GOLF

Otago Daily Times, Issue 23705, 12 January 1939, Page 4

GOLF

By Divot THE PART OF WRISTWORK The success of a number of small men in recent golf competitions has raised the question whether height is essential in first-class golf. In England recently Dai Rees won the match play championship from a strong field of professionals, beating another diminutive player in E. E. Whitcombe. In Australia there was the success of Eric Cremin, a stripling whose approaching and putting bordered on wizardry in his final with N. von Nida, also another small man. And it could not be said that either A. D. Locke, winner of the New Zealand Open, or P. G. F. Smith, the new amateur champion, is a big man. although neither is short. Both are of the slim, wiry type. Discussing this subject, an Australian writer says that golfers have not forgotten the deeds of Gene Sarazen. whose lack of inches in no way impeded him in his golfing career. Tommy Armour. Bobby Cruickshank, formerly of Great Britain and later of the United

States, and P. J. Mahon, the Irish professional, are just a few of the smaller brigade that have made themselves prominent in even the greatest company. In Australia we have often en]oyed the performances of Carnegie Clark, Tommy Howard. Walter Clark, T. S. McKay, D. J. Davies, and A. N. Waterson, he writes. And a few Saturdays back J. S. Macqueen, for many years unbeatable at Cammeray, showed that height has not been necessary to win. Admittedly our best have generally been bigger men, but the success of the smaller men has certainly revealed that, after all, height is not the main essential in the physical make-up of champions. Whence Comes the Power?

Rees must be one of the smallest first-class professionals in the world. His height is about sft 6in and his weight is approximately 9st. Yet he can outdrive most players, and at Walton Heath recently was on a 530 yards hole with a drive and a No. 2 iron. Sarazen gave Australian galleries wonderful exhibitions of long hitting. When he won the 1932 Open championship at Prince's Sandwich, on a course of 6890 yards, he only needed one wooden shot from the fairway. His length during that championship was amazing. Down in Melbourne, when he won the Australian Open in 1936, Sarazen also got great length without once deserting the fairways. Where did Sarazen get his power? Where, too, does young Rees get the power to send the ball long distances? The same can be asked of N. von Nida. possibly the longest hitter of a ball among the leaders in Australia. The answer will probably be from the wrists, forearms, and hands, correct timing, and the clubhead coming to the ball with amazing speed. / Value of Strong Wrists '4

Now, most of these factors are dependent upomthe part played by the wrists. Most of our best professionals have been endowed with powerful forearms and wrists. Hours spent at the bench making and repairing clubs have enabled them to develop their forearms and wrists*. The brothers Whitcombe come from farming stock.. Vardon, J. H. Taylor and Mitchell were gardeners before golfers. Braid and Sarazen were carpenters. Von Nida worked in a slaughter yard in Brisbane, and the strength in his wrists is amazing, due to the fact that his task called for strength. . . Years too, of playing or swinging a club have all helped in the development of arms and forearms. Shake hands with almost any of our leading golfers and notice the strength of the grip and the power in the fingers. Strong wrists and forearms are invaluable to the golfer, for the ball must be hit crisply, particularly the short pitches, and unless' the player has charge of the club these shots cannot be played. How to Practise There is a story of a young girl who. keenly anxious to succeed at golf, found that her fingers were not strong enough to grip the club with any degree of firmness. So her father secured a tennis ball, placed it in a pocket in her dress, and advised her to squeeze the ball whenever she was walking along the street. Following his instructions, the girl very quickly developed strength in her hands, with the result that later she became one of the best players in the land. The British open champion, R. A. Whitcombe-. swings a club daily for several minutes, gripping with the leit hand only. He concentrates on this, doing the correct swing, and by doing so develops his left arm and wrist. MACDONALD SMITH RETIRES One of the greatest golfers never to have won a British and American Open championship, Macdonald Smith, formerly of Scotland but now a resident of the United States, has announced his retirement from competitive golf. Mac Smith, as he was known, was born at Carnoustie, Scotland, in 1890, but he went to America before he was 20 years of age. Here he enjoyed remarkable success, even if the Open eluded him, though in 1910 he tied for the title and was beaten in the play-off by his brother.. Willie Smith. ' . Mac Smith's record in the, British Open will give some idea of his greatness and also his remarkable consistency (says "H. W. 5.." in the Sydney Mail), twice he finished in second place thrice in third place and twice in fourth place. Over in the United States he won all the important tournaments, tieing once for the Open, finishing second again, and fourth in the 1934-36 championships. Close to Success

Macdonald Smith made many attempts to win the British Open Championship. He led the field at Prestwick in 1925, having five shots to spare with 18 holes to play. That looked as if he could not lose the title. But after lunch a holiday crowd from Glasgow invaded the links and it was impossible to maintain any semblance of law and order. Smith could scarcely swing his club for fear of hitting someone, and he had to play second shots over the heads of the gallerv. He finished with 82 to lose the title to Jim Barnes by two shots. Mac Smith was naturally disgusted with his showing and also the antics of the gallery. He said he would never again return to England, but after a few years he was again back in the championship field. But his nerves had been to some extent rudely'disturbed, and he lacked the control in critical situations. In 1930 he was runner-up in both the American and British Opens. That year the British Open was played at Carnoustie, where he had learnt his game. On the sixteenth tee in the last round he needed pars to win, but he put on a six at the seventeenth hole and finished second to R. T. (Bobby) Jones. Returning in 1932, he was second to Gene Sarazen in the Open Championship at Sandwich.

Whitcombes for Golf."