IT is proper that the final chapter should be given to the minor, but none the less important question of clothes. Golf has always had its own standards in this respect, changing from time to time to be sure, but still reasonably firm in the fundamentals.

When American players first came over to play on courses in Great Britain, some of them caused a degree of interest, not to say consternation, by appearing on the links minus their coats and vests, and it must be said in their favor, minus what they term in the States, their suspenders. This free and easy method of clothing for the links did not in any way meet with the approval of the older school of golfers in England, who had been brought up in a certain spirit of decorum that had been handed down to them by their forefathers from time immemorial. According to this tradition the correct garb in which to play the game of golf should be composed of a complete suit of more or less thick tweed with footgear of a sufficiently ponderous character to correspond with the aforesaid heavy clothing.

This was the traditional garb, and tradition in connection with the game of golf is a hard taskmaster, at least it was in those days, and it was many years before the golfing public became acclimatized to a more rational form of garb in which to play the game. But by degrees the mind of the general golfing public has become sufficiently broad and independent to do away with many of the old set formulas or restrictions with regard to the golfing clothing, and although it is not yet customary in England to play coatless as American players are in the habit of doing, still it is not altogether unusual to see members of the younger generation of British players imitating their American cousins, particularly on such occasions as the summer of the year 1911, when the thermometer kept in the vicinity of ninety day after day. One cannot get away from the fact that in the hot summer days the methods of American players in playing the game with a minimum of covering is infinitely more rational and according to the views of common sense than the old time principles of playing in thick tweeds and heavy brogues to match.

But, notwithstanding the broader, and more enlightened views of the present day, one cannot ignore the fact that there still lurks in the minds of the golfing public a certain degree of prejudice against what I once heard a disgusted old time golfer term "The half naked stage." This is particularly noticeable at a championship meeting, when one would be considerably surprised to see a British player performing in the event in what may be termed regulation lawn tennis costume. Why this should be so is a little difficult to understand, as the Britisher plays most other games with as little clothing to hamper him as is consistent with respectability, but the old time prejudice is difficult to eradicate, and it undoubtedly supplies a serious drawback to American players who come over to play in the British Championship events.

One could not but feel sorry for young "Chick" Evans in 1911, when in order not to hurt British susceptibilities, he played right through the week in the sweltering heat in a comparatively thick tweed coat, and there cannot be much doubt that this act of courtesy toward British custom served to handicap the Chicago youth. Only once did he part with his coat, and that was in sheer desperation when he found himself in an almost hopeless position at the nineteenth hole - being bunkered badly beyond the green. Just for that last despairing effort he shed the garment which had been hampering him from the very start, and I do not think anyone would have blamed him had he discarded it somewhat earlier in the fight.

Personally I do not see why American players should be expected to depart from their home customs when playing in England, as it is undoubtedly a handicap to them to be called upon to play in their coats. I have realized this more since my visits to America, where not only in the States, but in Canada fully ninety per cent. of the players play the game minus their coats, and in their climate it is admittedly the most rational and sensible thing to do. This question of golfing clothes is merely a matter of custom and habit, and in this respect it is merely a question of what the player himself is accustomed to. If a man is in the habit of playing in a coat, and moreover, wears suspenders in order to keep his nether garments in place, he will at first find great difficulty in swinging the club correctly if he discards them. I tried the experiment myself in 1911 and 1912 and came to the conclusion that it would take me days to become accustomed to the feelingof unusual looseness and freedom. I could not control the club on the upward swing, or control the body on the downward swing, with the consequence that by the time my club head had reached the ball, my body was away in front of my hands, the result being that I pushed the ball away out on the off side. The task of trying to counteract this somewhat natural failing proved a too severe one for me to continue the trial, and I promptly gave it up as a bad job, and donned my coat once again. My American friends told me that I would soon get accustomed to the change, but I saw the prospect of losing all my confidence if I pursued the task. It is interesting, however, to note that such an authority as Mr. Walter Travis holds the opinion that it is better for the player himself to wear both a coat and suspenders as it enables him to control his actions better than he can when both are discarded, and one may rest assured that Mr. Travis has seriously considered the subject from every point of view, as he is one of the most analytical members of the golfing fraternity I have ever come across. He is one of those players who has a reason for everything that he does, and in consequence his opinion is always worthy of great consideration.

Personally I am inclined to agree with Mr. Travis, in the matter of wearing suspenders in preference to a belt. I always wear suspenders myself, and while I find that they do not materially restrict my freedom of movement, on the other hand they prove a decided support and stay, in that they preclude the probability of the body swaying back with the club on the upward swing and obviate the possibility of dropping the right shoulder on the downward swing.

Mr. Travis is apparently one of the very few who follow this custom in America. On the other hand, I think it would be found that the great majority of British players utilize suspenders in preference to a belt, and the comparative few who follow the latter custom are no doubt chiefly recruited from the cricket field and the tennis courts. There is one point in connection with the clothes which a golfer should most advisedly wear, upon which I hold, through the light of experience, most decided opinions, and that is the question of knickerbockers and long trousers. My verdict is indubitably in favor of the former. They are more comfortable in every way than are long trousers, I mean comfortable in that they do not hinder the player in his actions. The objection to flannels is that they will catch the knees of the player whenever he stoops, and, moreover, they are apt to hinder the action of the knees in the upward swing. One has only to look at examples of instantaneous photography to see this as in the upward swing the trousers are always drawn tight across the player's knee, and they must in a certain degree hamper the freedom of the leg action. My own personal objection to long trousers lies in the fact that they invariably interfere with my natural stance when putting as directly I commence to get down to play the shot, they draw tight across the knee and I am conscious all the while of the fact that they are thus drawn and it is a most uncomfortable feeling. When the professional first began to emancipate himself from the time honored custom of wearing long trousers and turned out in knickerbockers just like his amateur brothers, the first members of the fraternity who had the temerity to break away from traditional usage, he had to put up with a goodly degree of caustic comment, but they were wise in their generation, as from a utilitarian point of view knickerbockers are, to my way of thinking, by far the most comfortable form of nether garment in which to pursue the game of golf.