John Henry Smith: A humorous romance of outdoor life

An edited diary narrates a season at a country golf club where a golf-obsessed clubman recounts matches, wagers, and comic mishaps alongside an emerging romance with a wealthy visitor. Episodic scenes introduce local characters who become players, a hired man turned professional, and a powerful magnate who is gradually taken with the sport, while rivalries, accidents, and social entertainments complicate club life. The tone mixes light satire of ambition and sporting mania with warm sketches of friendships and rural neighbors, and the narrator closes with reflections on love, business, and personal satisfaction after a series of reconciliations and surprises.