

A sneak preview from Springfield Photographs: Images from the Illinois State Journal Glass Plates: 1929-1934 opening May 1, 2012 at Lincoln Library in Springfield.

In an era when airplanes were still relatively new on the scene and Americans were completely fascinated by anything related to aviation, it only made sense to incorporate them into a game of golf.

Aerial golf was played with a two-man team, one of which was on the ground and the other in the passenger seat (or sometimes at the controls) of a small airplane. The airborne player would drop the ball from various heights in an attempt to get the ball as close to the hole as he could. His teammate on the ground would finish the job. The game was played for the first time in Springfield on October 5, 1931 at Commercial Airport on the city’s southwest side when players from the city’s public courses defeated players representing Illini Country Club.

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The Journal singled out Craig Isbell for getting a ball closet to the green on the seventh hole when he got it within 30 yards after “tossing it overboard” from an altitude of 2,000 feet.

George B. Smith, who owned a chemical company and his own airplane, had the highest score which the Journal attributed to the fact that he was flying the plane himself and that it had a closed cockpit, unlike the others which were all biplanes.

Prizes for winning included a cocktail shaker, thermos jug, suede jacket, golf club and two cartons of cigarettes that were donated by local merchants.