to make his next shot finds a mild ditch cross ing the course in his way. This is at the bottom of the hill and should not prove troublesome. It Is mod erately deep on the right, where it might worry a vicious sheer. On the left It opens out to practically nothing. The pitch for the green is over another slight rise and then down into a “bloody angle” sort of a green. To the left is a stream. To the right and meeting it at a sharp angle Is a railroad embankment. The two together form a neat pocket. A player who has missed a shot and must lace his third for the green may find the hazards be yond the green embarrassing. The man who has played tw j good shots will have only an easy pitch for it and will not be troubled. The ^course at this point is pe culiarly attractive. The deep woods to the left of the course furnish fine shade, the view is alluring and the course stretches away with a pleas ant roll up to the high ground be yond. From that point on the course extends most of the way along the edge of a thick wood which Is on the west. After 3 o’clock in the afternoon the woods cast a deep shade over most of the course and make It possible to play then even on the hottest afternoon in real comfort. Fifth hore, 412 yards—The fair green of this line runs back at a narrow angle with the fourth fair green and to the west of It. The tee is low and the green rises rapidly. To the left the ground is open. To the right are the w r oods—and out of bounds. The fairway of this hole is out lined by two rows of trees. A drive places the ball at the opening of the tree-bounded fair green. The second shot is over another stream that crosses the course at right angles. A very long player might reach the green on his second. The ordinary player will be contented to “get home” with his pitch, however, as this green, like the fourth, Is of the “blind alley” variety, with trouble to right, left and beyond. At the left of the “triangle” green are trees and a knoll. On the right is & stream. Beyond this Is sharply rolling ground. Sixth hole, 265 yards—The tee Is cut into the base of a knoll on which runs a road. The play U over a slight knoll and to a green which is protected beyond and to the left by a ditch. On the right it is open. Seventh hole, 143 yards—This is a fine pitch hole, with a well guarded gTeen. To the ex treme right are the deep woods. A tree not so far to the right makes It interesting for the slicer. A trou blesome ditch guards the green on the left. Beyond it Is a road, and beyond that a knoll which rises to building property. It will take an accurate shot, but not a tremen dously difficult one, to get on the green and stick. Eighth hole, 387 yards—The drive on the eighth is up a brisk rise, with plenty of fairway, but with woods to the far right and a road to the left. A good drive will get beyond the top of the hill and offer a, fair chance for a second shot, which will need to be a screamer over the broadest creek of the course. There is not much water in the stream, but plenty of sand. However, the banks are easy j and a player with ordinary luclc could get out of almost any part of it with a single stroke. A hanging bridge w r ill cross the stream at thi# j point. The green is about 150 feel I beyond the creek. The approach If I open to the left, but on the are some deep woods. Beyond and ] to the left is a creek. On the rigW Is a ditch and the deep woods again. Ninth hol«, 190 yard•—As this hole stands at present It is a terror, and it is oertain that It will be modified a good bit by bringing the tee forward considera bly. Thus changed it will be a fine one-shot hole to & gTeen that is practically surrounded by various J assorted kinds of trouble. To the left will be a bunker. Beyond green on the left Is a steep bank. Beyond It to the right is a bridge. 1 And in front of It Is a wide ditch and stream that must be crossed. By playing to the left the distance Is short, but as the stream in toward the green it calls longer shot If the ball goes right, either straight or with a slice. With the green moved up & bit thfl will be a grand one-shot hole a fine test of golf. At the same time It will afford no great trouble to the duffer, who can play short and then pitch to the green. • • • /'"'OLF courses are divided Into two sorts—championship courses and the other kind. The cham- 1 pionshlp courses are loaded up with bunkers, traps and miscellaneous hazards. The holes are so placed j in relation to the tees that the dis tance can be covered in one, two, j or three full shots. These courses j are all right for the expert players, but are mighty hard on the duffers. The other courses are made the average man to play on. They are not loaded up with hazards. They are not so narrow as to be troublesome. They are places to find amusement—not to test the best game of a star player. In this latter class the Ansley Park course belongs. It is medium j In length. It has no extremely di?- ( flcult holes. It has no terrible haz ards. It is Just a nice, open, compara tively easy course, with just enough hazards to make it interesting for the average player. It is on rolling ground, which is attractive, but It Is not precipitous enough to make it tiresome for players. Scenically It is extremely attrac tive. The woods along which sever al of the holes extend are beautiful , and the ground of the entire course** is high enough to afford a fine view in all directions. Six months from now this course will be furnishing vast amusement for two or three hundred players, most of them new golfers who have just taken up the game. Wh^n it is it will be doing a good work in bringing people out into the open and in affording amusement and re laxation. It will be creating •doers” instead of “watchers.” It will be j furthering the “get-out-of-the- grandstand” movement.