THE RECORD OF A GOLFER.
F. G. Tait: a Record. By John L. Low. (S. Nisbet and Co. 6s.)—F. G. Tait was both born and made a golfer. His father was an enthusiast, and he himself began to play at the age of four. He first. came to the fore in 1890, when he reached the semi-final of the Calcutta Cup, and the final of the Jubilee Vase at St. Andrews. He had been showing great promise on leaving Sedbergh. where he was from 1883-86, and in 1889 was doing rounds of 81 to 90. Tait went to Edinburgh University, then to Sandhurst, and was gazetted in 1890 to the Leinster Regiment, from which he esehraged in 1801 to the 2nd Battalion of the ,Black Watch. As a golfer he was probably at his best in 1896, when he was Amateur Champion, and third in the Open Championship. In 1898 he was again Amateur Champion, defeating in the semi-final the player who now writes his memoir. His play was chiefly remarkable for his long and accurate driving ; he possessed at all times a marvellous power of recovery ; indeed, he has been called with some justice a lucky player. The writer of this notice first saw him play at Cam- bridge in 1895, when he was touring with the Edinburgh Academicals R.F.C. He was partnered in a foursome with a very moderate player ; his driving, though long, did not appear unusual, probably from the gracefulness of his style ; be looked the ideal golfer,—never upset by the mistakes of his partner or by the fai;ure of his shot to do all that was expected. In October, 1899, he started for South Africa, resigning a Staff appointment for that purpose. He was wounded at 5Iagersfon- tein, and killed at Koodoosberg Drift, mtatts fiebilis. Mr. Low has told the story of his brilliant and blameless life with much tact and sympathy. And he gives us some hints ivell worth reading about the game of which he is an exponent scarcely inferior to Tait himself. The profits of the publication are to go to the Black Watch Widows' and Orphans' Fund.
Previous page
