Judge, 1923-09-01 · page 8 of 36
Judge — September 1, 1923 — page 8: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# "Gopher Gawf" Explanation This is a humorous short story illustrated with a single cartoon panel, not a political cartoon. The story, written in Scottish dialect, satirizes golf's popularity spreading to remote American frontier towns. The cartoon shows two men on a makeshift golf course near a small Western town. The joke (shown in the caption) plays on the absurdity of the setting: when asked his score, an old golfer answers "Ninety-three, counting one sunstroke"—implying the harsh desert heat nearly killed him. The narrative mocks how golf has reached even isolated areas with minimal infrastructure, where the course is plagued by gopher holes. The protagonist is gradually won over despite the rough conditions and his friend's use of mysterious "potent liquid" to soak the golf balls (likely suggesting alcohol or some golf-enhancing preparation). The humor derives from applying an elite sport to primitive frontier circumstances.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
1H’ ITHER DAY I stopped aff at a Western toun tae it an auld frien’. my surprise, he invited me tae play a roun’ o’ gawf. It sounded like fool- tongit tae me, as ootside o’ th’ watertank, th’ postoffice, a general store, a garage an’ a few scatterin’ hooses I cadna see muckle 0’ a toun thereaboots. Hooever, my frien’ soon convinced me that th’ young bluids o” th’ place haed taken oop th’ game in earnest. He for warned me nae tae laugh mesil’ tae death when he introduced me tae th’ coorse, sae, I was prepared for th’ worst. We then flivvered oor wa’ through aboot a mile o’ sagebrush an’ aifter dodgin’ some score o° gopher holes we arrived at th’ layoot. A cursory survey o’ th’ situation amaist made me wish that I haed nae accepted my frien’s hospitality. I saw that th’ coorse haed “How many did you go round in, old man?” “Ninety-three, counting one sunstroke.” GOPHER GAWF by C. W. Myers been laid oot alang lines 0” least resista an’ wi’ a minimum amount o’ siller. contained anly five holes, for which I tauld mesil’ I was vera thankfu. Here, I said tae mesil’, is ane gawf corse that is a’ rough, with a flock o’ gopher holes richt in th’ middle o’ th’ fairwa’s tae add interest tae th’ game. “Dinna_ be med,” he cautioned. “Til mak’ ye acquaint. wi’ a he-mon’s sport.” He then gaithered oop a handfu’ 0° new gawf ba’s frae a pail half filled wi potent liquid which haed sort oa familiar aroma, He gave three tac me an’ invited me tae tee aff. “Gud little pill,’ I said, as I drove a mer doun th’ fairwa’. thocht I cad see a coupile 0” dozen gophers dash for thir holes. They stirred oop sae muckle dust that I cadna tell whaur th’ ba’ haed hit. “Noo, then,” said my frien’, ye four bits that I lose mair b: gopher holes afore we get tae th’ first green than ye de i i asked for ony handi- ye a chance tae show he kenned th’ ceeded in gettin’ twa | gopher holes, while th’ best I cad do was get ane doun. But I showed superior gawf at th’ short gi Y holed oot in ane stroke less, sae th’ first hole ended a’ square. Weel, I began tae get muckle 0” a kick oot 0° th’ match. Afore teein’ aff at th’ second, my frien’ again fished some ba’s oot 0’ a bucket that haed been weel soaked in a special preparation. He repeated that process at cach tee, (Continued on page 32) comicbooks.com on yo an dit he we