TRICK GOLF

Evening Star, Issue 18045, 12 August 1922, Page 11

TRICK GOLF

WONDERFUL DISPLAY BY JOSEPH KIRKWOOD. (Written by ’Abb Mixcheix for the ‘Evening Stax.’) •Wo know Joseph Kirkwood, the yoorcg Australian, to bo a fine golfer, of daringly unorthodox methods. Ho is also an amusing entertainer with a rich store of trick shots. For almost an hour ho can beep a gallery interested by a scries of strokes which oven from a strictly golfing point of view are really wonderful. It is obvious that he must have spent many hours’ practice to perfect their execution. Ho places six balls in a row behind each other and a few inches apart, and, commencing with tho one furthest from the hole ho lofts them all straight into tho hole, each stroke, excepting tho last, constituting a stymie. Ho also screws round tho stvmio ball from either side, tho ball being placed quite dose to the hole. But I like the long stymie best. The playing ball is about a yard from tho stymie ball, which ho putts two inches ■from tho hole. Then with the mashio ho pitches his own ball into tho hole. That is one of the most difficult strokes in tho game, for tho slightest slip will put tho wrong hall down. Kirkwood also pitches balls over with tho putter, and with a right-handed mashio ho lofts a stymie lott-handed, standing on. tho wrong side of tho ball. This is a wonderful exhibition on the putting green. When he hits tho long shots down tho bourse, pulling or slicing just as ho wills, the master hand comes Into play. Ho drives a few balls straight, as I thought to get his hand in after stooping down in playing so many stymies. Then ho announces a very low shot against the wind. This ball surprised mo, for even the lowest ball "will como up into tho air at some part of its flight. This One, however, ho hits down, so that it does not rise more than a yard. Ho plays another with a suspicion of pull, but nob enough to bring the ball away from the centre of the fairway. This is a glorious stroke, and so, too, is the next, played with a suspicion of slice. This is always to my mind a more difficult stroke to make than ono with a slight pull. Golfers are all so prone to slice that the chances ore tho intentional slice is overdone, tho ball in consequence does not travel far enough. In fact, a slico seldom does unless tho wind happens to bo blowing from left to right. Kirkwood, however, hits tho ball almost as fay as the shot played with a pull, and it is a delight to see the ball gradually heading into tho wind slowly and almost imperceptibly. THE, BEGINNER’S FOOZLE. At tho exhibition which I saw r a man in the crowd asked Kirkwood to make a beginners drive. Ono was hit along the ground, and went only some thirty yards, whilo tho other was simply puffed up into the air, and fell quito lifeless a few yards from the tee,'. With the iron clubs Kirkwood played balls with a long pull, and ono with a vory_ quick hook.' The ball w-ont almost outside the bounds of the fairway, and, after travelling about one hundred and twenty yards, it swerved back very quickly to the middle of the course. Ho gradually increased the elevation of shots until the last one of six went up almost like a stroke with a ma-shie. All this was very wonderful, but there were more novelties to come. He asked a spectator to come forward, and, putting a ball underneath his foot to steady it, ■he placed another underneath the toe of the shoe, lie next teed one on a small piece of putty on the toe of the shoe. First of all ho drove tho ball underneath. He then hit the ball off tho spectator’s toe, and. it was a good tiling for tho medium that he did not flinch, as tho stroke was a full drive, hit as hard as if the ball were on the turf. Kirkwood then asked for tho spectator’s watch, and toeing a ball on its face ho struck it without damaging the watch, or even causing it to move, He drove with a left-handed swing, and ho took a mashie, and, turning the face up, stood lefthanded awl played quite a good stroke in this manner. He also drove a hall off the end of the putter shaft.,, which he balanced on his golf bag, teeing the hall with the putty tee; and he drove another from the ball-cleaner, which a caddie held by a piece of string. EYE OFF THE BALL. Perhaps the most curious and the most interesting stroke of tho whole series was that with an iron without looking at tho ball during tho swing. We all know the old saying. “ Keep the eye on tho ball,” which has been handed down through all tho ages of the game; yet here Kirkwood altogether seemed to knock the bottom out of that saying, for, after the address, die looked over at the crowd and struck away three glorious strokes with tho iron. -Not only did the balls fly straight, but they travelled almost as far as if ho had -given nil his attention to the ball. I have heard that Harry Vardon can hit balls with his eyes shut, and some years ago a match took place wherein one of tho players was blindfolded. But this particular stroke of Kirkwood’s needs investigation, as there is no doubt at all to me that we must keep our eye on tho ball. The whole fact remains that Kirkwood has wonderful control over the ball. He admits, however, that the straight shot is the most difficult to make. I suppose it is something like tho dead straight putt to some golfers, some of whom prefer to have a slight borrow either way. It is true that ono often picks out the lino bettor when there is a borrow than if tbs putt is straight;