Golf on Long Island was introduced in the spring of 1891 by Mr. Duncan Cryder and Mr. Edward Mead, two members of the Southampton Summer Colony, who had seen and played the game at Biarritz. A course of twelve holes was laid out over the rolling hills and sand-dunes of the Shinnecock Hills, and so enthusiastically was the game taken up that a club-house was built at once, and in September of the same year the club became the first regularly incorporated golf club in the United States. Since then the clubhouse has been twice enlarged, over 100 acres of land have been acquired by purchase, and the course has been lengthened to the regulation eighteen holes. There is also a short course of nine holes for the ladies, and no woman may play over the long course until she has qualified by making the "red" course three separate times in a certain minimum number of strokes.

In its general features Shinnecock approaches more closely to Scottish ideals than any other American course. Nearly all our leading clubs are inland ones, but Shinnecock is on the Long Island coast, between Peconic and Shinnecock bays, and the course runs over real seashore links. It is true that the turf of the fair green cannot be compared to that of the old country, but it is improving with care and cultivation. There are no unfair traps in the way of trees and stones, and the wind is an omnipresent hazard. The embankment of the Long Island railway (which is crossed four times), and artificial cop bunkers, are the principal difficulties of the course, and the total length is 5,369 yards. The greens, however, are small, and several of them have been artificially levelled up and terraced. Shinnecock was the scene of the amateur championship meeting of 1896, when Mr. H. J. Whigham, an old Prestwick player, carried off the first honours. It is good sound golf that is played at Shinnecock, and the course has been greatly improved by its extension. The holes now run : - 1st, 291; 2nd, 277; 3rd, 248; 4th, 228; 5th, 162; 6th, 308; 7th, 357; 8th, 354; 9th, 489; 10th, 413; nth, 231; 12th, 203; 13th, 368; 14th, 384; 15th, 370; 16th, 260; 17th, 214; 18th, 212; total, 5,369 yards.

The club is a stock company, and no one can be elected a member unless he or she be the owner of at least one share ($100 par value) of the capital stock. The stock may be transferred at will, but the vendor thereby ceases to be a member of the club, and the purchaser must undergo the usual process of election by ballot. The limit of the regular membership is fixed at 75, and there are now 71 names upon the roll. The initiation fee is $200, and the dues $40. There are a large number of season subscribers, who pay $60 for a man and his wife, and $15 for every additional member of the subscriber's family. The club numbers among its playing members : Mrs. Charles Brown, winner of the first woman's championship (1895); Miss Beatrix Hoyt (champion for 1896 and 1897), and Mrs. Arthur B. Turnure, runner-up in 1896. The best-known players among the men are : Dr. II. Holbrook Curtis, R. H. Robertson,

H. G. Trevor, and W. R. Betts, runner-up at Chicago in 1897.

In 1893 a score of ladies associated themselves into what is now known as the Morris County Golf Club. They put up a pretty colonial clubhouse, laid out a seven-hole course, and invited their men friends to give the new game a trial. To make sure of success they also provided tennis courts and a croquet ground. The men came, condescended to take a turn around the course, and surrendered at discretion. The tennis nets have not been taken out of the closets for three years, and the croquet court is now the home putting green.

In 1896 the constitution of the club was changed, papers of incorporation were taken out, and the men assumed the direction of affairs. Some ninety odd acres of land were acquired by purchase, and the course was lengthened to a playing distance of over 6,000 yards. It now ranks with the best of the inland courses, and was chosen as the arena of the woman's championship meeting in 1896.

Being an inland course, stones and trees are largely in evidence, but the turf of the mid-green is excellent, and the trenches of the artificial bunkers are filled with real sand. Water hazards are wanting, but the well-known "Punch-bowl" and the line of the Laekawann railway help to make the round an interesting one. The full course is not as yet in use, but the temporary playing distance is as follows : - 1st, 230; 2nd, 175; 3rd, 232; 4th, 357; 5th, 305; 6th, 350; 7th, 235; 8th, 300; 9th, 160; 10th, 450; nth, 450; 12th, 310; 13th, 333; 14th, 159; 15th, 157; 16th, 193; 17th, 193; 18th, 270.

The membership of the club is divided into two classes, regular and associate, and there are 123 names on the first list and 293 on the second, or 416 in all. Regular members must be stockholders in the organisation, which is capitalised at $50,000, the par value of the shares being $100. Both the regular and associate members pay annual dues of $25, and the initiation fee is fixed at $50. Candidates for membership must be, in the case of men, at least 18, and in the case of women at least 16 years of age. Election is according to ordinary club methods, the board of directors voting by ballot, and two black balls excluding. There is also a small list of honorary members.

The Knollwood Golf Club at Elmsford, in Westchester County, N.Y., is situated in a favourite residential section, and is within three-quarters of an hour railway journey from New York City. The club owns about 100 acres of ground, and the club-house is a handsome building and admirably appointed, having both restaurant and sleeping accommodation. The course is one of eighteen holes, laid out over rolling country, and measuring 4,466 yards in playing distance. Swamps, brooks, and roads make up the principal hazards, and the artificial cop bunkers are distinguished for their enormous proportions. They look like military earthworks, and are responsible for many a torn-up score card. The greens are of the largest size and very true and good, but there are far too many of the terraced and artificially levelled-up variety. The fair green is rather rough, but is improving under the steam-roller, which the Green Committee keep pretty steadily at work. Golfing at Knollwood is interesting work, but the punishment is often unduly proportioned to the crime, and the level greens give but little opportunity for the exercise of science in putting. The playing distance of the separate holes : - 1st, 247; 2nd, 247; 3rd, 345; 4th, 400; 5th, 425; 6th, 246; 7th, 196; 8th, 150; 9th, 317; 10th, 154; nth, 169; 12th, 154; 13th, 257; 14th, 196; 15th, 238; 16th, 356; 17th, 197; 18th, 172; total, 4,466 yards.