Quotation about golf and a question about a word with missing letters W-m-n

Garson O'Toole adsgarsonotoole at GMAIL.COM
Tue Aug 2 09:04:43 UTC 2011


Dan Goncharoff
> Golf has been played at Wimbledon Common since 1865, and there were
> conflicts between the golfers and other park users toward the end of
> the 19th century, and I can imagine a joke being made about young
> girls chasing after golf balls in the park. No clue about the "w-m-n"
> abbreviation, however.

Thanks for your valuable comment, Dan. A webpage providing "A Short
History of the Royal Wimbledon Golf Club" states that a group of women
opened a nine-hole golf course on Wimbledon Common land about six
months before the article with "W-m-n" was published.

http://www.rwgc.co.uk/History.aspx

A Ladies Club had been in existence on Wimbledon Common, albeit with a
ten year break in the 1880’s, from the earliest days. In May 1891,
after 145 ladies had responded to an invitation for membership, they
opened their own nine hole course on Common land rather reluctantly
allocated by the Conservators and took possession of their Clubhouse,
the previously derelict Thatched Cottage, restored by the men.

Garson

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