GOLF AND GOLFERS

Taranaki Daily News, 25 July 1930, Page 7

GOLF AND GOLFERS

rain’interferes with play THE PROBLEM Off TIMING. SOME ADVICE BY BOBBY JONES.

(By

“Stance.”)

Last Saturday was the worst, day golfers have experienced for a long time, imd the medal handicap that was to have taken place was postponed. Nevertheless, it is hard to dampen the ardour of some, and 10 to a dozen play'ers defied the elements and completed their rounds. During the week-end the ■weather, though not very inviting, was more clement, and providing one was in a position to shelter from the showers conditions were not really unpleasant, " though the heavy state of the course ‘made good scoring very difficult. ’ Tb-morrow’s game will be a bogie handicap with bisques, an innovation that should give many of the long-handi-cap players a . chance to show their worth. As was to have been the case" last week this match will be played i.i three instead of ,wos. This method of playing in threes is used in all the big American tournaments and has been found to be most successful. A three can move almost as fast as a two-ball, and enables players to get away, a great deal more quickly. In the writer’s opin- ‘ ion, it is only a matter of time when this will be in vogue in all the big open tournaments, and will, probably be given its first real try-out at Waiwakaiho next Easter. Recalling Bobby Jones’ great triumph in the American open last week the card of the course is most interesting. It reads (the figures in parentheses being the par . score)<

Total length 6772 yards. It will easily be seen from the above that this is a pretty stiff test, and the performance of the incomparable Bobby in playing 72 holes in one under par was a really remarkable one, and his single round of. 68 was a wonderful aclueve'ment. It only goes to prove that as a golfer he has not a peer in the whole world, and'if, as he has stated, this is jiis fihai season in competitive golf, it is a fitting climax to a great career. ■ NEW ZEALAND CHAMPIONSHIPS. The dates of the New Zealand , golf .championship meeting at Palmerston North have had to be altered owing to lack of accommodation. The tournament as rearranged commences on October 24 and extends to November 1. Match play commences on October 27, and foursomes will be played on O'tober 30. All matches in the amateur championships will be of 36 holes. There is nothing more elusive in the golf stroke .than timing, and what exactly this timing is it is very hard to describe. We all know the feeling when .the ball goes off the club with that delightful click and sails away down the centre with no apparent effort. It seems easy at the time, and then almost as suddenly as it came it leaves us and, try though we may, it will not come back. It is a real will o’ the wisp.. The real. essential to- good timing is the delayed action of the hand and wrists in the making of the shot. One never saw a player of the brute force type time a shot ■ properly, and this is because he starts to hit at the top of the swing. It is his natural style, and though he may at times hit a long ball it always appears to be an effort to him. But the player with the seemingly effortless swing applies other methods. He commences his down swing not with his hands but with his hips, and thus gets his body into a position to hit before he applies the power of his hands and wrists. He has delayed their action until he is in a position to employ them to the best advantage. - The first part x>f the swing is slow, but it is gathering force all the time and reaches its greatest pace just after hitting the ball. This means that. the. club-head makes contact with the ball at an increasing velocity. And this is timing, as nearly as the writer can describe it. Many players are rather inclined, to scoff at this ‘ idea that the golf swing is essentially a hip action, but Bobby Jones is a firm believer in the hip pivot. He says: “A full and free body turn br hip pivot is a source of great power in hitting a golf ball. It is impossible to accomplish a rhythmic stroke of any considerable force without understanding the use of the body and making use of such understanding. Anns and hands alone, or even assisted by some shoulder motion, cannot approach the power delivered by a controlled shot that the body or hip motion can give. The man who starts his hands too soon from the top of his swing and delays his pivot is out of tune with the motion of the arms and club, and upsets both the arc and the timing of his stroke.” This is very definite and strlgh[forward. The pivot, or in other words, the action, of the hips, and it must always be borne in mind that this is a lateral action, that is, from left to right in the upward swing, and from right to left in the downward, is the great essential, and this must be assiduously cultivated if the player wishes to materially improve his game. / ■ GOLF AT WAITARA. ▼ — FIRST ROUND OF BARCLAY CUP. The Waitara ladies’ match with Inglewood, at Inglewood, will be held on Saturday. The team is as fololws: —Mrs. G. Knight, Miss V. Louis, Mrs. Fookes, Miss I. Aubrey, Mrs. E. A. George, Mrs. P. I ( uller, Miss Gorrie, Miss Nosworthy, Miss Harford, Mrs. Middleton, Miss E. Fraser and Miss I. Foreman. The first round for the Barclay Cup should be played this week at the Manukorihi club. The match is played on handicap, and the cup goes to the aggregate of the best three rounds out of four.

Out. In. 478 (4) 344 (4) 370 (4) 485 (5) 180 (3) 530 (5) 506 (5) 193 (3) 178 (3) 444 (4) 343 (4) 408 (4) 352 (4) • 315 (4) 397 (4) 262 (3) / .485' (5) ■ 408 (4) 3289 yards 3383 yards