On the putting greens the natural undulations
of the ground have been levelled, and the greens are all as flat
and smooth as billiard-tables. There are clumps of ornamental wood,
flower-beds, and artificial ponds with goldfish swimming in them. It
is all very pretty, but it is hardly golf. What with the 'Grand Prix
d'Ostende,' the 'Prix des Roses,' the 'Prix des Ombrelles, handicap
libre, reserve aux Dames,' the 'Grand Prix des Dames,' and a number
of other _objets d'art_, which are offered for competition on almost
every day from the beginning of June to the end of September, this
is a perfect paradise for the pot-hunter and his familiar friend
Colonel Bogey. Real golf, the strenuous game, which demands patience
and steady nerves, perhaps, more than any other outdoor game, is
not yet quite understood by many Belgians; but the bag of clubs
is every year becoming more common on the Dover mail-boats.
Most of these golf-bags find their way to Knocke, where many of
the English colony at Bruges spend the summer, and which, as the
coast of Flanders becomes better known, is visited every year by
increasing numbers of travellers from the other side of the Channel.
Knocke is in itself one of the least attractive places on the Flemish
littoral.
Pages:
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143