GOLF

Southland Times, Issue 21193, 20 September 1930, Page 18

GOLF

(By

“Cicek.”)

LEADING FIXTURES.

September 22 etc. — American Amateur Championship at Merion Cricket Club, Philadelphia.

Eclectic match on Queen’s Park to-day. Laing Shield match, Riverton Golf Club v. Invercargill Golf Club at Otatara this week-end.

Second qualifying round of the Invercargill Ladies’ Golf Club’s championship will be played at Otatara on Tuesday next. The last handicap reductions on the Park are: W. Fordyce 12 to 10, J. R. Sutton 15 to 14, J. L. D. Duncan 18 to 15, C. J. Colley 19 to 16, W. Barclay to 15. There are one or two members of the Park Club who have not, as yet, paid the green improvement levy. It is up to them to carry out their obligations and make the task of the collector a less unenviable one.

Mr J. D. Rockefeller spent a portion of his ninety-first -birthday in enjoying his usual game of golf. He managed to play seven holes.

A Mataura team of 11 players visited the Park Club on Wednesday afternoon. Instead of playing the usual match play, a medal round on handicap was played. The following players participated, Mataura players being mentioned first: —H. Wilcocks v. R. Miller; T. Orr v. M. Scott; K. McQuillan v. T. 11. Mills; B. Cayford v. M. B. Scully; F. Medley v. J. L. D. Duncan ; T. McQuillan v. J. Kirkland; R. Sherwood v. J. Thom; J. Buchanan v. R. Scott; A. Gourley v. H. McCulloch; J. Mitchell v. S. Wootton; L. Rowe v. O. G. Gilmour. T. McQuillan (Mataura) and M. B. Scully (Queen’s Park) tied for first place with a net 73. Trophies were presented to each. There were many comments by the visitors on the excellent conditions of fairways and greens. They said how lucky town dwellers were on having such a fine links at their doorstep. The new rules provided for the Laing Shield matches were acclaimed by all to be much better than the old ones. They certainly seemed to ensure a more exciting match, which was square on matches and holes after the first four returned to the clubhouse.

C. A. Masters made a great recovery in his Laing Shield match against John Mangan. He was five down and six to go to the Tuatapere player, but put in a strong challenge and finished all-square. D. Cochrane holed in one at the School--house on Wednesday. It is understood the penalty has been paid but the Saturday players are of the opinion that a further penalty should be exacted. The September medal match played at Otatara on the 13th provided a good struggle for top honours in the senior grade. W. Buchan, who was playing good golf, lipped the hloe for a win and, missing the return putt, took second place to Cochrane. The best rounds were:—

The first round of the Invercargill Ladies’ Club championship was played on Thursday under very good conditions\ The four best scores in the A grade were as follows: —Miss Pilcher 91; Miss Henderson 95; Miss M. Stout 98; Mrs Pottinger 99. The four best scores in the B grade were: —Miss Perrin 103; Mrs Israel 104; Miss L. Stout 106; Miss M. Gilkison 107. The winner of the Scott Cup match on Monday was Mrs Hamilton whose card was marked 104—35 —69 an excellent effort even when the perfect playing conditions are taken into account. The ladies are loud in their praise of the greens which, according to many, could scarcely have been improved upon. Mrs Lawless won the C grade competition match with a card reading —36—78 and gained her handicap. Henry Cotton, fresh from his recordbreaking in the Belgian Open Championship, put. up another fine performance in the exhibition round which was held to mark the official opening of the new Woodlands Manor course near Otford in Kent, says a writer in the August Golfing. In spite of a 6 at the eleventh, where he drove out of bounds, he was round in 67, five under bogey’ for the course, which measures, 5,800 yards. Archie Compston’a score was 78, and Sir Ernest Holderness and Douglas Grant, who also took part, each had a card of 81. In a four-ball match in the afternoon Sir Ernest Holderness and Cotton opposed Douglas Grant and Compston, and the. last named holed a six yard putt on the last green to enable his side to finish square. The annual “Sex Test Match” at Stoke Poges, played this year with the men conceding six strokes only’ in place of nine, ended in an easy victory for the longer driving sex, who won the foursomes by 5 matches to 1, and the singles by 9 matches to 3. ' The dry fairways made it possible for the ladies to reach many of the. “testing two-shot’’ holes with their second, so that the general impression was that even with the reduced odds a repetition of last year’s result was not unlikely. So far, however, were these hopes from being justified that over the eighteen matches in singles and foursomes, the men had actually a balance of 43 holes to the good at- the close of the day’s play. Mathematically speaking, it. is quite evident from this result that even an additional three strokes per round would not have been sufficient to put the ladies on level terms, and that at the old odds of nine strokes the men would’ probably still have proved victorious. It is evident that the reduction of the odds, on the strength of only two victories for the ladies and those following on a whole string of defeats, was premature.. —“Golfing.”

WHAT IS TIMING?

VIEWS OF BRITISH PROFESSIONAL.

Recently “Bobby” Jones contributed an article to “Golfing” on the question of timing. In the August number of that publication there is a reply to the Atlanta champion by John M. Fraser, professional to the Bowring Park Golf Club, Liverpool. Writing to the editor, he says:— Timing is a word used very extensively in connection with golf, particularly in

recent. years, and nearly every writer, on golf whose purpose it is to describe the play in big compctitioins uses the word freely. The ordinary golfer talks about “timing” in a way which creates the impression that it is actually a feature of the golf swing. It does not follow, however widespread an opinion may be, that it is a fact. Up to now there has been no logical explanation of this so-called feature of the golf swing. Mr R. T. Jones in his recent article on “timing” points out how very difficult it is to explain or understand. His difficulty probably arises because it is extremely questionable if it has any real existence. To say that “timing” is the most important feature of the golf swing, and then to. go on to say that it admits of no explanation, is not very convincing.- Surely if “timing” is an actuality it happens as a result of some definitely conscious effort, and ought to begin at some point in the swing and be completely under the player’s control. The actual swinging of a golf chib is almost wholly a physical action, and everything in connection with it is capable of some definition, but not so with this elusive, and so-called most important feature. It is a peculiar activity which eludes our powers of explanation to this extent. Personally I have very serious doubts about the whole matter, and while keeping an open mind I have never yet come across a logical reason why the word “timing” is used in connection with the game of golf. My own reasoning has led me to certain conclusions.

To begin: What is the purpose of the golf swing? It is simply intended to send the ball far and straight. To accomplish this we swing the club in a generally accepted way, this being to bring the clubhead squarely on to the ball at the greatest possible speed at the moment of impact. In other words, swinging the chib, correctly. Hitting too soon, or hitting too late, is simply swinging the club badly. I can understand “timing” in cricket, where the batsman must wait for the ball before he makes his stroke. He has. to deal with a moving object: his movements in this connection are conscious and deliberate: his success depends upon accurate timing; but in golf with a stationary ball it Is entirely different. If those who believe in “timing” could say clearly what this movement is, when it begins and how to accomplish it, they would clear up this most important but strangely elusive feature which at. the moment is obscured in a fog of vagueness. One argument used in connection with “timing” is that it means getting the arms and body to work in perfect harmony so as to get the. head of the club through at, the right time, but this, reduced to simple reasoning, means swinging the club correctly, and therefore there is no need to use “timing” in connection with if. I had the opportunity of watching some of those engaged at Hoylake, and paid particular attention to their swinging, and as I watched them I felt more and more convinced that “timing” cannot be logically applied to golf. Their club-heads -went round at such an amazing speed that anything in the nature of a deliberate action such as “timing” presupposes was out of the question. When I have a beginner, or have to try to put someone on his game, I never look for faulty timing, I look for faultyswinging, and I contend I am right; and when I find the finest golfer in the world completely at a loss to explain what “timing” is, my conviction is strengthened that in golf it has no existence.

—A Grade. — D. Cochrane W. Buchan ,T. Tangney R. A. Browne 80— 8—72 85—12—73 87—13—74 89—14—75 —B Grade. — J. H. Thomas L. B. Hutton .. .. ... I'. 0. MacGibbon .. .. J. C. Prain 88—16—72 95—21—74 93—18—75 91—16—75