GOLF

NZ Truth, Issue 1017, 23 May 1925, Page 14

GOLF

IRON SHOTS. (By "Sammy.") You can tell a golfer by the way he uses his irons. With wooden clubs length is everything, with irons direction is everything and length nothing, or at least length ought not to be anything, for a man should never have any doubt that the club he is employing will take the ball as far as it is required, with the greatest ease. When such a doubt occurs, it should be always removed by exchanging the club for one more powerful. Long hitting without the following-up by straight iron play is useless. The chief mistake m iron play is that one plays . to the ;full value of the club with top long a swing, with swings too much like a wooden club. A full swing Avith an iron should seldom be made, for when it is made the necessary control over direction is lost. A three-quarter swing should generally be the limit of an iron. When doubts are entertained that the length will not be gained a more powerful club should be used. For all iron shots, pivot less, which will mean the left foot keeps well on the ground. It must move a little but try and keep the heel steady and not come off the ground more than an inch or so. This steadying of the left foot does a great deal towards steadying the body and makes you concentrate on direction almost unconsciously. It also tends to make the shots come chiefly from the arm and wrists, where what we may call direction shots ought to come from, and not from the shoulders and the body. Swing slowly back and endeavor to keep the left arm straight, which will enable you to acquire the three-quarter swing. Never hurry an iron shot; it is the deliberate stroke of the game. Hit down and through the ball, allowing the right arm to go straight through on a line to the pin.

Hit down all the way from the top of the swing right through the ball, the head of the iron will lift the ball so there is no necessity for scooping. Stand fairly square, with the feet much closer together than for the wood. This will make certain the left foot does not pivot too much and the arms do their correct work. Never grip too tight; a firm grip is not a rigid clutch of the club. By standing nearer the ball with closer feet, a more upright swing is obtained and this is what is required m iron shots; use clubs not too long. If you cannot manage your iron consult a pro. who will advise you if you have an iron to suit you. When you have sacrificed the desire for length with irons and have concentrated on the control of the ball you are on the one track for sound iron play. Always remember, a straight left arm up and a straight right through. The slight pivot of the body will allow all the roundness of the swing that is required. :: :: : : The player who slices and pulls gets the full A'alue of his sub. He uses up more of the course than the player who hits pin -splitters (a straight shot). Hold the left thumb down the shaft of the club. Hold the right slightly over; it: should be touching the first finger. The right thumb should never be Helpingv to grip the club tightly. Allow it^'.to lie on the handle of the club, nofcv.-ciench it. Just as- a pugilist uses his body for the shortest of punches, so the golfer should use:;his body for the shortest of approaches. Body movement is the source the professional taps his energy and power, m approaching. Watch them, feet on the ground, pivoting from the hips. The short arm swing, then the return screw and short punch through from the hip. It is estimated that if all the golf balls used m New Zealand m twelve months were placed m a straight line they would reach from Wellington to Palmerston. Provided, of course, that all caddies were placed under lock and key for the time being. . H. P. Dale, the young Eltham player who showed up well m tournaments last year, is again showing good form on his own links and is returning scores under 80 every round. Last year's experience will be helpful this year to this young player who spends plenty of spare time m pi-actise. : : . : : : : Wonder how many C 2 golfers there are m N.Z.? ' Never rush a shot by hitting too soon. Remember it is the club head which hits the ball. So keep the weight out of the shot and allow the club to swing. Then the weight will come into the shot after the club head, not before. J. P. Somers officiated at the opening of the Te Aroha Golf Club season. Since the inception of the club fifteen years, ago, Mr. Somers has held the office of president of the club and has regularly given buttons for trophies. To mark his fifteen years' service to the club the golfers of Te Aroha are. to present him with a trophy worthy of his record service. :: :: :: The best way to learn to playmashie shots is to go out and watch a professional play ■ them. Walter Hagen says Miss Collett is the greatest woman golfer m the world, "but of course I may be wrong. She seems to have every shot that any woman golfer could have; and m. addition . has a wonderful long game which no woman can match." Walter has been coaching Miss Collett for months and the object is the British ladies' open. Last year Home professionals said Miss Wethered could hit a golf ball with greater accuracy than any living player. This season Miss Wethered has caused a great deal of surprise by refusing to enter for any competitions except the open championship. Ther.2 is something m the air and let's hope the two great lady golfers meet m that, event and settle the question.

Playing over the Eltham course with his brother ,Leo, Jim Quin put up a new record for the course: 353444444 — 35. The course is nearly 3000 yds, so the score will take some beating. The best ball of the brothers was 33. Five holes were played m one over three.

:s :: , : : Manawatu beat Wanganui by seven games. to five. L. Seifeft played a fine 79 to square his match against Jack Gpss. The excellent ' condition of the course may have helped J. M. Hussej' to: return the score of the day— a 70. J.M., however, since being elected president of ithe P.G.A. has advanced his game to suit the position and is playing m a style, much improved. Constant tuition must' tell m the end and now this player is going to reap the benefit of his long spejl of coaching and "Sammy" wishes him never a score higher than that 76.

Stands America where she did. She claimed one great feat of golf: two players halving a hole m one. Now two ladies in' England do the same trick. Any' day now the- cables will teTl. : us three players halved a holo m one; — m U.S.A. Anyway we have the wood on them, we can pay the. penalty.

In five minutes personal observation you can learn more about the game than m a year's study of books. Acting on this the pro, Jas. Watt, m his coaching trips to the country clubs usually gives an evening- lecture and exhibition of shots. In the course of the evening hundreds of balls are hit arid players can study tha movements and follow the explanations which ■"are given with every stroke. : , v '

I've had a souse because I mentioned the other week it was time "Brick" Budd won another championship. An admirer of Budd has informed me that Budd last season won the championship cup at the Takapau tournament. Kapi Tareha won the cup the year before, so it is quite a class meeting. I'm glad to hear the news and may say that as this is the third week "Brick" has been "mentioned m despatches" he had better pull m his belt a hole and clean up another. When m doubt on the green — Be up. T. Simpson had a real day out playing a bogey competition at Hamilton. He finished 7 up on the colonel. Tom plays under the disability of a short leg. yet when on the job I doubt if there is a finer player with irons than he. He has a Winter Show Cup to his credit, and "Sammy" hopes he will win again next month. If you are a bad putter, practise getting your mashie shots nearer the hole and so make putting easier. An interesting challenge game was played during the week-end on the Belmont (Wanganui) links between Li and J. . Quin (Eltham) and J. Goss and J. M. Hussey (Wanganui). Imlay Saunders was to have partnered Goss, but owing to indisposition could not play. The match was decided over 36 holes, the Wanganui players proving too strong for the'Quin Bros. In the morning Goss and Hussey won by two up, and repeated the performance m the afternoon game, eventually winning 3 up and two. The New Zealand champion played a .fine game, but did not appear to be •at home on the greens. J. Goss played his usual sound game and returned the best card for the afternoon round, notching a creditable 77. When you sne two players searching for a ball, it is seldom difficult to tell which of them it belongs to. Slow motion golf was the order at the first English close championship played at Hoylake. There were tramway drivers and bricklayers playing, and if it had been the bricky who was so slow on the greens there may not have been any cause for the outcry. No doubt the players who required five minutes studying their putts on nearly every green were smart men ..-from town. So there was no excuse, or union pace for them to adhere to. What with Major Gillies' Beer Bottle tees and players talcing five minutes to hole a putt, golf m England is going to make the R. and A. wake up and rewrite new rules with a tee limit and a shot time limit., :: . V: . :: Keep your eye on the ball. Mrs. Hamilton and K. Brookfield won the first competition — a mixed foursome — played on the new Glendowie links. That trophy will be worth inscribing and a place on the sideboard. Swing your putter slow. In playing mashie shots, of say under fifty yards, keep the feet flat on the ground. Tho only pivot — which is slight— comes from a give ! of the knee with just a turning movement of the hip. The right knee gives a little more m the follow through. Pivoting too much, with the heels leaving the turf, means "scooping" the ball up, and should be avoided. -