ROYAL SWINGS BY GOLFING KINGS

October 19, 1959

The hand that wields a scepter may also wallop a mashie, the world learned the other day, when two monarchs stepped out on golf courses in Sweden and Scotland. Sweden's Gustav VI, 77, delighted onlookers at ceremonies opening a new government-built course at Stockholm by trying out a few holes himself. His putting was fine, but he'd need a crownful of strokes to beat Belgium's young (29) King Baudouin, whose handicap is 3. Baudouin himself was teamed last week with England's Ryder Cup captain Dai Rees in a proamateur tournament at Gleneagles, Scotland—a partnership Scots gleefully dubbed "The King and Dai." The Belgian King gave his team a regal eagle by hitting a 285-yard tee shot two feet from the hole, but an unawed pair of Devonshire golfers beat the King and his partner 2 and 1. Said Baudouin: "What a pity."