Golf Stories · Chapter
The Magic Plus Fours explained
Wallace Chesney, once a perfect golfer, discovers the joy of uncertainty after a series of disastrous shots, and becomes convinced that wearing a champion's Plus Fours will improve his game.
What happens
Wallace Chesney, once a perfect golfer, discovers the joy of uncertainty after a series of disastrous shots, and becomes convinced that wearing a champion's Plus Fours will improve his game. Despite ridicule from friends and his fiancée Charlotte Dix, he insists on playing in the garish outfit, leading to a wager. The Oldest Member then begins a story about the dangers of sudden golfing success, using Wallace's tale as a cautionary example.
Themes in this chapter
Humor and Absurdity
Wallace's disastrous shots and his comical belief that garish Plus Fours hold magical powers highlight the absurdity of golf superstitions and the humor in human vanity.
Self-Improvement and Confidence
Wallace's newfound confidence from wearing the Plus Fours, despite their ridiculous appearance, explores the psychological link between attire and performance.
Temperament and Character
The chapter contrasts Wallace's earlier arrogance with his humbling experience, and the Oldest Member's commentary underscores how golf reveals true character.
Characters to notice
- Wallace Chesney
Experiences a transformative moment on the tee, embracing the unpredictability of golf after a long streak of perfection. Later becomes obsessed with the Plus Fours, believing they grant him confidence and skill.
- Charlotte Dix
Wallace's fiancée, who is horrified by his Plus Fours and challenges him to a match for the outfit, showing her playful yet firm disapproval.
- Peter Willard
A fellow golfer who commiserates with Wallace during his poor play and later appears as a spectator.
- Raymond Gandle
An artist who leads a faction in the clubhouse calling for the removal and burial of Wallace's Plus Fours, representing the aesthetic objection.
- The Oldest Member
Narrates the story of Wallace Chesney to a young golfer, using it as a moral lesson about the corrupting influence of sudden golfing success.
Key passages
“It is better to struggle hopefully than to arrive, and at last this great truth had come home to Wallace Chesney.”
Wallace finally understood that the joy of golf lies in the uncertainty and effort, not in achieving perfection.
This reflects the chapter's central theme of embracing the unpredictable nature of the game.
“He saw now—what he had never seen before—that it was not because they were crack players that crack players wore Plus Fours: it was because they wore Plus Fours that they were crack players.”
Wallace concluded that the secret to being a great golfer is wearing the right clothing, reversing cause and effect.
This humorous inversion underscores the absurdity of his superstition.
“Sudden success at golf is like the sudden acquisition of wealth. It is apt to unsettle and deteriorate the character.”
The Oldest Member warns that rapid improvement in golf can spoil a person's personality, similar to how sudden riches can corrupt.
This sets up the moral lesson of the story.