TWENTY YEARS OF GOLFING MEMORIES Does Cricket Affect Your Golf, And Vice Versa?

Auckland Star, Volume LXXII, Issue 193, 16 August 1941, Page 3 (Supplement)

TWENTY YEARS OF GOLFING MEMORIES Does Cricket Affect Your Golf, And Vice Versa?

By LOUIS T. STANLEY in The Field

t may be the king of ; games, but surely golf is the queen " These words of Charles. | may not meet with , everyone's approval, but within recent years they have been accepted by an ever-increasing body of sportsmen. Yet, not so very long ago thero was a tendency on the part of certain young cricketers to regard the game of golf as an effeminate pastime, a rather feeble form of gentle exercise eminently suitable for men who had grown too decrepit for the more manly game of cricket. By degrees, however, this "despised" game became more popular* until even this virile section ventured on the links, and found, to their surprise, that there was more in the royal and ancient game than they had ever imagined. Slowly but surely it began to command more respectful attention, until, finally, it attained the fullness of maturity by being placed, shall we say, on a level with the king of games. Now the interesting questions arise—is it possible for a man to pay homage at both courts and gain eminence in.each? ..Will the participation in one of these games bring an inevitable | undermining of style in the other? I Is it possible for a sound cricketer to become a sound golfer, and vice versa? Opinions vary considerably. I recall, for instance, having a conversation along these lines with R. E. S. Wyatt, the English Test cricketer, and his view was thai there is no reason why a cricketer who turns to golf should not easily adapt himself to the new game, whilst the fact that he has been immersed in cricketing lore and customs ought not to affect his golfing style unduly; on the other hand, a golfer who tries to master cricket will frequently find that his previous training is more of a hindrance than a help. Now, whilst I value Mr. Wyatt's comments, and being a very ' useful club golfer, he is fully quali- : fied to pass judgment upon the game ! of golf, I hesitate to agree entirely : with his views.

A Different Theory Surveying the question from the theoretical standpoint, let us assume that a hypothetical cricketer of average physical and mental ability is contemplating plunging into the tempestuous sea of golf—what does iie find? First and foremost, that he has to reorientate his preconceived theories regarding the seemingly simple task of striking a ball. A different technique is involved, in many ways demanding the exact opposite to what he was wont to do. Instead of striking a ball in flight which is seen but for a second, if at all, as it comes into contact with the bat, he has to study, nay almost mesmerise, as it seems at first, a much smaller sphere reposing placidly at his feet, and this difference in itself has caused many an iron nerve to waver at the outset. Whereas in cricket the ball has to be hit at a given moment or else left alone, in golf the ball, refusing to be ignored, nas-to be played, and* played deliberately, at our own time. This absence of swift action allows our thoughts to conjure up visions of possible failure or exaggerates the difficulties ahead, thereby increasing that nervous tension which renders mental concentration so hard, and the possible indifferent shot that follows is all too often succeeded by inward self-castigation which invariably unsettles our game still further.

Now, assuming that our patient cricketing friend has reached the psychological moment and is about to play the shot, he will find that his worries are even further increased as once again existing theories have to be altered, for if the movements involved in a successful cricket stroke were to be applied the chances are that the shot would be disastrous. By force of habit the cricketer endeavours to keep the ball along the ground, whereas the swing required »y golf produces the opposite result. The natural cricket stroke is too short and curtailed to be transferred "in toto" to golf, and, if tried, would probably mean a cramped hit with the ball finishing somewhere in the neighbourhood of square-leg through too much right-hand being brought into action.

One of the difficulties that the cricketer has to overcome in golf is the automatic, checking of the club immediately after impact, which destroys the rhythmic smoothness of the fol )W-through so essential in the golf swing. This is readily understandable, for the cricket stroke is more of a hit than a swing, with much of the action coming from the shoulders, whilst in golf it is a movement involving the whole man.

There is also the problem of footWO VS |" cricket this can be a joy to behold but in golf this nimble dexterity has to be eliminated, for the golfer must be more or less rooted and grounded upon the teeing ground, although I have seen golfers execute foot contortions during the playing of a shot which would have left a cricketer green with envy. ♦u So (?I I , l ?ave only put forward the difficulties as possibly, seen through the eyes of a cricketer who turns to golf, but the golfer who nnds his thoughts straying from hickory—or is it steel?—to willow has likewise many problems to solve, many of them the converse of those already outlined. It is usually easy, for instance, to spot the golfing enthusiast in a village cricket match, for he comes out bubbling over with I a confident assurance born of such I inward arguments as: "If I can drive : a small golf ball so many yards I ' can jolly well knock the much larger i cricket ball out of this ground" ! Assuming that his stay is of sufficient duration to pass judgment, we usually find that full-blooded hooks are the order of the day, mainly because it gives him an opportunity of indulging in the nearest approach to a golf swing with a cricket bat I and allows for a form of follow- I through; probably he will also find! it difficult to play a straight bat and i keep the ball along\the ground.

In Top Flight Theoretically, then, it might appear that the odds were against those who try to change over, with anything like success, from cricket to golf, or vice versa; yet, once again, practice tends to confound theory by showing that it has been successfully accomplished on many occasions, at least, in the top flight of both games. I can think of an impressive list of names which would include such men as Walter Hammond, who is a most useful golfer; Jack Hobbs, Maurice Leyland and Frank Smailes, whom I have seen play with no little distinction oyer the Harrogate courses; a Pleasant golf club in East Anglia which I always associate with the cricketing names of E. W. Dillon and the veteran Stanley Christopherson; Leonard Crawley, who is equally as forceful at both games; and C. Ross Somerville, the finest amateur golfer in Canada, is also an excellent cricketer. One of the jaaost promising of the younger generation, who could excel at both games if he brought himself to concentrate upon the task, is J. D. A. Langjey. His record before he was 18 was truly remarkable. He had represented Great Britain in a Walker Cup match, reached the last 16 of the American championship, been runner-up in the English championship, and played one of the finest schoolboy innings seen at Lord's. The talent is undoubtedly there, and I only hope that after the war the name of John Langley will figure more frequently in both games.

One final name, and as is only befitting the greatest is left to the last namely, Dr. W. G. Grace. The present generation seldom, if ever associate "W.G." with fairways and bunkers, yet he was a keen golfer bringing to the game all the ready enthusiasm which he applied to cricket, and, although possessing a handicap of double figures, nevertheless proved himself on many occasions to be a useful partner and formidable opponent. Many of his match appearances were with the Cosmopolitans, a team brought into existence by that other cricketing giant—if I may break my word, and mention another name—G. L. Jessop. who became so interested in golf that he started the Cricketers' Golfing bpciety, the qualification for membership being that the player must have appeared on two or more occasions for his county. "W G " must be included among those golfim? enthusiasts who delight in giving distinctive names to their clubs, his favourite being a massive niblick designed by James Braid, which was christened "the cleaver"—an appropriate name considering the heavy work it was called'upon to do among the tough heather on the Walton Heath course where this grand old cricketer used to play most of his golf.