GOLF.

Hawera Star, Volume XLVI, 22 January 1927, Page 13

GOLF.

BRITISH CHAMPIONSHIPS. The championship committee of the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews broadcasts the following: In the Open Championship, the system of sectional qualifying round, tried this year, has been found unsatisfactory. In 1927 all competitors will play qualifying rounds on the old and new courses at St. Andrews on Monday and Tuesday, June 20 and 21. One hundred players (and ali ties for the one hundredth place) will be eligible' for the championship proper, which -will be played on the same conditions as this year. The players who qualify will play one round on Wednesday, June 22, and one round on Thursday, June 23. All competitors who are fifteen strokes or more behind the leader at the end of the second round will be compulsorily retired, and the remainder will play two further rounds on Friday, June 24. The prize-money has been increased by £SO, and the entrance fees for professionals have been reduced to £l. The entrance fees for amateurs will be £2. Gate-money will not be charged. The i conditions of the Amateur Championship of -1927 will be the same as those of 1926. A charge will be made for admission to the Hoylake course. THE AVERAGE PLAYER. A correspondent to a Home paper, after writing of many of the great players, pays a tribute to the great army of the average golfers when he says: ‘ln writing .so much about championships, it is apt lo bo forgotten that this is only a small and unimportaut part of golf. The vast multitudes who play and derive benefits from the game care little about the. top notchers, who are a very small body of men. Their own game is the main thing for the vast proportion of players, and a. mighty good thing it is that this is so.". AN OITT,SIDE THRILL. Golf may have its thrills—thrills of the mild sort mostly—though holing out a long second or smacking one straight into the tin from a hopeless lie in a sand bunker carries perhaps an extra' heart throb. But there was a very real thrill for Rugby footballer Tom Smith at Manly recently. A bullet fired from a paddock near the second tee whizzed by his head and zipped its way into the rough. He was walking ahead of his fair ball at the time, and had almost reached the first ditch, which crosses the fairway, when there was a sudden sharp crack, a quick crackling • sound, and a startled exclamation from the whole party. All four were exA.I.F. men. ami ducked in approved Gallipoli style. Away to the left, in a paddock some youngsters were practising with a pea-rifle. The shot across the links was apparently a practice cue, a range-finder maybe, but. it nearly had a fatal mission. A little quickening ot the step down the fairway, a little comment, and then the game went on —the lines of the famous “Lasca" could be adapted: “Scratches don’t count in Manly, down by the second ditch."

THE ART OF PUTTING. CONFIDENCE ESSENTIAL, HOW TO PRACTISE. It has often been said that putting is like Christian Science —you must believe that you are going to get the ball into the hole-and then you will succeed. This faith is an equally valuable asset in regard to every other shot in the game. The fact, is that you do not foci at all sure of holing a putt unless you know that you are putting well, and when you are putting well it simply means that you are swinging the club properly. And that is not achieved by Christian Science. Harry Vardon says that putting, far from being an inspiration, as tradition proclaims it, and as many people prefer to view it to save themselves the bother of practising, is more in the nature of a carefully cultivated art than any other department of golf. Every good putter has been constant in his practice of putting. Braid and Duncan converted themselves from very moderate putters into exceptionally good ones by nothing but practice, ft is the custom these days -to see how tho Americans do things. Their deadline's near the hole, however, may be solclv due to intensive practice. Walter Hagen, admitted to be the best putter of them all, lias his body well forward with the weight on the left leg—thus immune from swaying. How many golfers, when they tap the ball carelessly, to the hole, think that it counts just as much as the ISO yards drive, of'which they were so proud? And vet it counts just as much'. It must be remembered, too, that you may throw away a stroke from the fee and still halve' or even win the hole, but. you cau’t afford to throw them away on the green. Your opponent makes you pay very dearly for your careless putts. D. G. Sou tar says: “Putting, lias been described as an inspiration, and while it has to be admitted that upon occasion a player cannot go wrong, instances can be quoted of players who have made themselves good putters. Amongst British players the most notable example is that of the well-known professional, James Braid. Prior to his first win in the open championship at Muirliold in 1901 Braid was as good as the best of them until the green was readied, but a weakness with, short putts kept him from reaping the full benefit ol' his skill in other departinents of the game. Adopting an aluminium putter modelled on the lines of the old wooden putters—the broad sole caused the club to lie true to the ground and incidentally made it- easier to get a true angle —he.'bv hard practice at true hitting, became' one of the best putters in the game." Australian instances could also be quoted, notably Doctors Sydney Jones and Nigel Smith, who have developed their putting on similar lines. That, in liiv opinion, is the secret of good putting. Hit the ball true. The greens on most courses have been brought to such a state of perfection that a wellhit ball will keep the line, or at least it has a better chance of doing so than has a badly-hit ball. The stance or grip—go long as they are comfortable

to the player—has little to do with, the actual result. The club has such, a short distance to travel that, although it may not be travelling as true as in a longer swing, the margin is big enough to allow the ball to be hit truly.

Another important point is to endeavour to hit the ball towards the toe of the blade instead of towards the keel. That point applies to all shots, and would seem to indicate that the clubhead is more resilient towards tho toe than towards the heel. I have frequently proved this point with beginners by holding my club an inch, or so a wav from the ball, and then asking them to Ijit the ball without hitting my club. In almost every instance the result has been most satisfactory. The player must, however, guard against drawing the cJub-head' across the line of flight in the act of hitting, os spin will be imparted to the ball, thereby causing many putts to “rim" the hole. Many players have blamed the cup as being too high when in reality it was the spin on the ball which caused the missed putt.

Another point is “Which hand is used most, the right or the left”? Personally I think that for the shorter putts it will be found advantageous to use the right, but on no account must the putter be pushed on to the ball. The movement should be in the nature of a distinct tap somewhat similar to driving home a small tack, the club-head, of course, travelling in a lateral direction instead of vertical, and the putter being allowed to follow on instead of stopping short when the ball has been hit. Players who have difficulty iu holing the four to six-footers would do well to give those methods a good trial, as personally I have found them most anil pass them on for what they are worth.