GOLF

Evening Post, Volume CVII, Issue 96, 27 April 1929, Page 22

GOLF

•By "Chiphhot"

SLACK WEEK-END

' CHOQSING AUSTRALIAN

TEAMS

A PUTTING, ANALYSIS

There ljas been little of interest, in. the play this season so far.-; Most .clubs have not yet got into their stride; Th» first hole in one has been scored by S. Millingt.on, of the Hutt Club, at "The Citadel," the tricky little mashie hole on the plateau some golfers find it difficult to put their ball on from the tee.' A hole in one, with such awful dangers in close proximity to the green, must be doubly comforting.. A. D. S. Duncan was in all his old form when he did a 69 at Herctaunga a fortnight *jro. When he is in that mood anything may happen,' and some day wh^en everything is, just right, he is as likely to break a record" as ever. The Tuson Cup matches are being played at Heretaunga to-day. The Cup and Veterans' Silver Salver always arouse keenjnterest between the Christchurch and Wellington golfers. Kirk-Windeyer Cup.; i It is ■ early fof golfers to say when they can' make the trip to Australia forthe Kirk'-Whideyer, Cup, but the: New Zealand Golf Council is wise in getting all the probables in, so that those select-: ed to practice for the event will have, time to prepare for' the biggest golfing fixture in this part of the world; New Zealand will be up against a stiff team, with the (Victorian interest thrown in, and the selection here will be a prob; lem. It might be just as well if an extra man. could; be sent over besides the team, as accidents will happen. There should be no difficulty in getting a good team from Morpeth,. A. Duncan, Boss, Hortou,' J.L, Black,* and several others, but to choose it will be.hard.'Not much.has been heard of Quin lately.Putting Styles. ':■'.■•'.■"• Discussing the question of. imparting spin to; the ball in putting, P.-A. Vaile - says in the "Golfers' • Magazine^':— "There>,-is no practical • and recognised golf stroke that can communicate to the putt' a spin so excessive that it will exceed the natural proportion of!, circumference of the ball to the distance travelled. Any approximation ,to this state of things simply goes-into running and extends the length, of the putt beyond what it would be were the- blow;' merely, a straightforward hitor a dojvrnward stroke. The only excuse for any, loft whatever on the face of a putter is that it tends to niakethe force of the blow go upwards through the ball's centre;of mass and thus start'it-.w'a'y with a truer roll and better run -than, one would get if the face of the club were actually vertical. When a ball is struck ; with a vertically- faced putter, two contending grips are set up, namely, those between the ball and the club ahdVthe ball and the green. The club is, in effect, trying to push the ball forward much as a billiardist would do in striking his ball at the middle of ita height, that is, opposite ■ the. centreThe inevitable ,result}/ of : this, in: bjl- ■ liardsoi-: golf, is that the ball will/skid or slide until one' of the grips is overcome. ' . • -„ "To get true and'normal running in a putt the ball should always be-' hit so that there is some loft on the face 1 of the putter. If the putter has a vertical face, which is=wrong in a club of prdinary lie, one, should hit' the.'.putt after one has reached the -„ bottom of ■ the swing. In other words, the loft of the club, at the moment of impact, should be enough to make .the force of the blow felt upwards through: the centre of the ball. This insures a true_ running and rolling'ball right off the face of the club, instead, of the miniature pitch and run shots that so many.players - mistake for putts. ■'•' A -truly ,and properly played putt should never leave the greeu. It should roll all the. way from putter to holeor■:. wherever it comes to, rest. An,'extremely ititqres.i:in'g illustration of the impossibility of imparting top spin that aan be retained on a putt is found in Jim Barnes's unique "green stroke."" „: „'-;■!....;■; first time'l saw Barnes, piajr "it ■was at Skokie ill the open, chanipi&nshipl It really '.was a long -approach, putt. • Barnes came down with a bang on his ball and it set off on its •way with three or four little jumps. 'That will 'never get anywhere , near ■ : the hole,'said I to myself; but it .did. Directly the ball had finished its saltatory gambols, which are no part of a conventional putt, it.gripped the.green, seemed to take on new life, rolled.merrily up to the.hole and nearly into it— | a very fine approach 'putt' and a complete puzzlo to me, for it looked i like an awful stab,.and'stabbed putts don't behave-like that;- It gave, me something to think* about,, for it was unique in my experience of golf strokes. The same afternoon'l came upon Barnes putting; again, this ".time nearer ,the hole. I stood on the edge of a bunker behind Barnesf and with my eyes looking through his legs and practically in a horizontal line with the ball. I thus had a perfect, diagrammatic view of the action of Barnes's 'putt. J;•' .He was using ' a well "lofted club, • about clock loft,'but his hands were "so. far ahead of .the.'ball that the face" of his club actually overhung the ball. "Barnes hit down on to the ball so that the point of impact .was higher than the centre of the'ball, and squeezed the ball down on to the turf so'that it 'spurted' out from between club and green as one pinches a melon seed'from, between one's fingers and thumb. The ball was thus actually bounced off the earth and,took its spin, not from the club, but from the last: point,of con"tacty the green.- It had its three or four little: kangaroo hops before it settled down to business and, whilst it was in the air, it was a top spin-putt, if it were a putt, and not three pitches and a run! However, immediately ;,if got down" to earth, the top spin gripped the green and the ball proceeded to run. freely toward the hole in a. normal manner. Here we had a-downward stroke giving top spin, a paradox, until I saw that the spin came from the earth and not from the: club. '■'; ',' " "I tackled Barnes about it afterwards, and told 'Turn, what I had seen. .'Barnes said, slowly ■'. and thoughtfully:, T "guess you niiiist be right, for I always see the mark= of my club and the ball on, the green after I have played the stroke.' Mark that 'and the ball.' Those words-would settle the question if there were any doubt.. It.certainly is, so far. as lam aware, an unique stroke and the interesting thing ab«ut'it is that it provides a ball 'humming' with top spin/that is translated' into normal running directly it stops jumping and settles down-on Mother Earth. Barne's was, in those days, a fine approach putter but, at times, terrible near the hole, and smsE wonder. . In the approach, strokes the force held the ball to the line but wheif it came to .delicate putting tS» "oyerr hanging blade 'got in its dirty work.*?*