The Clicking of Cuthbert

There are some slight differences between the two editions, chiefly as regards the names of characters, places, and famous golfers, which were adapted to suit the country of publication.

To show the young man that playing golf can be useful, the Oldest Member tells him the following story about Cuthbert Banks.

Mrs Emily Smethurst, president of the literary society, wants the neighbourhood to be cultured and disapproves of the golf club.

The society's meeting place is near the golf course, and their sudden applause during a novelist's lecture causes golfer J. Cuthbert Banks to accidentally hit his ball into the room onto a table.

He apologetically comes in to play the ball where it lies, and falls in love with Mrs Smethurst's niece, Adeline.

Cuthbert is a skilled golfer and won the French Open Championship the previous year, but Adeline does not consider this a noteworthy achievement.

Vladimir Brusiloff, a famous Russian writer of dreary novels, is in the country on a lecturing tour and comes to Wood Hills, to the delight of Mrs Smethurst and her society.

Brusiloff, tired of giving lectures and meeting aspiring writers, is in a bad mood when Mrs Smethurst introduces him to Devine.

Since they are always around Grace at the same time, James and Peter believe that they have got each other stymied by preventing each other from wooing her, so they agree to decide the matter with an eighteen-hole match.

After the ninth hole, James takes a short break, claiming he needs to get a few more balls, though he is actually looking at his golf book for tips.

The Oldest Member's friend Betty Weston, who plays golf, is engaged to 38-year-old Mortimer Sturgis, who is not a golfer but is amiable and has independent means.

Mortimer assumes she is Mary Somerset, champion of the Ladies' Open Golf Championship, and is thrilled to meet her.

After one of them tries to blame his caddie for distracting him, The Oldest Member remarks that few men possess the proper golfing temperament, and is reminded of a story about Mitchell Holmes.

The Oldest Member suggests that Alexander find out each man's true character by playing golf with him, without telling them it is a test.

Millicent buys a self-improvement book about controlling emotions called Are You Your Own Master?, which is simply a collection of quotations from Marcus Aurelius sold under a different name.

To his surprise, Alexander stops him to offer him the position of treasurer, since he knows he can always beat Mitchell at golf just by playing slowly and making him lose his temper.

As for Dixon, Alexander absolutely distrusts his calmness and silence in the face of disaster on the links; and a treasurer who "beats the boss by six and fife" is not good for business.

In the beginning of the match, Ralph gets ahead by chipping his ball aboard a boat he moored on the lake and rowing it to the other side.

The Oldest Member tells him Scottish golfer Sandy McHoots won both British and American Open events last year.

He wins smaller competitions and is considered to be the probable winner of the American Amateur Championship, held that year in Detroit.

He calls at her home, but his multiple handsome rivals take up Eunice's attention while he talks with her seaweed-collecting aunt.

One day, Eunice takes up golf, mainly because her rival Kitty Manders won a small silver cup at a monthly handicap and keeps bringing it up in conversation.

At the competition, their only real threat is a skilled golfer named Marcella Bingley, who is paired with the less impressive George Perkins.

Like Eunice, Ramsden wants to win the competition and talks to her earnestly without any diffidence, telling her to play steadily and not try fancy shots.

At first, she is offended and ignores him, but her feelings change when she realizes that he reminds her of the rugged, domineering heroes in the romance novels she reads.

The Grand Vizier is loyal to the King and takes to Gowf right away, but the priesthood, especially the influential High Priest of Hec, resist the new religion.

After seeing the King and Vizier playing a foursome against the Pro and the Highest Priest of Hec, Ascobaruch gives up and leaves.

[1] In The Strand Magazine (UK), E. H. Shepard illustrated "Sundered Hearts", "A Mixed Threesome", "The Rough Stuff", and "The Salvation of George Mackintosh".

[21] The 1983 collection Fore!, subtitled The Best of Wodehouse on Golf, was edited by D. R. Bensen and included "A Mixed Threesome", "The Salvation of George Mackintosh", "The Long Hole", "The Heel of Achilles", and "The Coming of Gowf".

[22] The 1983 Wodehouse collection Short Stories, published by the Folio Society, included "The Clicking of Cuthbert" and "The Coming of Gowf".