GOLF.

Auckland Star, Volume LII, Issue 258, 29 October 1921, Page 18

GOLF.

The Maungakiekio Club finished their programme for the season last Saturday, when a mixed foursome match was played over the Titirangi course. The inks, which have never 'been better, vere in capital order, and a large numcr of players took part in the match, 'he distribution of prizes by the prosi-

j (lent was made during the evening, after I | which a very enjoyable dance was he'd. ; The president made a happy speech, and | reviewed the progress of the club. He i stated that the committee would next ; season be faced with the necessity of i limiting the membership of the club, which during the recent season has grown very rapidly. The failure of several of the favourites in the recent championship meeting at Christchurch was rather surprising, notably so in the case oi B. li. Wood. At no stage of the battle did he look like a winner. He went out in the third J round, and it appears on his recent form ; that 8.8. has lost his dash. Certainly ! 'he result of the last two championships seems to indicate that the younger I players rule the roost, as both Morpeth, i : last year's champion, and Sigie. the pre- j sent holder, are well under thirty. It : i is a capital sign, and points to the fact j that more young players nr.- :a:;ing up | the game, and it augurs well for"the 1 future of New Zealand golf that it is so. The fable that golf is an "ohl fogey's game" is fortunately fast dying out." | 'ilie following by a correspondent to j the '"Daily Mail" is interesting:— | Where do you look at tiie ball—on the top or at the extreme striking edge? | When the question was put to me immediately after I had driven from the tee j T bad to eonless that I could not remcnij her. and afterwards, when 1 tried to find i out, I was not certain. But perhaps it II is not important so long as we do look i at the ball and keep the head still. Ex- ■ j perimonts have gone a long way to prove : j this. Before the war a professional ; | played a match blindfolded, and be [ - achieved truly astonishing results.

Again, it. is probable that wc all move j our head more or less. Shortly before I lie went, to America, George Duncan rej coived one of the many devices that have j been put on the market as a help to l keeping flic head stationary—or, rather, i to tell when it has been shifted—and I i was present when he experimented with it. This apparatus proved that Duncan, in plaving a wooden club shot, moved his head three or four inches. "I wouldn't have believed it," he said. The explana- . tion was that the movement was a ' j horizontal one, and so long as this line ' | is not broken no ill-efiect is produced. John Ball is a notorious example of the ' player who moves his head along a hori- • zoutal line.

But it would perhaps make tor greater] accuracy if wc were more painstaking in fixing the eye definitely on the ball, and there is no doubt that the rpot to look at is the striking edge. Personally, 1 have cultivated the habit, when playing with a wooden club from the rough, of addressing the ball an inch or so behind it and fixing the eye on the place where the club rests. The reason I have adopted this method is that it seems to stimulate one to hit harder and at the fame time to enable one to be sure of making the ball lift. T do not know whether the theory isj correct, though it appears to answer in my case. One thing seems against it. Provided the club comes down on the same line as it went up it follows that it must have to cut through more grass than would be ncces-ary if the ball had been addrjssed close up. Under these conditions some distance is probably lost, but one is usually pleased to afford this if the ball is got well away. At any rate ; it is the edge of the ball that is first ! struck, and it is here that one should | fix the eye. I Here ft another question. Have you ] ever seen the club head make the actual ] contact with the ball? The club doe-; not travel so quickly that the flight er.nnnt be followed, and the fact that the mind 'is concentrated on the hitting should • help to make the blow discernible, but . though I have tried repeatedly 1 have never observed the contact. The textbooks say that the club should travel on a straight line for about 4in in the middle of the swine, for 2in behind the ball, and for 2in after the ball ha-; left the tee. Rut has this been definitely proved to take place even in the case of a correct shot! The eye does not give confirmation even in the case of the amateur, who, as a rule, swings a good deal flower than the professional. Perhaps this interesting point, however, will be satisfactorily settled by the cinema camera, which can now be made to slow ' down the swing to almost any speed.