GOLF

Press, Volume LXX, Issue 21085, 9 February 1934, Page 13

GOLF

NOTES OF THE DAY [l!v "I.OFTT.K. ; A mixed foursomes competition for the A. E. G. Rhodes bowl on March 10 will mark the official opening of the 1934 season at Shirley. Miss Archey and C. Holdsworth are the holders. From last week's cable news from Australia it seems probable that the contest for the Kirk-Windeyer Cup will be held at Middlemore (Auckland) next Easter. Last year this important event was allowed to lapse owing to the inability of the New South Wales Golf Association (the holders) to secure a representative team, and also through the Victorian Golf Association being dissatisfied with the conditions then existing.

From the New South Wales Council's "definite decision" to send a team it would seem that a strong side is new available. From the form shown at the last national championship at Titirangi a few months ago, and the mediocre form of members of the last representative team to visit Australia, it seems evident that the council of the New Zealand Golf Association will have an unenviable task when the final selection of the New Zealand team is made.

On days when one has a particular fondness for one ciub its use can then be extended far beyond its normal sphere. The above contention is attributed to R. T. .Tones and is one all golfers should remember —and applyIt is expected that the revised rules of golf will necessitate further decisions by St. Andrews. Whether playerwriters —whose recognised vocation is not journalism—though debarred from reporting events in which they may compete, will subsequently be permitted to comment on such events will probably provide a case in point. According to Charles Herndon, author of Golf Made Easier, aiming at some object, in most shots, is an aid to accuracy. When approaching and putting the flag or cup is usually the target. But even from the tee a spot on the fairway, or a distant tree or other object should be selected at which to propel the ball. This in turn will help the player to adjust the address, stance and swing, m order to secure an accurate shot. According to an English golf jouinal too many looks spoil the putt. When a ball lies in or touches a hazard, nothing shall be touched or moved before the player • C:,rl ' cc ( - 1 j :lt J , ball In the second round of the Calcutta Cup at St. Andrews recently, this rule was infringed by a c# f who picked up a stray ball in ths. Sana when one of the players was pn> •larine to play out of a bunker. Tins action lost his side the hole and mi cidentally the match.

The name of Harold Hilton, former British open and amate "^ lf c^ al DiSycc} is well known wnercvei golf is pIJJ « in English-speaking communities. In a recent article in an English papei discusing ball control. H'lton v.iote. "There is one very simple wa> 01 im parting underspin to a ball, and tli.i H bv using a very lofted club and hitting the ball hard, trusting to the loft 011 the club, but it. is a mcth j. which is not always successful there is any wind blowing, as one t ; nnot control the trajectory of the flight. Tho true scientific method is to 1m part the spin by the aid of the of the right hand, brining the f-lub sharply across the ball r01T ? . ri"ht The club must be held firmly wTth both hands, and the P' a >: er remember that it is the right nand which is responsible for lmpaiting the spin. If the player wishes to play a high shot he must stand behind the ball; if he wishes to keep the trajectory of the flight comparatively low he must stand forward, with the balance forward. One thing he mu.t remember, however and that io that he must hit the ball firmly and crisply."

Details of a Marathon i;olf mulch which has been going on for II yean; a ' ic still unfinished were published recently in an English golf This match is being played at Littlecote Park, near Ramsbury. Wiltshire, between George New, the village postmaster, and R. Chamberlain known as "the hermit of Ramsbury. The game started in August, 1922, and when the last mail left New had a lead of 859 strokes, the respective scores were: New 29.962, Chambeilain 30.821. The trophy is a silver jug, purchased jointly, which js held by the winner each year. Chamberlain has won it six times and New four There is something at stake in every stage of the game. Every point represents a halfpenny. Bogey represents six points extra, an eagle 18 points, and a birdie 12. Chamberlain is 71 years of while New is only 61. New hits the longer ball, and has been winning for the last few vears. But Chamberlain is a lighter. "1 am not done yet," he declares. "The game will go on until I. am under the turf."

Decision No. 50 of the published decisions by the Rules of Golf Committee CSt. Andrews) reads: In a match neither o£ the players had caddies. A played his tee shot straight down the fairway, and then put his driver inside his bag, which was lying against the sand-box. His opponent, B, then played his tee shot, and the ball struck a portion of a stone wall, and, rebounding, struck the bag of clubs Iving by the box, and belonging to A. B then 'claimed the hole from A under rule 18, but A maintains that B was not entitled to this as the clubs were not in what might be termed the "line of play," and having no caddie he was entitled to lean them against the sand-box. Which player is right? Answer: B was right. A lost the hole under rule 18.

W. H. J. Oxenham, an osteopath, of Brighton, England, claims to be the first blind golfer who has been given a handicap of 20 by. the West Hove Club. He lost the sight of both eyes; in 1917, on the Somrae. "My chauffeur whom I take for a caddie, tees up for me. tells me where the ball lies and the direction of the hole," he told the "Daily Mail's" representative recently. "Then he hands me a club, and I know by it how far away the hole is, and play according. When the time comes for putting, the chauffeur tells me the distance, and sometimes my opponents help by rattling the tin." Oxenham, who plays regularly twice a week, started golf only two j ear.-, ago when a doctor friend handed him a ciub on the links, and told him the direction of the hole. He is reported to have played nine holes m 42 on one occasion.

From English golf journals recently to hand it is noted that Miss Joyce Wethered remains faithful to hickory for iron clubs, although her wood clubs are steel-shafted. Miss Wethered maintains, to use her own words, "the effect of slight torsion m a good hickory shaft is invaluable in helping to apply the maximum 'back-spin.' The ball is retained or held on the face a fraction of a second lunger than with steel-shafted club; therefore, more spin can be imparted to the ball.'' Miss Wethered's opinion, it is considered, coincides with the views of many Bri*" ish authorities who contend that with hickory they are able to work the ball better. . This should be good news to those who have remained faithful to hickory.

"There is a prevailing notion that when the ball lies in rough grass some kind of an iron ought to be resorted to," writes R. T. Jones in "Golfing. "Sometimes when all possible length

is required, this idea lends lo the sclec- I tion of a No. 1 or 2 iron. This is one j ca.se when there ought to be no choice j other than the spoon, unless the lie is I so bad that a mashie is needed to play | the ball out. I have found many times J to my sorrow that a straightfaced iron" is a tough customer to handle from a heavy lie. The player ought to remember that the spoon, with its generous loft and its resilient wooden head, is ideally designed to gain elevation when for any reason the force of the stroke is lessened, and, further, thai the big irons, having 110 great amount of loft, cannot obtain an elevation without force and a good lie. This, I think, is the ruling distinction which ought to determine a choice between the two in any situation on which a choice is possible.'' ENGLISH WOMEN'S TEAM TO IFt OF DOMINION IN I'.) (CWI F.O ASSOC tATJOK—3I EI.*CfIUC TELEUII.U'U CUf YIUGUT.) (Received February [I, 1.30 a.m.) LONDON, February 8. The Ladies' Golf Union will send a team to Australia and New Zealand in 3935. TOUtt OF AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND ['LANS OK SAUAZEN AM) KIRK WOOD (VNJ i F.D rriF.SS ASfOt TAT I'.)N --- BY LLIXvIUIC 1 ELKO lIA I'll— COi'VIUGIfTJ SYDNEY", February U. Archie Keane has received advice from Gene Sarazen and J. H. Kirkwood that they will definitely be competitors in this year's Australian open golf championship in October. Thev will reach Australia at the beginning of October and will tour New Zealand and visit Honolulu on their way back to America.

A cable from Sydney on December 12 stated: "Advice has received that Gene Sarazen and J. H. Kirkwood have cancelled their proposed tour of Australia and New Zealand. The reason so far has not been disclosed."

The following day a second message from Sydney stated that Archie Keane, manager in Australia for both players, thought that opposition in Victoria might have influenced their decision not to go to Australia early in this year. Victorians, he stated, were particularly anxious to postpone the visit, so that it would synchronise with the centenary celebrations in November. It was even hinted that some Victorian clubs would refuse to make their courses available in the event of their arrival in February.

Prominent golfers in Christchurch yesterday could say nothing about the proposed itinerary in New Zealand. Any statement, they said, would have to come through the New Zealand Golf Council.