THE WEAPONS OF WAR.

Press, Volume LXIV, Issue 13160, 6 July 1908, Page 3

THE WEAPONS OF WAR.

« Bt Willie Auchterlokik. (Open Golf Champion 1893). I Ikavo been handling golf clubs, playing with them, making them and teaching their use to others all my life. Tlte reason for this familiar acquaintance with thorn in due, in a great measure, to the fact that 1 was born and brought up in St. Andrew's —where everyone is a golfer from youth. Having thus known thorn, all my days, and having, since going into the club-mak-ing business, had my time and attention almost wholly devoted to the making of them, I think that my experience a.s a golfer and. a club-maker entitles mc to offer a lew remarks her? on their manfaeture, choice, and proper use, which may prove beneficial to golfers.

When I left school 1 was apprenticed here to Messrs B. Forgan and Son, ciiib-miikeni to the Prince of Wales, ■vith whom I eervrxl tho four years necessary to niKike mc a journeyman.

Then, after some j-ears' practical work, I was fortunate in wiiming the Open Championship at Prcstwick. Thereafter I commenced, business with an outside partner: and, a few years titer, my brother and I started the present firm of D. and W. Auchterlonio, and ire have had no reason to regret having done so, as the patronnflc extended to ns by golfers all over the world has l>een very kind and vorv generous. CLUB HEADS AND THKIK MANUFACTURE. The superintending of our workshop, with a few hours' teaching daily, toke.3 up all my time. Hut Ido not grudge it, especially Miat part of tho day when 1 am among our workmen—for the making of a club is a thing in which I take the greatest possible interest; and nothing gives mo greater pleasure than to talk over and discuss it, in oil its various branches. Of course, since I entered upon my a]>-pr-onticcship, many groat and important changes have taken pkice. alike in the form, the shape, and description of clubs themselves, as well as in the methods of their manufacture; and I will now treat briefly of these in turn. Regarding the former, the heads, as I first made them, were of the old-fash-ioned, long aud narrow pattern, which nowadays we seldom see, except perhaps in tho bag of some elderly player, who has never taken to the later var ictics. According to Dr. Argyll Robertson, Dr. iMcPhcrson lwid Ix-en using shorter and broader heads. After thtit came the short and bulge head, that is, with tlie bulge on the face. This was very extreme and pronounced at first, but by degrees it came to bo made | with less bulge, until to-day it is al- | most imperceptible -even in a new club j Most of the drivers are now made j short ar.d absolutely straight-faced. Tlie { short howd has, however, I think come ; to stay, for I do net suppose go.fere j will ever again go back, as a lxx'y. j to the long, narrow one of bygone \ davK. J

Although the club heads of the present time are all short, they are by no means all alike: for, <is in everything else, the fashion, or rather golfer's taste, is very vajded, and consequently clubs are very diverse iv pattern. I am. of course, now deeding exclusively with wooden clubs; and, I should now like to say something of the changes that have come ever the methods of their manufacture within comparatively recent years. When first I was initiated into the mysteries of thee tub-ma king craft, the workman, made the heads himself, from the very beginning—when the rou&h block was given him—by his own hands, without tlie intervention of the machine ; the head was first cut- out of the block—firmly fixed in his vice— with what we call the breaking-out saw, and then, by means of fike of various degrees of roughness, he gnadua3ly shaped and fashioned it, until it appeared as a club head, according v> Ids last ideas of what that should be But now there is a great difference: not only is the most elementary part of the lieed's manufacture overtaken by machinery, but to a very large extent tho designing and shaping of it «lso, so that there is nowadays practically only the finishing to be done lnanuallv.

Now to this description of the change that has taken pkice in tbe making of a dub head, I should like to be permitted to add ray opinion. To my mind, then —and now I am not speaking from a business point of view at all —it appears almost a pity that theso changes have come about; for, as a result, club-making is not and cajinot be nearly so much of an art as formerly. Then liko old Hugh PHHp. tho man who fashioned a club had to bo s olnb-mtker in every sense of tho word : with an artist's eye for beauty of form, and the elide made entirely by hand have always appealed to mc as having distinctive features flbont them,

which thr.se cannot have whoso pattern j and &hape tlie machine htt.s almost entirely accounted for. In tlie- first cast*, each club represented tlio mind of tho maker, es to what it ought to be like, in tho .second only as the machine has compelled him to fashion it. CHOICE OF A CLUB. ; I hare said that, like everything else, I tho ia-snion and taste in clubs is oonj stantly changing, and not only is this [to he in the shape of the heads, j but they differ, of in many other j '.va«. such as in weight, supideness or sttifu-'ti oi shaft, lie.Mite of pnp and so on: and it > not for inc. or anyone ei-*> 10 say that thi.-; or t-l„it variety is Ti'.c correct one. for it is entirely a matter of each poller's individual taste raid preference, and abo his knowledge 01 what best .suits Jus physical requirement. what divoi&itieti in these ways there are!—scarcely two golfers can 'no found whoso tastes and needs regarding a club aro alike. What- is a good and suitable club for one man, may be perfectly useless in the hands of another, and co for thin roatf-on. when choosing a chili, a man must be guided by his own ta.ste.s and physical requirements. A real club-maker m-iitrt havo the pemus 01 a fashionable laiior; ;'.<• ■.: " fit hi-; man i-i the ye. b-.it way. An agile, .-swank. ca.-.y-going man must have a shorter, st-iii'er, and more upright club; :; no:i-:igik-. heavy, corpulent man noiiirc.-, a Mippie and flat club. Much is gc:;vd !■;.■ a:i intending gclier placing lt:.,:s::: ii!K-<.-.:Jitioiiaily into tho hands :■! 7 irhd i tub-maker* and experienced tr:!'i'i'i" : ior . hott hi-.* istvlo is ooinp lorn:..]. ;c: I manm rism.s ore to a great i-xH'iu avoidid or nipped i;i the bu<l. '1 here is .1 point here, however, which I org t;> call aii-ention to, regarding the cho:-r- •■; ;r< n club.-. Contrary to tome _■~!. i, ;i uphold a more or less ""sprin-jy" : li.-.;':. j woual s-tronigiy ad-vise—-and 1 have proved this correct hv experience—that sellers should >eleci ;;!| their irons with stiff shafts. 1 advocate this for various reasons; from the amomt of hard work that they are called tij>on to do, if the shafts were not stiff to a degree, they would very scon pet d".i<l and hearted and done; and for ;•; -pr-'achinp clubs particularly, iron;- or v.: -shies, the shaft should be , absolutely rigid. "When, rhis is so, in '"" ' '.'I st:oke. ihe head corner forward _ one's hands: but if it is at all •-..hippy cur l;«mis _n> there liciore the (!i:!i head, which of course interferes _w ith the correctness of tbo stroke b.oide.s rendering the dub difficult to i;se. the physical need- of payers, it ie true we see many comradhvions of what wo should expect. Tor instance we sometimes notice a short, not over robust-looking man, using long, heavy, powerful clubs, which ho would appear scarcely able to wiel'l. yet he docs marvels with them, while, on the other hand, we see tall and strongly-built golfers with clubs, short and light, almost tovliko in appearance, and *et they use them to capital purpose. But', generally speaking. I think these are exceptional causes rather than tho rule, and that wo will more roadilv find the "olfor using that variety of club which most nearly rosombles himtclf. LIE AND GRIP. There aro two point- to which I should like to draw particular attention, and rhe.*o aro lio and grip. Regarding tho former. tJie player, who stands erect and well ov<v the ball will,, it is quite evident, nxmi.it} a club of a more or less upright lie- while he who "sit* down,'' as it were, to his ball, will want one very much flatter. But there is a point- here, which is most important, that when a "tilfor has round out what speciality in the way of lie, cay of drive, suits him best, then he should see that both driver and brassy havo the same-angle of lio upon them; if nmt. one or another cannot suit him in l-hi.-s respect, and be will bo unable to use it properly. Such a.club as tho short spoon, however, from its neoosE&rv shortness of shaft, ought to be a trifle more upright than the other two. The other detail, sixe, of grip, is, I fear, considered a moro trifle .v a. great many niayers. but in reality it is a matter wo.ri.liy of tho closest attention. The golfer with large hands and long lin-'rers will require his grip to bo a comparatively thick one; while he with small hands and short fin<;oi% finds himself best suited --■"■ ono ttiat is thinner. And here, again, a similarity is nr-00-r-iarv. we should have all our grips as n.'.'irly as possible of tb.e same for, if ono is thicker or .thinner than the others, wo may have reason to wonder why it is that wo cannot ii-o this club to advantage. Rut that diversity r.i grip is the simple reason of it. GEX KMAL ADVICE. While it is a difficult matter to give genera! advice :is to what is the host varict— iii length, weight, lie, etc., of a club—indeed it is almost ini'possible to do .so—for, as I (said, even- golfer has his own particular taste and nh'vsical requirements, and ought to know himself, if he lies had iui.y experience at all. what 4 .cst suits him — i-tiil if I was to attempt to do this, I should say, "avoid extremes cither ono way or the other, and then you havo le.;s chance of malting mistakes, and \ of erea tint: i < centricit-ie.s in your style and game, which ar'fe to bo carefully j i.hunned.'"

I would jus!, p.ay a word I_-c-fo.ro I fiiii.-:'h, to the man who desiires to learn the game. J refer in particular to him who truces to it at a more or leee late tsr-jige of his life. Ec who has known it from childhood, as a rule, newl- no -:;t rn inj.tniction, for by studying the styhfi ef the best players, his noivcr of imitation Ins been compelling him all along to adept the most suitable for himwdi'. Hut with the later starter it is different, ar.<! I consider it a great mistake for such a one to atiemp: to master it by himself and unaided"; because he is almost certain if he doe's so, to contract some serious fault, which once taken in, is very diiTieuit to throw off. He would be wry miKih 1m iter to get- advice, first of all at b a.-t. either from wme experienced goliing friend, or from a professional. Hy suoh means he will at least ..e pat >nt-he right lines towards acfi\!irin<^->k ; !I in the game, but that skill itself, no coach, amateur or profftfsional. <an teach him —it will come to hint by hard and earnest practice alone.