GOLF.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 20252, 10 November 1927, Page 4

GOLF.

By Divot.

HINT FOR THE WEEK. “To be forewarned is to be forearmed." When a beginner is buying a set of clubs it is a wise procedure to go to a professional or consult an experienced golfer. There are many essential qualities such as length, balance, weight, grip, etc., to look for in a club. Many times the beginner is so engrossed in the make and appearance of a club that he forgets the most important point and the one that will help him to a successful career on the links. The lie of the club is the first and foremost consideration. Tall people, as a rule, use the upright lie while short people adopt the flat swing. There are many golfers who are neither one nor the other and they are called semi-flat swingers. Whatever your swing is, see to it that all your clubs have a corresponding lie. One cannot possibly develop a true and graceful swing if the clubs used do not possess this similarity. A dozen members of the Otago Golf Club will journey to Oamaru on Saturday where they will lie the guests of tho North Otago Club for the week-end. In view of the return match between the St. Clair and Invercargill clubs this week-end a quiet Saturday is the order of the day for those who will not be able to make the trip south. On account of the awkward train time-table most of the tourists will journey by car. A good week-end of golf is anticipated if the Southland weather holds good. During this month the members of the Otago Golf Club will have their attention taken up with the Bruntsfield Medal match which will require two Saturday afternoons—l9th and 26th inst —before finality can be reached. Concurrently with these rounds handicap prizes will be played for. Next Thursday* afternoon Mrs E. Hudson and Mrs Jacobs will entertain the ladies of St, Clair and supply the trophies for a match. Tho weather was on its best behaviour on Saturday and local players had o good afternoon’s golf. At Balmaoewen links a St. Andrew’s Cross bogey competition was played and resulted in a tie between J. Gordon Dick and R. Dick who both had the meritorious score of 5 up. The next in order of merit were J. S. Monro and G. Buchanan with cards of 4 up and D. H. Butcher and J. R. Lemon followed hard on their heels with 3 up each. With a net score of 79, Miss Kyle, a 17handicap lady, won the A grade competition played on Balmacowen links last Friday. The runner-up, Mrs Callender, went round in 95, and, with a smaller handicap, was just beaten. Miss N. Glendining (11) and Mrs Caffin (14) had 83 each and Mrs Bell (10) and Mr s Barron (15) both had 84. In the B grade section Mrs Irvine’s net score of 77 was seven strokes better than the next score. On Tuesday afternoon a medal match was played at St. Clair in ideal weather. Mrs Butcher wa s at tho head of tho A grade with a card reading 93—17—76. Tho junior section was won by Mrs J. Kilpatrick with 80 net. The championship of the Feilding Ladies’ Golf Club was played last week in perfeot weather. The course was in splendid condition and everything favoured good golf. In the final the New Zealand lady chainniqn (Mrs Collinsqn, Palmerston North) fained a narrow victory over Mrs J. S. 'ingey, of Feilding. The match was all square at the end of 18 holes._ Mrs Collinson, however, played the nineteenth a r tt!o better than her opponent and won the championship. The English ladies’ golf championship> open to English-born players only, was won the other day by Mrs Guodalla, who used to bo better known as Miss Edith Leitch. In the final Mrs Guedalla just managed to beat Miss Enid Wilson, who was a semilalist in the British ladies’ championship some months ago. Miss Wilson is only 17 years of ago, and yet she has already some experience of championships. The older generation of players cannot for long stand up to Mis s Wilson and her younger sisters. Miss Joyce Wethered, one of the leading lady golfers of the world, writing about the movements of the drive in the Golfers’ Magazine says:—“As soon as the clubhead begins to move, the left wrist must be allowed to start and turn, gradually over towards tho body. This rolling of the left wrist is similar to the wrist action used in turning the handle of a door from left to right. Taking it for granted that the head ■ has been kept still, it will come naturally to the player to allow Her left hip to turn slightly outwards, her left shoulder to come round until the point of fc is in line with her left eye and the ball, and her left knee to bend. At the top of the swing, if tho actions have been correct, the left arm will be nearly straight, the right elbow will be close to tne player’s side, tho toe of tho club should be pointed towards tho ground, and the shaft of the club should bo in a horizontal position. This last point is of vital importance, as, if the club is allowed to drop beyond this position, the swing is too full, and the player is inclined to lose control. Tho club must come down the way.it goes up.” On the fairway leading to the eighteenth green at St. Clair a gully of a swampy nature runs up from tho water hazard and cuts the fairway in half. Two black pegs are placed near tho bottom of this gully and players whose shots land or finish in this hazard above thes e pegs from the last tee may pick up and. drop on the fairway without penalty. During wet weather, however, many good drives land in the swamp and bury so deeply that they become lost balls. The reason why this portion of fairway has been left undrained is to provide a trap for a badly sliced tee shot from the eleventh. On a recent Saturday when tho wind was blowing strongly from the south a player- sliced a ball from this too. Tho wind accentuated the slice and the ball dropped into this gully on top of some mossy substance, much to the annoyance of tho player. A niblick was brought into play and tho ball given a good hard blow. Two balls rose into the air with a large piece of earth. Whilst in the. act of replacing the turf the top of a third ball was seen sticking out of tho divot mark. The found balls were quite good and had evidently not been long buried. The wind, after all, wag not an ill one. The Squadron Cup, presented by the Commodore and officers of H.M.S. Diomede and H.M.S. Dunedin for competition by the first eight A team players of the Wellington and Miramar Clubs in their interclub matches, was won this season by Miramar. In 16 matches Miramar won 9 games and Wellington 6, with one game squared. The game between the “number ones ” last week-end (says an exchange) was responsible for good golf on both sides. J. H. Drake proved too good for A. D. S. Duncan, his card of 73 leaving few loopholes. Arthur Duncan hag not been playing his best for some time, but was getting back on his long game, though for once his short game, usually so dpadly, was not so reliable. The action of a spectator at the Northern Boys’ Golf Championship, on tho Royal Aberdeen course, Scotland, resulted in the disqualification of J Soott Riddell when he had a lead of 14 strokes over the field. During his second round, Riddell found his ball close to a gorso bush, and a spectator, without Riddell’s consent, uprooted part of the bush. Riddell was thus enabled to get a clear shot at his ball, and so the officials ruled him out of the competition. How far apart should the feet bt held for different shots? Bobby Jones keeps his fairly close together, hardly more than Ift apart from heel to heel f r the drive. Walter Hagen keeps his much wider apart. It is largely a matter of comfort and ease and balance. It is harder to pivot or turn when the feet are too far apart. One should have the feel of balance in addressing the ball, and balance at the top of the swing. This will depend largely upon pi sical make-up. A tall man can keep his feet well apart and still be able to oivot where a fat man could not. The po 'tion of tho feet is more important at the top of the swing. Here one can tell just how well-balanced iiis two main props are. For the golfer of average build, there should be a space of 14in or 15in between the heels for the drive and a shorter range for the irons. The main idea is tiie feel of balance and control, which is a problem for each golfer to work out for himself.