Golf Stories · Chapter
The Long Hole explained
The Oldest Member recounts the story of Ralph Bingham and Arthur Jukes, two evenly matched golfers whose rivalry over Amanda Trivett leads to an extraordinary match played across the countryside.
What happens
The Oldest Member recounts the story of Ralph Bingham and Arthur Jukes, two evenly matched golfers whose rivalry over Amanda Trivett leads to an extraordinary match played across the countryside. The match, which involves a rulebook dispute and a dramatic finish, ultimately ends in a draw when Amanda reveals she is engaged to another man.
Themes in this chapter
Humor and Absurdity
The absurdity of a sixteen-mile golf match involving boats, cars, and rulebook pedantry is central to the chapter's comedy.
Obsession and Devotion
Both Ralph and Arthur's obsessive rivalry over Amanda Trivett drives the plot, culminating in a match that consumes their focus.
Characters to notice
- Ralph Bingham
One of the two rivals in the match; devises a cunning cross-country strategy to gain an advantage.
- Arthur Jukes
The other rival; struggles gamely but is ultimately undone by a rulebook technicality.
- Amanda Trivett
The woman both men court; her engagement to another man ends the rivalry.
- Rupert Bailey
Serves as one of the judges for the match; disagrees with the Oldest Member on the final ruling.
- The Sage
The Oldest Member who narrates the story to a young golfer in the clubhouse.
Key passages
“If there's one thing that gives me a pain squarely in the centre of the gizzard, it's a golf-lawyer.”
The young man complains about players who overly rely on the rulebook during casual games.
Opens the chapter, setting up the theme of rulebook disputes.
“It is ever so. One of the poets, whose name I cannot recall, has a passage, which I am unable at the moment to remember, in one of his works, which for the time being has slipped my mind, which hits off admirably this age-old situation.”
The Oldest Member humorously acknowledges that beautiful women often cause conflict between men.
Introduces the romantic rivalry between Ralph and Arthur.
“I claim the match! The rules say that a player who asks advice from any person other than his caddie shall lose the hole.”
Arthur Jukes argues that Ralph Bingham should lose because he asked a boy for club advice.
The climax of the rulebook dispute that ends the match.