Description:
What a delightful curiosity! This Rip Van Winkle science fantasy of the links was actually published in the late 1800s, and its prescience remains frightening. After shooting a pretty fair round of golf on March 24, 1892, Alexander Gibson, a Scottish golfer, has a few whiskies and a smoke, falls asleep, and wakes up on the morning of March 25, 2000. What he sees--golf carts, women running businesses, television, and bullet trains--might seem ho-hum to us, but no one was yawning at these concepts at the turn of the century. As for golf, Gibson assures us "there were still 18 holes in a round, though much longer ones than I had been accustomed to," the clubs--one-piece and steel shafted--keep their own score, jackets yell "Fore!" and caddies keep their mouths closed. One thing, however, doesn't change about the game: "Like every bad golfer," the fictional Gibson admits, "I must have excuses for my bad play." That same line will, no doubt, be repeated when the seqel is published next century. --Jeff Silverman
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