AS will be readily seen from the previous chapter, Championship courses are few in number, and the blue-ribbon events of the year are decided upon them of necessity in quick rotation. There is no reason, however, as far as I can see, why the scope of the Championships might not be extended, and other courses of acknowledged excellence be patronised, beyond the select number at present favoured with the fixture.

Not only would this alteration provide a little more variety, but it would also tend to popularise the game, as a game, in the various parts of England, where the big events of the year might be introduced. The all-necessary coin of the realm would also follow in the wake of the Championships, and a universal benefit would be conferred upon every class.

But before attempting to suggest a few courses which are quite up to the standard of excellence required for the decision of a Championship, I would wish it to be clearly understood that I am simply speaking of places I actually know and links I have had the privilege of playing over. Of course, many others might be mentioned, were I to adopt a policy of hearsay and taking things for granted ; but in the following remarks will be found included the most prominent courses known and recognised by the golfing public.

WESTWARD HO! SEVENTH TEE.

MR. H. H. HILTON DRIVING OFF IN MATCH WITH MR. J. A. I. BRAMSTON.

I may start with Westward Ho. Upon this course golf was played quite thirty years ago, and the pastime has made considerable headway of late. I have no hesitation in stating that Westward Ho is one of the finest natural courses I have ever played upon, while it is quite a certainty that it is one of the most difficult. It possesses all the advantages most to be desired-springy turf, excellent greens, and natural obstacles in the way of bunkers, sand dunes, and bulrushes. Unlimited space is to be found before the grey old pebble-ridge hurls back the crested billows of the broad Atlantic, the conformation of the ground is particularly well suited for golf, and it is indeed well worth the bestowal of the favour of an Amateur and Open Championship.

Brancaster, on the Norfolk coast-line, is again a very fine course, quite equal to one or two of those that already have the fixture, an important matter being that here, too, the links are purely natural in character.

Then, if we go into this question fully and fairly, and approach it with a mind open to conviction, it is quite an impossibility to overlook or delete from the probable competitors the many magnificent courses in Ireland, some of them quite equal to anything we can show or instance in this country.

The claims of North Berwick, again, cannot be placed on one side now that the course has been extended. At the present time it is quite as good as any of the other links I have named, and possesses a reputation in the golfing world second to none.

In a cursory manner I have attempted to prove that there are other links within the confines of the United Kingdom, other than those already recognised, that are well worthy of careful consideration by the powers that be.

As for the Championships themselves, I would like to suggest that these big fixtures might very readily, and with a considerable advantage to one and all, be allotted in turn to courses situate in England, Scotland, and Ireland, in place of being, as at present, monopolised by the two former countries.

Two courses might be selected in each of the countries I have named-for Wales is England as far as golf is concerned-the fixtures would be decided upon them in rotation, and this being finally arranged, would give the Rose, the Thistle, and the Shamrock each a Championship once in three years.

Such a procedure as I have attempted to sketch would, I venture to think, assist golf in an all-round sense, for no disadvantage would be found to attach itself to the once in three years system of playing the big event off. These Championships, it is our proud boast, are open to one and all. Probably we shall secure competitors from America in the very near future, and personally I think the whole of the United Kingdom should share in the advantages to be gained by the holding of them. It is impossible to do too much or attempt too much in the way of encouragement of the game, and the broadening of its sphere of influence would work for its ultimate good in every instance.

Intense interest is manifested in the Championships. Would they not, then, attract players from the particular districts in which they might be played ?