GOLF.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XLIII, Issue XLIII, 10 September 1909, Page 1

GOLF.

\ (By Golfpr.) "; The r.oiulou "Times" gives an inter- : , estini* description of George Duncan j . and Jiis methods of play. Inter alia it j , says: — "George Duncan's win in the'] tournament over the new municipal ' 1 course at North Berwick is almost cer- j \ tainly the best thing that he has yet 1 ] done, and it would not be surprising ! ; to find lhat it has made him a percept- J ibly more' formidable player hereafter. ■ 1 It is impossible to s,ee him play even a !, few shots without realising the enor- i ( mous possibilities of his game; but, :, up till now he has never quite shown , (lie power of sustained effort which is necessary to win a competition over 72 . holes against a modern professional ', field. He has the capacity for making j an occasional very bad stroke, almost in- '; separable from so very dashing a me- . thod of play, and that ono mistake has . hitherto Kenerally brought others in its j train. There can, however, have been , very few even indifferent strokes in , his four rounds at North Berwick ; his , total of 290 over a long course will bear ; .. comparison with anything in recent , golf,, and he beat a field which comprised every professional of note except . Braid — certainly a notable exception — , by seven elear strokes, thus providing j another illustration of the truth of i Taylor's aphorism that the only way to : win a championship is to win it easily, i The article goes on to say that the , effect produced on the spectator by Duncan's play is rather a curious one. ( The first time that one sees him, if he . happens to be playing his good game, one thinks him the most attractive of all golfers to watch; the astonishinn; quickness with v/hich, after a merely rudimentary waggle, the ball ia sent flying away is wonderfully fascinating, and so is the glorious whole-heartedness with whioh he hits it. Then after a time this tremendous dash loses something of its glamour, and thero is not a very great deal left to look at. There is not much variety about the manner of hitting, and Duncan's style has, - not the quality of enabling the onlooker to see •beforehand exactly what _ the player wants to do. a quality which, above all others, makes a golfer a permanently interesting study ; nobody can prow tired of watching Mr Hilton playing spoon shots, or Mr Maxwell hurling his body forward in his low forcing iron shots up to tho green. The particular shot) which the writer always enjoys seeing Duncan play is tlie short pitch with cut ; he plays this stroke in an indefinably attractive way, and whether the ball flies high or low, there is always a very heavy cut on it ; one can almost imaaino oneself hearing it fizz as it pitches, so forcibly does it grip the turf. The least pretty and also the least effective part of "his game in his putting. On big occasions tis quick little stroke is apt to degenerate into a snap at the ball, although it should be said that those who play much with him will generally be found to pronounce him a good putter.