“Put It Down And Forget”

Manawatu Times, Volume LV, Issue 6864, 21 May 1932, Page 13

“Put It Down And Forget”

Value Of Relaxation For Players In Big Golf Matches

03gg«|3P||Hf|5HAT the success of Ainerican golfers in comparison with British players is due *° 'heir relieving the strain and tension aswhStSSu’©® sociatcd with continuous MirfSlAyi play in big events, _ is suggested by a man with wide knowledge of golf and golfers on both sides of the Atlantic, in a letter to the golf critic of the London “Observer.” His views, and the “Observer” critic’s comments thereon, make interesting reading. _ . “Has it ever occurred to the British player that the way to success in golf is to get away from it as much as possible?” asks, the correspondent. “At first sight this may appear paradoxical, but a long acquaintance with the leading personalities in the game has convinced me that the more a player thinks and worries about his golf, and what is likely to happen to him, the worse be performs. Recognising the truth of this, the American, on completing (he business of the day, seeks an avenue of escape from the everlasting chatter about golf, of which there can be no more boring subject when conducted, as it always is, on the basis of ‘What might have been.’ “The American finds a _ release in bridge, a game which, by its very nature, compels the player to switch his mind to the consideration of problems totally different from those connected with golf. Generally speaking, the British player talks ‘shop’ incessantly, doping his mind on irrelevant matters until it almost refuses to function. If I were the manager of an international team of golfers there w'ould be a injunction forbidding, as far as possible, anv reference to golf after the day s work is concluded. I am sure that each man would play infinitely better as a consequence.” Hagen’s Method. As an example of complete release from the atmosphere of golf, the correspondent cites the case of Walter Hagen in the British championship at Muirfield three years ago, which he won by one of the finest exhibitions of skilful and concentrated play ever seen in a world event. Muirfield is about 16 miles from Edinburgh, to which city Hagen went every evening for relaxation in the way of a theatre, a dance, or a little dinner with friends, at which reference to golf was taboo. In this way Hagen came back to the next day s work with a mind fresh and alert. It is golfing history that he spread-eagled the field. As a complete and striking contrast, the case of Leo Diegcl is not uninteresting. To this same championship he brought a collection of 53 clubs; not that he asked his caddie to haul the lot round the links day after day, but Diegcl could never make up his mind which clubs to use, and which to leave behind. Of an evening, he would try out the entire bunch, and make a fresh selection for the following day. Diegel would take the clubs into the professional’s shop for slight adjustments; he would talk about them, and the shots that each was expected to. produce in the winning of a _ championship on which he bad set his heart. Uncrowned Kings. Diegel failed, because, firstly, he had too many implements, and, secondly, golf was* to him a kind of religion, which absorbed his entire thoughts and actions. Diegcl has never won a national championship, and I very much doubt if he ever will. Like Abe Mitchell and Macdonald Smith, it seems likely that this fervent American golfer, steeped in theory, will go down to posterity as one of the uncrowned kings of golf. It is significant that the successful players of the past and the present era—men like Vardon, Braid, Taylor, John Ball, Harold Hilton, . Robert Jones and Hagen—made it a point during an important event to get as far away as possible from the asphyxiating atmosphere of golf. Jones, for instance, would retire to his room and read a detective story, the best form of mental dope, so he declared, for the tired golfer. That the strain is terrific was shown by his collapse on concluding the last round of the championship at Hoylakc, two years ago. “Never again,” he said, “will I go through this horrible torture,” and lie has kept his word. Only his superb skill, and the power to control himself during the actual play, have enabled him to achieve so many brilliant triumphs. “Let others experience the torments,” said Jones, “I have finished.” In competitive golf, as also in ordin-

ary match play between friends, the ideal outlook is to treat each shot as a separate entity. To look back on the match, mostly strewn with regrets, is just as fatal as to anticipate what is ahead. This may be a counsel of perfection, but the man who wins championships, and the fellow with a reputation for pocketing our halCcrowns, forgets everything but the shot in hand. Whether it works out that way, or not, each shot is regarded by him as the winning shot. The Player’s Salvation. I once asked Hagen the principle on which he worked. “ ‘Put it down on the score card and forget it,’ has been my creed ever since I started to play seriously,” replied Hagen. “What has gone, has gone,” he added, “and 1 no amount of worrying will recall the past. I never permit a missed putt to get the better of me; it is all part of the game. A slip here and there is usually balanced by a bit of luck at some . other hole, as, for example, the dropping of a long approach putt, the holing of a chip shot, or the hitting of a tree when the ball, heading straight for trouble, comes back on to the fairway. ‘Nobody

is going to give you the chance to replay tlic hole which you have just murdered; the hole yet to play is your hope of salvation.” There is nothing haphazard about Hagen’s golf, though some of his exploits might possibly convey to the casual observer a totally different impression. “Snatching ‘bii'dies’ is a great pastime,” he says, “but the player should be warned against over-eager-ness lest he fail even to get the par figure. I try to regulate my golf so that there will be one continuous string of par holes, letting the ‘birdies’ come where they will. It is. easier to coax them into one’s net this way. As the player has no control over the roll of the ball, the sinking of a long putt, or the placing dead to the pin of a long iron shot, or a pitch sometimes adds an unexpected thrill.” There is time enough to struggle for “birdies” and “eagles” when hard pressed, and Hagen has often found himself in this predicament. Sometimes he succeeds, as on that memorable day at Hoylakc, eight years ago, and sometimes he fails. “At any rate, it is worth trying for,” he adds, “because the fickle public forget even if they ever give a thought to the player who finishes second. For all the good it does him his name might just as well be omitted from the book of records.” But the scramble for success, with only a slender chance of winning, is a situation that has never failed to fascinate golf’s greatest gambler when risks have to be taken.