Golfing Around the World
Chapter IV Lost Ball
In Bombay I thought I would like to play golf, and made some enquiry as to where it was possible to enjoy this now universal sport, but I was misinformed. There are very few places in the East or in the West either for that matter, where the casual visitor may play without proper credentials and introduction.
In England and Scotland there are few courses which are closed to the touring golfer. The club secretary, the steward, the professional, or the caddie master will almost invariably make the stranger welcome if the green fee is forthcoming. But in the East it is far otherwise, and no doubt for good reasons. However, I was fortunate enough to find friends.
One hot, sunny, intensely tropical morning I left the "Imperatrice" which lay at anchor some two miles out in the ever active harbour, and enjoyed a delightful sail, landing opposite to the ornate Taj Mahal Hotel and close to the imposing "Gate of India", a sort of Eastern Marble Arch set down by the water's edge. It is reported that at the inaugural ceremony some few years ago the Personages who opened it did so by going out from the shore to the sea instead of vice versa.
I had heard that golf was played on the Maidan - the village green of Bombay - so accordingly I made my way there and from a stately native steward I elicited the fact that golf was only played in the very early mornings. This was my first introduction to what is the universal custom of the East, to wit the indulgence of all forms of strenuous sports before breakfast.