GOLF NERVES.

Press, Volume LXII, Issue 18668, 17 April 1926, Page 13

GOLF NERVES.

THE WILL TO WIT*. A QUESTION OF CONTBOU (mtaJXLT warrnai sea "m laaee.*') (By Harry Vardon. Six Tuaea Open Champion.) A correspondent put this poser to me: "Don't 70a think tbe real applanation of American golf supreme** since 1921—and it began to assert itself only in that year— is that golf la a game which, mora than any other* tests the nerves, and that the Americans suffered little from war-strain, while we were enveloped in it?" I do not think we can offer exco**, or that we wish to do *o under «hj» head, but the question is one wbka provokes a train of thought. • One of the- most famous men of our times in public life, although an exceedingly bad golfer, aaid to me afc the end" of an amat*ur championship final which we had followed: *"Waat a wonderful came this is! It ia a tea* of eTerythrog—brute forco in getting the ball out of a bad place, delicacy of touch in another place, tactics, physical endurance, and nerTe." Of all these qualities, probably tba one that counts for most (the cam that governs several of lha others) is narveIt is the factor that enable* the winning shot to be played at tho «"***» moment. That shot may com* half way through the round and conrertas a seemingly lost hole into one gained. turn tho situation definitely agaro* the opponent. Or it may come at tho end;, the approach laid dead, or tho putt holed on the last green to etrura the match. Even when it occurs early u» *»• round, both aides recognise instinctively and instantly, that something vitally affecting the trend of the contest has taken place. In the post-mortem examination of the result, *ero ia nearly always ©no stroke that stands out in tho minds of the players concerned a* the deritrr* stroke. There is no other game m which complete icsnea—tho product of hours of endeavour—eaa ho trac-jd to single incidents with aw* certainty as in golf. . Nerves being of such supram importance—especially when tho rivalry is more than ordinarily keen—ia tho production of tho winning shot and the ' consolidation of it, one angnt imagine that people) who an coouaotty supposed to be untronbled by Uuse indispensable fibres, and wins*.bearing certainly suggests thai they hare what are enrionsly described as **ao noma, would excel greatly at too game. Acquaintanceship with the leading players both on and ol the inks, however, forces one to tho eoadmaoa that most of them ana terr tar from feeing phlegmatto individuals. Bataee do they tend towards a keen asmitironess of constitution. Cknteestrattoa. The teaparamcßt that is ***** against inward excitement bmy }*>***? good for football, erkket, ifOteta, lawn tennii, and ©tier game* in which a moving hall has to be dealt wjth oa the spur of the moment, but expenssco indicates that it stands for sraggjah. ness on the links. The golfer with a stationary ban to hit ia exaetry the right way is like an artist with a picture to draw. He has first to concentrate oa tho task with all his mental power, aad to concentrate completely ha mnsthava every nerve working at fall pressure, although under perfect oontrol 11a always confident, care-free attitade merely, produces alaokaees aad. uuawilis place results. Is thero any goMaaaJat .as. to nerve-contxol t that the ofdxaaqr mortal who wants to be top-dog ia tho crises of his matches eaa damns fMp the deportment: of cJumpkasf I think the answer is ia tk* sfcav, tive, and, to illustrate tho peiat, eaa could sot take » oetter exassfh* thaa Bir Ernest Holderness. It fa a awrked trait in Huf doings of gottars that they discipline themaetns to paw their shots with the same degree of thought-r-no. mora and ao leas, bat, above aD, no more—oa varw iarpsctaat occasions as ia xxi««4rr mad* •* their home courses. ' Seeing that- Bir Ernest - HoMstaeas has won the British amateur iksmptna ship twice in the past four years, to say nothing of his fear asooawa ia the annual OribTd Csajhdaga tournament—an event ia wJdeb a* has had tho opposUioa of Mr Cfrrfl talby, Mr E. H. Wethered, aad ether faswas playenH» may suriry ba sat few* as the best amateur golfer of teesat times in this country. Nobody who has sons hip nlayiag ia the few public eveatf ia wttek aatpbw part could be indneed to beUave that he finds any pleasure ia tho assetsenoo. There is an almost deadly pallor on his face; he looks drawn aad anxious, and not at all the sasM ia- . dividual as engages in week-end recreation with his friends oa the .Walton Heath course. And yet ho has drilled himself to play the abate ia championships without any store fans or preparation titan he accords to then in the friendly rounds that giva hint his real enjoyment on the Haka, "Ha Who Heattatsa-" That is a fine enwipla of aaisa-c—> trol. When Sir Ernest HoHeraeas get down < his putt of sowtthhag mm four yards to beat Mr John CSavea oa tbe last green ia the final of tatßtgtfah amateur championship at Preatwtek, ho played it with no aura ecftSMorr. than he would devote to sack a anal in* a quiet game for half-sMrowa a silt, As usual, he neither harried aster/ nor slowed down unduly; he wraasraod the line intently for a few atoataath, addressed the ball, took oaa last, qakk look at the hole, and kit. Almost anybody else would have beam tempted, in a situation oa which av«ry> thing depended,', to take a second leak at the hole before striking. That Mas a wonderful'inatance of rierre-daKiplia*, for Sir Ernest Holderness was ia sack a state of pent-up excitement that ha could hardly speak, so X am teSd, far half-an-hour after the match. Several times when promising young players have asked me how they eaa. improve their records in big events, I have replied: "Try to play the gama ia the same- easy way as you play it oa your home course." The late Deugles Edgar told me that he owed his snores* in the French open chanrpionaaip to this simple piece of advice.