NEW GOLF CLUB.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVI, Issue 20426, 30 November 1929, Page 15

NEW GOLF CLUB.

STEEL SHAFT AUTHORISED*

AN AMERICAN INNOVATION.

USE IN THE> DOMINION, >

With the decision of the Royal an 3 Ancient Golf Club to permit the use of steel-shafted golf clubs in English competitions, one of the outstanding differ* enccs between the rules of the game in the United States and in England has , disappeared. For many years the use of \ such clubs has been officially sanctioned in all competitions in -America, including the national operf and amateur cha.m« . pionships. On the other hand, the Eng« , lish ruling body has withstood pressura brought to bear in the past and has re* 1 fused to allow such clubs to be used in any competitions organised by clubs in ; the United Kingdom, as well as all tha. Dominions and Colonies. The only British' possessions where steel-shafted clubs have been used up to the present have been Canada, which followed the United States rule, and Lima and Jamaica, where the tropical climate is injurious to hickory shafts. The ruling will now permit the use of such clubs in all New Zealand competitions for the first time. The change was made by the Rules of > Golf Committee of the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews, which comprises the following members:—Captain Angus V. Harnbro (chairman), Baron Francois de Bellet, Messrs. W. Norman Boase, C. K. Hutchison, H. B. Sharp, J., Stuart Paton, John Ball, A. C. M* Croome, H. E. Taylor, R. H. de Monti morency, R. H. Wethered, J. Frederick Byers, and Lieutenant-Colonel P. G. Mj Skene.

The Rules Quoted

The steel shaft is an American inno-i vation and it has been said that the sub* stitution of steel for hickory makes practically no difference to the quality of the golf shot produced. At the same time > it was considered that the vast majority , of golfers would resent any radical i; ; change in ball or club being forced upon them. •

The rules of golf devoted to the form and make of clubs state:— ' "The Rules of' Golf Committee intii mates that it will not sanction any substantial departure from the traditional and accepted form and make of golf clubs, which, in its opinion, consist of a plain shaft and a head which jdo<;s not contain any mechanical contrivance, such as springs; it also regards as illegal tha use of such clubs as those of the malletheaded type, or such clubs as _ have the neck so bent as to produce a similar effect."

Effect on the Cost

According to some authorities the steel-* shafted club does not transgress any conditions in the rules regarding tha make of clubs. Steel has already proved •- an admirable substitute for Wood in shafts, but probably the demand for. really good hickory would survive; An* other important factor in favour of steel, if golfers demand it, is the possibility of a sulastantial reduction in the cost of * ciubs. Hickory has to be imported by British manufacturers but steel shafts are already being made and exported to America, and British steel is considered the best in the world. As far as New Zealand is concerned - there have been occasional instances of , the steel-shafted club being used as an experimental odd club. These clubs not been employed in local events as they were barred by the rules. Players who have used them have expressed themselves as satisfied with the result. General opinion, as far as it can be tested, hesitates to suggest that the innovation will become immediately - popular in the Do* minion, but that the cheapness of th* new club will be a decided attraction.