NOTES BI BULGER.

Otago Witness, Issue 3017, 10 January 1912, Page 65

NOTES BI BULGER.

The tournament just concluded at Balruacowen passed oh successfully, despite the tact of tne weather Deing very mixed The number of competitors was not (fiom various causes) quite so large 03 m past years; whpn representatives trom different parts of Australia and all the larger clubs in New Zeaiaaid took part. A remarkable feature of the meeting under review was the large entry from the smaller clubs in Otago and Southland, and the keenness shown augurs well for the future of golf in New Zealand. The golf, judging by the scores, waa not of a very high standard; but allowances must be made owing to the sodden state of the course consequent on the continuous heavy rains of the past few months. Heavy rains overnight with drying winds ami sun during the day had a tendency to make putting very uncertain, lapses in this department of the game bt»ng the main cause of the high scoring each day. Mr David ’Crawford's management of the tournament was excellent, and on every side nothing but praise for the arrangements was hoard. The genial secretary ban a special aptitude for organisation, and his never-failing courtesy under, at times, trying conditions was much appreoiated by everybody. The finish of the championship only goes to show the absurdity of deciding a match of this kind on 18 holes. Of course, it is recognised that the committee must find it a hard matter to eo arrange the programme that it will be acceptable to the majority, and with the limited time at their disposal they do remarkably well. Previous to last year the championship was decided by lour rounds of stroke play,' but this was considered by most to be a tedious method; hence, by way of maxing the championship competition more attractive, it was decided to have two qualiiying rounds of medal play, the 16 best cards to play off by matcn play, To allow of the ctiampdonslrip being decided in the only way a championship should be—viz., 56 holes—there are two courses open to the committee which, I think, are worthy of consideration for the future. Either that the qualifying rounds are played on the first day of the tournament; or, on the other hand, start the penultimate rounds of the championship at 9 o’clock on the to unl adin g day, and, with a reasonable interlude, the final of 36 holes anight easily be played. The latter suggestion is, to my mind, the most feasible, as the light at this time of the year is good up till a late hour, and it is no unusual thing to play three rounds in a day. The first proposal may not bo workable on account of there only being two general holidays, and naturally the commattee, if they wish to popularise the tournament, must consider the majority. HOW YARDON TRAINED. Mr U. B. Macfarlane. casting about for some out-of-the-way explanation for Vardon’s success in the recent open championship, has discovered it to a wondering world in ‘‘Golf Illustrated. ’ It is not balls, nor club facings, nor, except secondarily, Yardou himself. It is, he tells us, training, a system, a diet. The diet is set lorth, and its underlying principle is moderation that many would think fasting, and its main features is vegetarianism. "A good dinner in the evening” is the only chanoc meat has. Alcohol and smoking were reduced to mere forms, and a steady 12 miles’ walking was all the daily exercise Vardon took outside his two rounds of golf during til* five months he submitted himself to the rigors of a system. It is far away from the beefsteak and champagne that Mr Hutchinson once recommended as the 'golfers lunch; far enough from the second helping of hotpot or the small cherry brandy that gratifies just before wo turn out for an afternoon round in the winter. Ono wonders how firm Vardon’s faith in his system was, say, at the end of tho second round, how inquisitive he was as to meals that Duncan was taking and the amount Ray or Mr Hilton - he of tho cigarettes—was smoking. And a curious lililo incident is recorded. Between the third and fourth rounds, “instead of having a short rest and having his lunch there” (a system clearly requires seclusion, if not secrecy), “ho hung about between the rounds, and, worse than all, had a very heavy lunch.” Possibly his memory went bacx to some long ago delectable championship, when a second help of the undercut had seemed to make a new man of him and ail the difference. Anyway, look at tho result. —74, 74, 75, and 80 f On Bio Friday, under Iris trainer s severe eye, Vardon toyed with the wing of a chicken at lunch, and as the night the day, ho won. There may lie a great deal tn it. If we do not actually eat too much, we probably eat with too little discretion. It is very nice to think that Vardon’s '.submission was so thoroughly rewarded, but one responds easily to Mr Chesterton’s dictum about there being more in the man who eats pate de fo; gras on impulse than in tho one who eats grape nuts on principle. . Mr Macfarlane tells us a nice little story. Arnaud Massy, it appears, said to Mr Brown, Vardon’s immortal trainer. If I had had ‘Vardon’s training I would have won.” to which the other replied, Could Vardon putt like you. Massy, he would have won.” And yet Massy managed to putt in spite of his own misgivings, although untrained. Mas there just that wing of a chicken and its breakfast equivalent between them? And ail sorts of questions crop up. hat - happened to all the training when they both went over to Versailles? And whatever would happen to Massy s golf if he trained .