STEEL-SHAFTED CLUBS

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIV, Issue 22619, 6 January 1937, Page 15

STEEL-SHAFTED CLUBS

OPINIONS AMONG GOLFERS SEVERAL PREFER HICKORY Seven years have passed since steelshafted golf clubs were first legalised by the Royal and Ancient Committee in England. Yet somo golfers still stick to hickory shafts, and recently 1 have heard of several cases where golfers have returned to this typo of club aftergiving the steel shafts an extended trial, says an Knglish writer. It seems to be particularly in regard to the irons that golfers like'hickory, and even those who use steel-shafted woods often prefer hickory irons. ,J. K. Mellor, the French Open Amateur champion of 11)27, has just given ii]) steel shafts and secured a new set of hickory ones from Fred Whiting, the St. George's (Sandwich) professional. Mellor says that he does not notice anv loss of length in driving as a result of the change, and be thinks that when it comes to long approaches with the irons lie can control the ball better in a side wind if ho is using hickory. Curiously this was also the experience of Abo Mitchell, who tried out the steel shafts when they were more or less new, and then went back to his old hickory set; and of the live times Open champion, J. H. Taylor. Mitchell found that when lie wanted to drift or to hold the hall lie could not do so with steel shafts, and that in plaving for the green, no matter what the conditions, he had to play straight for the flagstick. But he had become so used to playing the out-to-in shot with hickory that he could not play any other, even when using a steel shaft, and consequently ho was missing the greens. Henry Cotton, on the other hand, found that steel shafts camo natural to him, and lie can use them to play the ball to the green with the same sort of slight draw from right to left that Mitchell found impossible. Tin's method, by the way, was shown us by the Americans.

Two of the best-known golfers who still use hickory irons are Miss Joyce Wethcred and her brother, Roger. J. B. Reek, the Walker Cup international, is another amateur who is faithful to hickory in all his clubs. The Wethereds are very fine players with their hickory irons, and Roger is especially powerful with the now almost obsolete clcek.