Golf

Dominion, Volume 22, Issue 225, 19 June 1929, Page 8

Golf

By

“NIBLICK."

KIRK-WINDEYER CUP TEAM

TOO MANY TOURNAMENTS?

Jack Goss, of Wanganui, an ex-ama-teur champion, will be in Australia when the Kirk-Windeyer Cup team is there, and, in the event of any unforeseen happenings or misfortune overtaking any member of the team, he would be a useful man to have handy. Goss won his New Zealand championship in his home town the last, time it was held there, defeating A. D. S. Duncan at the thirty-fifth hole.

Otago Club’s Championship. Dr. Kenneth Ross recorded his tenth win in the Otngo Golf Club's championship, when he defeated D. 11. Butcher in tlie final last. week. He has wtln the last seven championships on end, and it is a record tlint will take some beating. One would think that from ids record he plays n great deal : on the contrary, his custom of late has been to play one game a week, nnd oft times not thnt, and then he invariably plays about bogey. Increase in Championships. Harry Vardon writes as follows:— “Are there too many golf tournaments? So far as concerns amateur players of the front rank, it looks as though the ever-increasing list of championships and other more or less classic events is .boginning to make a severe call on the time and-business occupation of those individuals whose presence is essential to the success of these features. Some of the best golfers have to be absent because they cannot spare the time to support a programme which crowds so many important meetings into a few months of the yenr. I believe that Sir Ernest Holderness and R. H. Wethered have never been able to plav for the English title, and that C. H. Tolley has competed for it only once. And yet these three have been in the forefront of JUnglish golf in recent years, so that their absence discounts materially the winner’s achievement.” ■> Useful Hints.

Following are hints by Abe Mitchell, famous British professional:— A long putt is just a miniature drive. There is a slight pivot of the body and a slight lead of the hands in the backswing. Keep a firm grip all through with the left hand, and give the club-head time to swing. Do not rush it at the hall or it will go off at half-cock. It is a somewhat slow blow. Remember to keep the clubhead close to the green in the down swing, otherwise the ball is certain to .be half topped and it will finish far short of the hole. , It you want the ball to run a trifle after it lands, do not grip too tightly, as that may restrict the follow-through and turn the blow Into a snappy one. The followpn of the club-head in this shot is best done with a rather loose grip. If, however, the bail is to be pulled up quickly, grip tightly. especially with the left hand. Few golfers, however, want the ball to Stop. Most phots Invariably finish short of the hole, especially off the mashie, at a chip. A grip firm epough to prevent the club-face turning on impact will impart roil to the ball and take it tQ the holeside. ,

Too many, goiters adopt a different stance for putting from that adopted for any other snot. This is a mistake. Awk-ward-looking stances make, putting more difficult, not easier., Think how you stand to play the short pitch, with the feet close together, the left toe pointing towards the hole and the right to-the ball. Stand comfortably and easily, with both knees slightly bent. Keep the knees bent throughout the stroke, and keep tfie club-head low going back and forward. Aim to strike the ball in the centre, not halfway to the tup., For the purposes of putting, the ball’s centre Is nearer the tuff than we Imagine. To play the bail from a cupped lie with the iron, take up the usual stance. Swlpg the club up a trifle more steeply than usual, so that the edge of the blacje can cut down into the turf behind the hall. Then continue hitting after you feel that the turf has been struck, Thq common mistake is in easing up with one’s pressure. Hit through to the other ,edge of the'eyp, and the slightly downward action qf the club will cause the ball to rise and go op its way to the green.

But do not be greedy. Be content to get a fair distance, and if you do so be pleased with your shot and do not grumble at the lie.

American Ryder Cup Team. Mr. George W. Greenwood, the golf writer for tho London “Daily Telegraph,’ l saw the American Ryder Cup team playing at Sandwich in preparation for the cup matches at Moortown. Some of his notes are Interesting. He says; “Hagen always drew the crowd, though he endeavoured to divert attention to the members of his team. ‘Sir Walter’ certainly looked the part as the world’s most magnificent golfer. His sjeek, black hair, carefully brushed, had not one strand out of place; he wore a canary-coloured piill-over, light grey knickers, black stockings, and white buckskin shoes, a combination which made Watrous, attired Ip the official dark blue knickers, with jersey and stockings to match, appear quite funereal. Hagen said that ‘these young fellows,’ pointing In the direction of Horton Smith, Dudley, Turn, osa and others, made him feel quite old and from the tee 'left him miles behind.’ ’• Mr. Greenwood did not notice the "miles ” In fact, when Hagen Intimated that lie “was going to lay Into this one” he was never more than two or three yards behind the best of them, and at the green end of the business, the chip and the putt, he whs unequalled by any. The American pros, played among themselves for £1 a holo, and as far as Mr. Greenwood was able to judge, that was their usual stake, In some notes on the methods and characteristics of the Play pf the American pro, fessionals in England for the Ryder Cup matches and the British open championship (in which they filled eight of the iirsl ten places), Mr. Greenwood writes lu the London "Daily Telegraph” :—“Having seen the Aniertcans in action one naturally asks: ‘What, if any, is the difference be, tween the American and British styles’’ I am convinced there is a difference, and a fundamental one, and it is that the swing back is conducted at a slower pace, and is mote rhythmical. In the apparent laziness of it all ft is possible to visualise the swing of Mr. ‘Bobby’ Jones tn many of the movements of these Americans. Particularly is this so In the cases of those two young giants. Horton Smith and Edward Dudley, who, if the truth were known, have spent a good deal of time in front of a mirror endeavouring to copy the swing. of the Atlanta genius. There is the same close stance, the same straight left arm. with the hands high above the head both at the top of the swing and in the follow-through.” The golf correspondent of the “Sunday Observer” (Rondon) noted the same thing. Of Edward Dudley he says:—“Having played a good deal with Mr. Jones. It Is scarcely to he wondered at that Dudley has copied some of the great master’s methods; for example, the close stance and the rather slow, lazv swing.”

To drive a long distance from the tee is every Golfer’s ambition. No Golf Ball ean be driven further tjian a “Kro-fljfe,” Length, aeenraoy and perfect balance. .Spalding’s “Kro. fllte” Golf Ball, obtainable from all Sports Dealers. It lasts till it’s lost. —Advt.