IX] GOLF LINKS 153 



mittee seems to be to subordinate the guidance of 

 the ball to mere long driving. But it is possible 

 that the future may see a reversal of that policy by 

 the reintroduction, or the special preservation, of 

 Bents, Heather, and Whins so as artificially to 

 restore some of those natural penalties that the 

 green-keeper has so ruthlessly removed, or have 

 disappeared, may be, owing to the ordinary traffic 

 of the Links. Though we may regret their loss, 

 we may still remember that however deeply the 

 artificialities of the modern upkeep of the Links 

 may affect the surface and its vegetation, they do 

 little to modify the main contours of the ground. 

 These with their irregular undulations, their arbitrary 

 slopes and towering heights, are the true product of 

 natural forces, and the determining factor that has 

 influenced their origin and their form more than any 

 other is the vegetation of long ago. The individual 

 plants that shaped the Dunes may have passed into 

 natural decay, or have been swept out of existence 

 by the modern green-keeper, but still their record 

 remains registered for ages in the undulating surfaces 

 of the Links. 



