IMPROVE YOUR GOLF.

Stratford Evening Post, Issue 8, 31 July 1930, Page 3

IMPROVE YOUR GOLF.

—■■ APPROACH SHOT DIFFICULTIES. CONTROL AND ACCURACY..

r JCIIIS, he says, is a fallacy, and points out their work with wooden clubs as being above the ordinary.

1 doubt if there is any nation of golfers today that- excels with irons. A professional for whose opinion I have the greatest respect whether die is talking of giants of the past or young players of the moment, told me the other day that if lie was certain of one thing in golf, that was that modern players are not so good with iron clubs as their, fathers. And, myself, I do not think that the classic retort, ‘‘They never were,” can be made hero. lion Shots Neglected. Irons arc almost neglected by some players. They wield wooden clubs with skill for lies that used to call for an iron, and as long as they get a mashie-shot up to tho green, they take beating. When the distance is just too long for a inashio approach, however, they are not so confident. Many of them will force with a mashie instead of attempting a spared shot with an iron. I don’t know whether wider fairways, or better fairways, arc responsible for this growing use of wooden clubs where iron shots might better bo played, but the preference for wood certainly seems to be- becoming more general.

Not, though, among the professionals. The professional plays Ins golf to finer margins than most amateurs. Ho has not the same jubilation as the long-handicap man in holing a putt across the green. He knows that had he played a better approach shot he would not have been compelled lo take the risk of the long putt. Nothing to Chance.

A professional—quite rightly—doesn’t want to leave anything to chance. Even the best of wooden club approaches to the green can never bo as accurate as an equally Mveli-lut iron shot. With an iron club in hand, the golfer can keep his left arm straight and aim dead for the pin. IE his shot is clean, he has a real chance of finding it. The “whip” in the wooden (dub, and its greater length makes this absolute accuracy not so easy to obtain. The best-hit of shots may travel off the line as the ball loses momentum towards the end of the journey. There is not an enormous difference —just the difference, perhaps, of finding the green with the wood, and finding it in such a way with an iron as to make a single putt possible without undue good fortune, and to make the taking of more than two putts extremely unlikely.

The iron is a strong club, and should he used as that. Let it do the work. The swing may be slower than that used with wooden clubs, and the grip firmer. It is more essential to get .‘‘through’ the hall with an iron than with any other club—essential as that is with other clubs.

A ‘‘grooved” swing should bf cultivated. The secret of accuracy in iron club play is the straight letT arm. There are some golfers who seem to have a natural knack of hitting iron shots. It will be found that these arc players who tend naturally to keep the left arm straight—stiff, perhaps. With a wooden club the left arm may be straight enough, but there must always bo a fluent use of the wrists. With an iron club, the left arm mav be even straighter, and the wrist can rightly he firmer.

Dipping the left shoulder is a fatal fault. The pivot with an iron

British Open

Mr. Bobby Jones has race ntly given an emphatic opinion against the generally-accepted be lief that American golfers excel in iron-club play.

club should not be exaggerated—the stroke, from start to finish, is one of control. ’Many players attempt to pivot by clipping the left shoulder. The shoulders, however, must keep in the same plane. If the golfer gets sufficiently on to his right leg in the backward swing, and sots bis left bin in position, he will cure any tendency to dip the shoulder towards the ball. Ta-ke It Slowly! The haekswing is very slow. The beginning of the downward swing is equally slow—as though you were pulling gently at a rope with the left hand. As the right hand conies into the shot, just before impact, there is a speeding-up of the club-head.

. Haste in iron club shots must bo avoided before anything else. When a golfer goes badly off his iron shots the usual root of (bo trouble is haste. Further, lie is probably lengthening the swing to the point where he Ipses control at tho top. I repeat that control is the vita! feature of iron shots—and control means firmness and no haste.

Most players will find that it helps them to have the ball nearer the right foot than the left. And keep the head still ! BOBBY JONES’ RECORD. Bobby Jones’ record in these big events is wonderfully interesting, and is as follows: American Open. ‘lo22—Second to Gene Sara/,on. 1023 Won after play-off with Bobby Cruickshank. 1024 Second to Cyril Walker. 102“» —Tied for first, lost play-off to MacFarlane. 1020—Won. ' 1027 —Ninth. 1928—Tied for first, lost play-off to Barrel 1. 1029 Won, after a play-off with Espinosa. 1030— Won.

1022 —Tore up his card. 192b—Won. 1927—W0n. 1930—Won. American Amateur. Prior to 1924 he had competed five times for this event and been beaten in every round except the first. 1924 Won. 1925 Won. 1920 —It miner-up, lost to George von Elm. 1927 Won. 1928 Won. 1929 Defeated in first round. British Amateur. 1922—Defeated third round by Sandy Graham. 1920 —Defeated sixth round by A. Jameson. 1930 Won His defeat by George von Elm in 1920 ranks as the only defeat that he lias suffered in a thirty-six hole amateur championship game in the best part of seven years. His defeat by Graham, Jameson and Goodman were all over eighteen holes. It is said that Bobby intends to retire from competitive golf at the end of this season, but the lure of the links is very strong, and he will probably find that the thought of the battle of the courses in the great events of the year will prove •utiq aoj oo]