A Caddie Remembers
Golf in the 1930s
by
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If you want to see how the game was played in the early 1930s, go to your local video store and rent Bagger Vance. It is a faultless reconstruction of the then popular “Exhibition Match” that shows how they dressed and the equipment they used. Just as accurately it shows the clothes worn those by the gallery. Yes, once upon a time people did dress to attend a golf match. I smiled knowingly at a scene in the film where darkness was descending and the players had just finished the 17th hole. Automobiles were circled around the 18th green, headlights blazing, to provide illumination. Unlikely? No. I saw this in 1935 at a weekly Pro-Am held in
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About the Book
With near-total recall the author writes 1) of his 1930s memories as a caddie, 2) of the condition of the golf courses of that day, 3) of the equipment then in use, 4) of the 1920s titans who led the way to widespread interest in golf and 5) of the stars of the 1930s.
In an Epilogue he tells of his views about what has happened to Golf recently; and in a poignant Farewell, knowing that he will not live long enough to write again, he wishes his readers well
and bids them Goodbye.
About the Author
Chief Operating Officer of a bank before retiring in 1984; Cowan got the idea for this work while convalescing from removal of a benign brain tumor. An attendant would bring other hospital staffers to his bedside (a) because he had been in World War II and (b) because he could talk about Golf as it was in the old days.
Though there is no shortage of those who can tell about World War II, few with personal knowledge of Golf in the 1930s are still alive.
Cowan writes tersely and wastes no words. His major peeves are (1) those who use appears when they really he mean seems (2) those who use anticipate when they really mean expect