HANDICAP IN GOLF.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVI, Issue 20362, 17 September 1929, Page 12

HANDICAP IN GOLF.

- • ' . ~ KEYNOTE OF REDUCTION.

PERSEVERANCE AN ESSENTIAL.

HOW TQ REACH SCRATCH MARK.

"I know there are an enormous number of golfers who are possessed of tho same ambition that I had, that is, to reduce my handicap, and it is to these that I address this brief article," writes G. Alfreds, in an English paper. "The dictum that 'practice makqs perfect' is applicable to a great many things, I used to think that it was applicable to golf, but now I am not so sure, as perfection is a far-away goal for tho golfer. "While on tho subject of practice, I used to play regularly on a certain links where an elderly gentleman and his wife indulged in a game daily. He told mo ho had practised for 20 years. I had tho misfortune to get bohind them ono day while playing a short hole, but in the end they waved mo through. As I passed I heard him say to' her, 'How many strokes have you played, pet ?' She replied, 'Thirty-five.' Saying, 'Then, this is your hole,' he picked up the ball and walked on to the next tee. I do not really feel sure, therefore, that practice actually brings perfection. But to return

to my own case. Perfect Set of Clubs. "I decided to supplement practice by taking all tho advice I could get hold of. I first got tho right clubs, not too heavy, so as to under-club myself and to become their slave, but of exactly the right weight to suit my vigorous yet not too muscular figure. With the aid of ono or two standard works and an accurate weighing machine, a tape measure, and an instrument for ascertaining that the lay of tho clubs was harmoniously coordinated, I at last, at vast expense; collected tho perfect set for my requirements. "I then learnt by heart tho various axioms, 'keep your eye on the ball,' 'never raise your head,' 'follow through and finish the stroke,' 'do not drop the shoulder,' etc., until I was word perfect. I found that the one or two lessons I had from professionals rather cramped my stylo, as one advocated a full swing, another a half swing, while a third asked me if I was any good at ping pong! "So remembering the case of a wellknown colonel who; at the ago of 51, took up golf, and by his own efforts and the invention of a simple gadget,, reduced his handicap to scratch, I decided to persevere with my own efforts in my own way. Using a Diagram. "Every day I went out with only one club, taking with mo a diagram of 'the perfect swing and how to make it,' and a small boy carrying a full-sized cheval. This I regarded as necessary in the search for perfection, although a rather expensive luxury, as while practising a push shot with my mashie niblick I sliced at right angles and broke tho pier glass. "When perfect in the use of clubs through the green I concentrated on putting. 1 quite realise that more games are lost on the putting greens than anywhere else and I decided to make up for any deficiencies in my 'through the green' game by becoming tho world's perfect putter. I practised putting on a variety of greens, being disturbed by inconsiderate people driving at me, for tho reason that, being so engrossed in my subject, I failed to hear their cries of 'fore.'

"Remembering the facts that 'he who hesitates is lost' and 'never up, never in,' by adopting a special stance and working out by differential calculus the ratio of deflection due to the curve of the ground, windage, etc., I at last became, I may blushingly say, a perfect putter. Perseverance: the Keynote. "Perseverance is the keynote of reducing x>ne's handicap and I would call to the mind of readers who wish to do this those celebrated characters in history who also persevered, such as Job, Bruce (or was it the spider?), Excelsior and •others. , "I would like to add a golf yarn which may bo new to some readers:—'Two players, whose nationality need not be mentioned, we will name them Sandy Mack and Cohen, had nearly finished a great game and were all square on the 17th 'green. Cohen had the honour on the 18th tee and was very anxious to win this hole, which would decide the match. He teed up his ball, addressed it, and on the downward sweep of his driver had a paralytic stroke.« Sandy counted it!' "In reading over the above there is nothing I wish to alter, with the exception of this which should rend, 'How I would like to be scratch.' "