Ambrose couldn't have had a great deal of fun out of the situation; but
MacQuarrie made money out of it. The redhead hired the professional to
play with him and criticise his shots. The dour old Scotch mercenary did
not like Ambrose any better than we did, but toward the end of the first
month he admitted to me that the boy had the makings of a star golfer,
though not, he was careful to explain, "the pr-roper temperament for the
game."
"But it's just amazin', the way he picks up the shots," said Dunn'l.
"Ay, he'll have everything but the temperament."
As the summer drew to a close the annual team matches began, and we
forgot Ambrose and all else in our anxiety over the fate of the Edward
B. Wimpus Trophy.
Every golf club, you must know, has its pet trophy. Ours is the worn old
silver cup that represents the team championship of the Association. A
pawnbroker wouldn't look at it twice; but to us, who are familiar with
its history and the trips it has made to different clubhouses, the
Edward B. Wimpus Trophy is priceless, and more to be desired than
diamonds or pearls.
When the late Mr. Wimpus donated the cup he stipulated that it should be
held in trust by the club winning the annual team championship, and that
it should become the property of the club winning it three times in
succession. For twenty years we had been fighting for permanent
possession of the trophy, and engraved on its shining surface was the
record of our bitter disappointment--not to mention the disappointment
of the Bellevue Golf Club. Twice we had been in a position to add the
third and final victory, and twice the Bellevue quintet had dashed our
hopes. Twice we had retaliated by preventing them from retiring the
Wimpus Trophy from competition; and now, with two winning years behind
us and a third opportunity in sight, we talked and thought of nothing
else.
According to the rules governing team play in our Association, each club
is represented by five men, contesting from scratch and without
handicaps of any sort. In the past, two teams have outclassed the field,
and once more history repeated itself, for the Bellevue bunch fought us
neck and neck through the entire period of competition. With one match
remaining to be played, they were tied with us for first place, and that
match brought the Bellevue team to our course last Friday afternoon.
I was on hand when the visitors filed into the locker room at
noon--MacNeath, Smathers, Crane, Lounsberry and Jordan--five seasoned
and dependable golfers, veterans of many a hard match; fighters who
never know when they are beaten. They looked extremely fit, and not in
the least worried at the prospect of meeting our men on their own
course.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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