[Ads-l] Mulligan (extra shot in golf) May 11, 1932

Thu Apr 20 22:37:26 UTC 2017

I found an earlier example.  The citation Garson found from 1932 was a retelling of an event that had happened at Rammler golf course in Sterling Heights, Michigan "late last season" (1931).

I looked it up to see whether the game was reported at the time - and it was.

Detroit Free Press (Michigan), page 16. Newspapers.com.

https://www.newspapers.com/clip/10410686/detroit_free_press/

[Begin excerpt]

All were waiting to see what Byrd would do on the 290-yard 18th, with a creek in front of the well-elevated green.  His first drive barely missed carrying the creek and he was given a "mulligan" just for fun.  The second not only was over the creek on the fly but was within a few inches of the elevated green.  That's some poke!

[End excerpt]

The excerpt does not unambiguously answer the question of whether "Mulligan" relates back to "Swat Mulligan", but it seems to be consistent with it.  It's more believable, perhaps, than a locker room attendant in New Jersey named Mulligan or a semi-pro golfer from Canada named Mulligan who claimed to take extra shots because his hands were numb after riding over rough roads and a bumpy bridge. See http://www.pga.com/news/golf-buzz/how-mulligan-got-its-name

Sammy Byrd played for the New York Yankees and frequently pinch-ran for Babe Ruth late in his career.  He is the only player to appear in a World Series (1932) and the Masters, where he finished in the top 10 at the Masters twice.  He won six PGA tour events in the 1940s.

When he played at Rammler in 1931, he was paired with Tommy Armour in a pro-am best-ball tournament in which they finished second place.

> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       ADSGarson O'Toole <adsgarsonotoole at GMAIL.COM>
> Subject:      Mulligan (extra shot in golf) May 11, 1932
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------=
------
>
> The term "mulligan" referring to an extra shot in golf has been
> discussed here previously. Here is an unambiguous citation.
>
> Date: May 11, 1932
> Newspaper: Detroit Free Press
> Newspaper Location: Detroit, Michigan
> Article: Sportroom Gossip by The Sports Staff
> Quote Page 13, Column 2
> Database: Newspapers.com
>
> https://www.newspapers.com/image/97825952/?terms=3D%22mulligan

[https://img.newspapers.com/img/thumbnail/97825952/400/400.jpg]<https://www.newspapers.com/image/97825952/?terms=3D%22mulligan>

11 May 1932, Page 13 - Detroit Free Press at Newspapers.com<https://www.newspapers.com/image/97825952/?terms=3D%22mulligan>
www.newspapers.com

>
> [Begin excerpt]
> Playing In a four-ball match, which included Tommy Armour and Clarence
> Gamber, the Yankee outfielder narrowly missed carrying the creek with
> his drive, the ball crashing against the bank on the far side. He was
> given a "mulligan," or another chance. This time he not only drove
> over the creek, but to within a few inches of the front edge of the
> green.
> [End excerpt]
>

________________________________
From: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU> on behalf of Peter Reitan <pjreitan at HOTMAIL.COM>
Sent: Thursday, April 20, 2017 12:39:23 PM
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
Subject: Re: Mulligan (extra shot in golf) May 11, 1932

---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
Poster:       Peter Reitan <pjreitan at HOTMAIL.COM>
Subject:      Re: Mulligan (extra shot in golf) May 11, 1932
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I had the same thought - miscommunication between reporter and golfing base=
ball player.

The several early reports of the term, "Mulligan," are in the same paper, t=
he Detroit Free Press.

The word got much more press in the 1950s when President Eisenhower used th=
e term to refer to second (or third or fourth) chances from the tee.

But even in the 1950s, several articles that explain the term "mulligan" in=
sisted that it was limited to one extra swing off the tee.

In the 1920s, there were several tournaments termed "practice shot tourname=
nts," in which participants get an extra shot from the tee if the first one=
 is bad.

So "taking a mulligan" may be getting an extra chance to hit the ball like =
"Swat Mulligan" off the tee.

________________________________
From: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU> on behalf of ADSGar=
son O'Toole <adsgarsonotoole at GMAIL.COM>
Sent: Thursday, April 20, 2017 12:02:09 PM
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
Subject: Re: Mulligan (extra shot in golf) May 11, 1932

---------------------- Information from the mail header -------------------=
----
Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
Poster:       ADSGarson O'Toole <adsgarsonotoole at GMAIL.COM>
Subject:      Re: Mulligan (extra shot in golf) May 11, 1932
---------------------------------------------------------------------------=
----

Peter Reitan wrote:
> Should we read anything into the fact that the player who took the
> earliest recorded "mulligan" in 1932 was  New York Yankee?
>  "Swat Mulligan", whose name was used to refer to a big swing
> in baseball and golf in the 19-teens and 19-twenties, was a
> fictional professional baseball player.
>
> The 1932 "mulligan", or "another chance", was also a big swing
> taken off the tee; coincidence or something more?

Maybe the term was invented by the reporter. Here is a conjectural
conversation for an entertaining etymythology:

Reporter: How well did you play today?
Golf player: I hit my drive shot into the creek
Reporter: Too bad.
Golf player: The other players kindly let me tee up and try again.
Reporter: What happened?
Golf player: I took a mulligan and the ball flew over the creek and
landed inches from the green

The golf player was employing "mulligan" with the sense "tremendous
swing". But the reporter interpreted it as "an extra attempt".

Garson

________________________________
> From: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU> on behalf of ADSG=
arson O'Toole <adsgarsonotoole at GMAIL.COM>
> Sent: Thursday, April 20, 2017 9:43:12 AM
> To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
> Subject: Mulligan (extra shot in golf) May 11, 1932
>
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------=
------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       ADSGarson O'Toole <adsgarsonotoole at GMAIL.COM>
> Subject:      Mulligan (extra shot in golf) May 11, 1932
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------=
------
>
> The term "mulligan" referring to an extra shot in golf has been
> discussed here previously. Here is an unambiguous citation.
>
> Date: May 11, 1932
> Newspaper: Detroit Free Press
> Newspaper Location: Detroit, Michigan
> Article: Sportroom Gossip by The Sports Staff
> Quote Page 13, Column 2
> Database: Newspapers.com
>
> https://www.newspapers.com/image/97825952/?terms=3D%22mulligan
>
> [Begin excerpt]
> Playing In a four-ball match, which included Tommy Armour and Clarence
> Gamber, the Yankee outfielder narrowly missed carrying the creek with
> his drive, the ball crashing against the bank on the far side. He was
> given a "mulligan," or another chance. This time he not only drove
> over the creek, but to within a few inches of the front edge of the
> green.
> [End excerpt]
>
> I looked through the mailing list archive to determine the status of
> the search for "mulligan" (with the sense "extra shot"). I believe
> that previously the earliest citation was dated April 24, 1933. Sam
> Clements found the instance in "The Detroit Free Press".
>
> [Ads-l] antedating of Mulligan(golf extra shot) 1933
> http://listserv.linguistlist.org/pipermail/ads-l/2016-April/141895.html
>
> Sam Clements found an interestingly ambiguous use of "mulligan" in the
> domain of cricket in 1919. Peter Reitan suggested that the proper
> interpretation for the 1919 citation was "to take a big swing at it".
>
> [Ads-l] Antedating of golf term "mulligan" to 1919--in cricket!!
> http://listserv.linguistlist.org/pipermail/ads-l/2016-June/143009.html
> http://listserv.linguistlist.org/pipermail/ads-l/2016-June/143073.html
>
> Stephen Goranson found a 1921 citation referring to a mixture of grass
> seeds as "Mulligan's Marvelous Mixture" reminiscent of mulligan stew
> in the golf domain.
> http://listserv.linguistlist.org/pipermail/ads-l/2016-June/143070.html
>
> Garson
>
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