ON PLAYING GOLF

Evening Post, Volume CIX, Issue 125, 29 May 1930, Page 14

ON PLAYING GOLF

THROUGH THE GREEN THE BRASSIE AND SPOON NATURE OF THE SHOTS VWritten for "The Post" by James D. A. Scott.) The brassie shot does not differ very widely from tho drive, but there are certain points that have a slight difference and aro father essential to perfect brassie play., In the first place, •the club should not be too exact a,copy, in every detail, of the driver, and has, of course, considerably more loft on the- face. The brassio is frequently made to resemble;,the driver so exactly 'that' the loft. alone • distinguishes the pair. The shaft of the brassie should be anything from half an inch to an inch tho shorter of tho pair and should, in addition, be rather more steely than the driver .shaft,, and ' also a little more upright. For inland golf, especially, and on any'-course where sand is not the top.soil, a slightly rounded sole is of great value in the rather cuppy lies through the winter months. The shot is to be played fron. the turf .and '. consequently demands more accuracy than the drive, which has everything in its.favour, and the slightly shorter shaft will tend towards greater control and assist,in the rather more upright swing that will bo found •most effective. ■' .. C° all golf shots I think the one that gives tho most. perfect satisfaction is the well-hit brassie; tho beautiful ease with which tho; ball sails away, with a gradually rising trajectory, has the power of making the player feel that he really, has ; accomplished something worth while. The weight of the club head strikes the ball from underneath as well, as from behind, as is the case with tho driver, and consequently feels sweeter ■ pn! the' club face. It is a fact, probably1 explicable, by the- fact-'that' they; are standing, more over the' ball'than' flat swingers; that the best bra'ssie : players are nearly always to, ,bc.:fpund ■iti,.'th"e ' ranks of those who favour a decidedly..'.upright swing.". '■'' i"- ■.■'-.: v- ;.•■■'. ' ;'■■' ■ ' In playing'the brassie shot from ;an ordinarily good 'lie- stand' somewhat closer to the' balj than' you do ; with your •'driver :in ' order tha.f by means of tho more Jupright swing thereby necessitdted, the ball may bo induced, to rise more sharply. The ball itself. should bo, if ' anything, rather, nearer the centre of the feet, iv, order that the club head may come, into, contact with it nearer the extreme bottom of the arc of the swing,! ''Most'.p)ayers'tend to shorten their swing; and the closer control produced ■ thereby : tends' towards the greater accuracy demanded. GETTING THE BALL UP. When the. ball is lying well there is, then, little difference' between this stroke and the drive, but.it is when the length is required•■ and the.ball is.lying somewhat heavily that the real brassie player comes into; bis own. . It is now that it' ; becomes permissible slightly to transgress ono of the'first principles of the game) and a slight cut becomes a good stroko instead of a thing to be shunned. I- suggest, therefore,, that '.the player should, when tho lie is close and, iii consequence, tho lifting of the ball becomes a matter of greater difficulty, deliberately play tho shot with- a slight-eat across the line of flight to facilitate the quick rising of the ball. The stance should be, a trifle;'more, open .and' the .club taken back more uprigKt .than usual and at impact slightly cut. across tho ball with., the ..left-hand... power. The playcr'sliould 'note' that the left hand should be permitted to impose its will on the right hand- considerably more in usiug',tho brasaic. than , with the driver. ;' ~ , '..; .-','■■ i Aii-even more-deliberate swing than you, habitually use wHU' the driver will probably materialiy assist iv all brassie' work,- and tliough-a' brassie should-always be played as a full shot, oxcept perhaps in the case of some of the great ones of this earth, tho least tendency" to press "is almost certain to bo attended fby utter/disaster. The very nature'of the shot, usually necessitating as it dobs the striking of the turf, scarcely permits of the same wrist action that can be brought into use with the driver, and it will be found that at .impact -the"' wrists-and forearm will, require, to be. stiffened considerably, and the grip oa the club, especially with the.left hand, somewhat tightened. \ ■: ' . SPOON FOR' CUPPY LIES. ' There is-theu to',be < .encountered the badly cupped liej where, to take-'...--.a bjassiC'would be sheer'lunacy, but from which length must, 'at-all costs, be-ob-tained/ V-.*- ■ "■'■■• - ■ '■ • ■ 'It is -here that -we .fall :back. on, our spopu or:'baffy,, and -I .unhesitatingly rocommond that this club should have a distinctly rounded sole, to enable it to fit into tho cupped lies, and to pick a ball out of a depression that would not■■• accommodato the;length of- the head of the-mid-iron. There should bo a considerable1 loft on .this club', little less :in fact- than ■ that of! a No. '3'iron, arid:it should bo not less'than an inch, and preferably two inches, shorter than tho,brassie.. •. ( - :■■ - • ■■■■; , '■ ; Its chief use, as hinted.above, is to obtain, length -'from close lies, and for this- purpose it" is" desirable. that the ball should be made to rise quickly. A particularly, steely shaft should be

selected, as it will be called upon to I stand some Lofty punches iuto the ground. The-player should stand, in front of the ball, that is .'to say the ball will j bo behind the centre of the feet, with a squarcr stanco than with tho brassie, uso a deliberately upright swing and como down . hard on the, back of the ball with very' rigid wrists and the hands slightly in advance of tho clubhead. It will bo observed that tho baffy face has a distinctly hooked set and tliis will offset the minute idvance of tho hands, but care should be taken thai they do not precede th" club-head sufficiently to produce a push. It will bo found that the ball will riso quickly and will 'have ' considerable back-spin imparted to it. This method only applies to the poor lie, of course; if the lie is good and ■ the club is used as a brassie, to obtain length, though not so great as would result from a brassie, it should be-played in the same manner as the brassie. .■'■ * BALL STOPS QUICKLY. I have personally found that I can stop the ball under hard conditions much better with a spoon than with a mid-iron and usually use it in preference when the-ground is like cement and-the', ball has to be .pulled: up at long range. ■ . ; To all intents and purposes the "baffy has replaced the. much abused cleck in j tho. kits of most players and is, no doubt, an extremely good friend, and many ladies, especially,;would do weli to. make this club their first wooden dub, instead of ,the driver.l . The loft on the face : gives a, scriso of security and the very fact, of .knowing that the ball will rise is a very real help to the beginner.. Although the. distance covered may not bo so great., it vill probably, produce a considerably better average length .and the player Ban graduato to the. brassie and driver, when confidence has.been established. With woods through tho green,.then, grip firmly, swing more upright, keep the head "most religiously, down and though hitting hard, do:not press. A tendency to stab instead of following through will probably obtrude itself, but must. bo very firmly ' and thoroughly suppressed, and though the follow-through ..with .the baffy will, by tho.nature, of ,tho shot from a.poor lie, be less pronounced than with the brassie,, with . both . club's it must be carefully attended to. :■ ;