The neighborhood surrounding the Jungle Country Club Golf Course was plotted circa 1915 with streets that were named for golf terms.
Photo: Steve of the Jungle CC.
source: OpenStreetMap.
I played some golf in the 1960’s, 70’s and 80’s and
never once heard the term stymie (the Scottish spelling is stimie), but in
1915 when the golf course and neighborhood streets were laid out, a stymie was an
important part of the game. According to golf rules and etiquette, the golfer who
is farthest from the hole always plays his ball next. Modern rules require that if another player’s ball
is in the path to the hole, that other player must either pick up his ball and mark the spot or, by agreement of the other golfers, play his ball so that it
is no longer in the way - not so in 1915. Tough luck if a ball is in your way –
you had to play your ball around it or – horrors! - use a wedge or chipper and
lift your ball over the obstructing ball. In 1952, the rules of golf were
modified and the stymie was eliminated. By today’s rules and etiquette,
if you were to use a club on the green that could cause damage to the green surface (such as a chipping iron), you might just
get thrown off the course.
According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary:
Golf was being played in Scotland as early as the 15th
century, but it wasn't until the 19th century that the sport really caught on
in England and North America. It was also in the 19th century that the word
stymie entered English as a noun referring to a golfing situation in which one
player's ball lies between another ball and the hole on the putting green,
thereby blocking the line of play. Later, stymie came to be used as a verb
meaning "to bring into the position of, or impede by, a stymie." By
the early 20th century, the verb was being applied in similarly vexing non-golf
contexts.
A search of public records returned the following information about the addresses on Stimie Avenue. (Disclaimer: this blog does not guarantee the accuracy, relevance, timeliness, or completeness of the data).
