GOLF NOTES

Manawatu Standard, Volume LX, Issue 154, 30 May 1940, Page 4

GOLF NOTES

THE EXPLOSION SHOT, .HOW TO PLAY IT. „ (By “Bunker.”) On most courses to-day the bunker shot is most important, and it is surprising how many players have no idea how to play it. First of all anchor your feet firmly in the sand, standing well over the ball. Grip the club low and not at the top of the leather. Swing the club back with a straight left arm and firm wrists. By keeping the left arm extended you protect yourself against an inclination to try to scoop the ball up. The ball is played off the left foot and the stance is open with the left foot drawn away from' the intended lino of flight. The head should be kept still and there is comparatively little leg action because the swing is very upright. Lay the face of the niblick well hack, so that it will have its greatest power from below when coming’into the sand and under the hall. The club head is swung outside the line of intended flight and away from the body. This puts “cut” on the hall and stops it quickly after it alights. In the explosion ,s|v“\ come hack with a bit more than .ree-quarter swing but don’t lie to hit the sand about two inches behind the hall. The feet, of course, stay firmly ill tho sand. \

Some players when in the bunkers are seen lifting the right heel up, as if in a drive, but this is entirely wrong. The weight shifts from the right leg to the left one as the club comes down to the hall. The swili action of the wrists near the bottom of the swing brings the face of the club in and across the bull, which would normally impart a slice to the ball. However, the effect is smothered by the sand that’s between ...the club face and tho ball, and the actual result is to knock the ball up into the air and make it fall “dead.” Seldom docs the average player make satisfactory recovery shots from bunkers because he is afraid to hit at the ball hard enough to get a firm follow through. This is not a chip shot, but a full blast that will he absorbed by the sand. Finish tho shot with the club head higher than the hank of the bunker you are playing from. x Hole-in-One. A 12-year-old golfer, Murray MacNaughton, of West Herts Club, England, recently holed his tee-shot at the 180-yard sixteenth hole. He played from the men’s tee. Golfers’ Novel Help. An original method of collecting money for, patriotic funds has been adopted by members of the Maungakiekie Golf Club (Auckland). It has been decided that members playing on Sundays will lie asked to donate Id for every occasion on which they visit a bunker in the course of the round. The stipulation has been made that any member feeling pessimistic before the commencement of the round mav pay 6d and be exempt from any bunker charge. News of the World Tourney. ~ After a close match Henry Cotton beat Alfred Padgham at_ the 37th hole in the final of the News of the World golf tournament early this month. Both players are former British open champions. Cotton had a lead of one hole after the first 18 holes, in which was included an eagle three at the 10th .The match was square after 27 holes, lfUt from that point Padgham putted badly. Cotton had cards of 71—72 and Padgham 72—71. Cotton played brilliantly throughout the event and in the third round had an amazing 31 out against Martin. Bobby Jones’s Status. A question which has been discussed a great number of times is whether Bobby Jones, the noted American golfer. is an amateur or a professional, writes J. Perrier, the Australian open and amateur champion. In the Masters’ tournament, at Augusta, ho was listed among the amateur entrants and given the privilege when partnered by a professional of teeing up first. Although the line of clubs which hears his name is sold wherever golf i*> plaved, and his moving pictures earned him £IOO,OOO, he has never taught golf nor played for a money prize. But, for all that, most Americans regard' him as the greatest professional of all time. A Brilliant Round. Considering the conditions under which he recorded his score last weekend, C. 11. Ward’s 74 must be considered an excellent effort. The heavy state of the Awatapu. course made low scoring very difficult, but this did not worry Ward. He recorded birdies at the second and third holes and at the third was putting for an eagle, but the putt just stayed out of the hole. He was out in 35 —one under par—but slipped two strokes on the homeward journey and recorded 37, His card read: —

American Open Championship. According to the latest advice received from the United States there seems to be a lot of conjecture as to the player with the most chance of winning the American open championship, which is to he played in Cleveland in June. Walter Hagen, whose record shows him to he the greatest winner of all time, is a great judge of young players, and selects Jimmy Demaret to win the championship. Having made the winter tour with the professionals, Hagen says that, in Demaret, Hogan, Nelson and Oliver, the game has four of the most formidable players he has seen for some time. Of these he gives Demaret- the best chance of success in the open, as he considers him, possessed of the best temperament. Nelson, the present open champion, is a very skilful golfer, but Hagen says more than skill is wanted to-day.

Out: 5 3 4 3 4 5 3 5 3 —35 In: 4 4 4 4 6 5 3 5 4—39