WET SEASON GOLF

Evening Star, Issue 18140, 2 December 1922, Page 15

WET SEASON GOLF

GOHGERtIIHG THE KIT. [Written bv IlAßirt V.ikdon, for tho * ‘ Evening Star. ] For tho people of Britain the timo_ of winter golf is approaching that period when, on tilio great majority of courses, the ball has a way of sitting closely_W tho heavy 'turf and demanding shots cunciont ironx those 'which one would play when it rearrs itself proudly on tho firm soil of tho drier months. . .1 sometimes wonder whether it is an advantage to tho golfers of the United States that, in the winter, tho climate is such that the game simply cannot bo played in tho North, and that only those who have had the opportunity of visiting the Southern States can make golf wi a.U-tlic-vw-round pastime. At first blush it may seem a, help to bo always in touch with one’s clubs, ami let it bo remarked that if there is anything’ in it, I have cnJoved such an advantage all my life. Tho doctor did once toll mo to Mop playing golf altogether for a period of several moutlis, and sent mo to tho wilds of tho west coast of Ireland to recuperate. But there happened to (be close by a. remarkably fine course, of which probably very few people, in England had then hoard— Lisdoonva.rna. I wonder whether it exists now? There is nothing about it in tho golf dictionaries- It was extraordinarily good, with Natnro as the only architect who had ever devoted much time to its construction. What result its proximity bad on tho doctor’s orders need not be explained, for I had taken my clubs with mo in case an occasional round might ho permitted. Tt is another interesting memory that the only time I ever did a hole in one was whop. I was at a sanatorium and supposed not to be playing. Still there arises .the question ae to whether the golfer m Britain would not bo the better at the game if he came, to_it every spring with a new zest for it, inspired by his winter’s rest from it. Stateness is a. frequent cause of disappointing play, and tho only real remedy for it is to give up the game for a, time. This question is of .interest to amateurs quite as much as to. professionals, for .plenty of professionals engaged in far lower rounds than many amateurs in the course of a year. The former are too busy teaching to obtain a lot of play; it may help them to preserve their form that) they are thus busy. THE LARGE BALL. ■ However, the main object of golf being to provide rooioation, and tho game being possible throughout tho year in Britain, there is plenty of play on every course. ’The best system on which to pursue it in cipcumstanons so different from those pre-

vailing in other seasons is a point worth considering. And what may be considered wise in this connection is surely equally wise on any counso anywhere in the world whore the noil has suffered from march rain, and the ball nestles closely to the heavy turf. Brooklyn, (he course near Boston, Massachusetts, where this year s United Slates Amateur Championship took place, seems to bo very well patronised by the rain clouds —at any rate for an American golf resort. The. wcaiUior f reports during tho championship in September spoke ,constantly of thunderstormsand temporary lakes on the fairways, and when. I played there in the United States Open Championship of 1913 the /course became so sodden as -a result of the heavy rain that sometimes a, ball would* stack firmly in the soft ground at the spot whore it, pitched. In these circumstances— and we encounter them often enough, Providenoo knows, in Britain during the winter —the average aor is best served, I think, by using a rather hunger than tho minimum diameter of 1.62 in. Tho latter may appeal to- anybody in tho dry seasons, but it has a way of huddling so lightly into heavy turf as to give the player very little at which to hit. . When it conies to rest- s,n a slightly cuippy lie, and sinks with its usual obstinacy as olosely as (possible into tbo soft turf, it presents a really desperate problem. To play it with a brassio or a straight-faced iron is almost impossible, except to a first-class golfer, and not always profitable to him. Tho bigger ball sits up more invitingly. For the great majority of /golfers it is best, I think, as a whiter ball. ON TAKING DIVOTS. Now, as to the clubs that may b© recommended. For winter /purpose.? on, the average course whore tho subsoil ooiisdsts of clay—that is to say, ou the majority of inland courses in Britain —-I am not sure that the golfer could do better than liinst his outfit bo driver, spoon,_ ai fairly powerful mid-iron, tuasliioj niblick, and putter. When tho ball lies heavily on soft ground one cannot " peck ” at it and take it clearly as one trios to- do in the dry seasons. Tho safest plan is to strike just it, raise a- divot, and hit the ball up with the divot, remembering to replace the piece of torn turf. On firm, dry ground there is not the slightest need to take a divot in playing any shot. Personally, under such conditions I never do mow than graze tho top of the soil very slightly —so slightly that no damage is done to it, and there is nothing to replace. But it is different in the wan tor, when mud is a factor in the execution of tho shot- A ibrassio or a nearly straight-faced iron is a) dangerous club to use, because you have to try and take the hall clearly with it, and the chances are that it slithers over the greasy turf and docs not get under tho objoot. A powerful mid-iron is—after the driver and before vou reach the green—/perhaps the most -useful club of all in tho dank days. Two shots with it through the green at a long hole will often take you farther than you would gat in the same number of strokes with a brassie or a driving iron, because, taking your dfvot, you will get the ball up, which you easily might fail to do with the dubs o'f longer range.