UP A TREE

Greymouth Evening Star, 14 January 1933, Page 3

UP A TREE

A GOLF PROBLEM.

The past week has produced the usqal crop of golf stories, and ope of them, which concerns Coombe Hill, U the most remarkable I have heard for a. long time (writes “Fairfield in the ‘London Daily Telegraph”). Mr J. W. Molfien, an ex-captain of the club, was playing to the fourth hole when he pulled his l ball into the branches of a pine tree, where it lodged. Mr Molden threw his niblick into the tree in the hope of dislodging the ball, but failing to do so, climbed the tree, and, holding on by one hand, played the ball with the other. , , . Ho lost the hole by a stroke, but spent a good part of the day afterwards in debating with fellow members as to whither he should have counted two slWesw-one for throwing the club, and one for hitting the ball —or only one, for the hit. My colleague, George Greenwood, tells me that the ball should have been treated as being in an uiipkiyable lie and that when recovered stroke distance should have been lost. As it is, the issue appears to lie in intent. If the player intended to dislodge the ball with his club, it must count as a stroke, just as if he had had an “air shot” on the fairway. There is, of course, nothing to prevent a player climbing a tree if he wishes to, as in the case of the late Earl Balfour when playing on the old Tooting Bee course many years ago.