GOLF

Taranaki Daily News, 28 April 1931, Page 4

GOLF

FAMOUS GOLFER RESUMES. R. H. WETHERED EXCELS. ('By Harry Varden.—Special to News.) It was very pleasant to read the other day of the re-appearance of R. H. Wethered in public golf. His friends /had been saying that, like his famous sister, he had lost interest in tournaments and team matches, and that henceforth he would follow in her footsteps as one who pursued the game only at intervals for the joy of friendly matches. ■ '• It is truly a pity when first-class golfing talent seeks this kind of seclusion, and unfortunately there- have been a good many instances on the part of amateurs who came to detest the tumuli and the business aspect of championships. I met a player recently who declared that his experiences in last year’s amateur championship at iSt. Andrews had filled him to repletion. Having been at the mercy of the crowd following Bobby Jones, he and his rival had spent about an hour and a half in playing the five holes round the. bend from the eighth to -the twelfth —and that in an uproar. Mr. Wethered’s' friends- said that, as he had. gone to live a goodly way out "of London and focussed his hours of re>creation on such country pursuits as hunting and dog-breeding, he might bo regarded as one who had passed quietly out of big golf. Anyhow, there' were 'ample signs that his hand had lost none 'of its skill when he appeared unexpectiedly for- Stoke Poges against Oxford ; University. He did the first ten holes at Stoke Poges—the course with the highest scratch score in the countryin three strokes under an ’ average of fours, and. beat J. P. Marston, the Ox- : ford, captain, by 5 up and 4 to play. ■ A BORN TEAM PLAYER. . ,

Wethered attained his highest honour last season, when he was appointed to lead the British team against the United States in the Walker. Cup match at Sandwich.’ Some people thought that as captain he should have insisted upon a thorough system of practice and training for his team. Whatever his own yiews on the matter, I presume that he would have to leave it to the St. Andrews selection committee, as the body primarily responsible for the side, to introduce any such regime.

, Wethered plays golf so essentially in the spirit of the man who regards it from first to last as a recreation that it is impossible to imagine his introducing a rigorous course of training, and yet he enters into a Walker Cup match so ardently that he always kindles the liveliest hopes and expectations. It is the one affair of the links for .which he has always practised long and diligently. I am sure that he would far rather win hi.s match for' Britain than secure any championship. Moreover, Wethered has none of that sense of inferiority to which British amateurs are supposed to have become resigned in connection with .this. match. Nor need he be burdened with it, for, in his four appearances for hi- nation he ■has helped to win all his foursomes and lost only two of his singles.. His conqueror in these two singles has been Bobby Jones,' although at Long Island, New York, in 1922, Jones had to fight very hard to beat him by 3 up and 2 to play over 36 holes. Mr. Wethered is an example of the golfer who is always better when he is playing for the side than when he is trying to capture a title for himself. A few years ago, Walter Hagen told us that what, we needed to do was . to takd off our coats and work at golf; that we were too disposed to find smug satisfaction in the reflection that we knew how to lose like good sportsmen. ■His criticism aroused a lot of indignation in this country, and it is indicative of the individuality of Wethered,-that, lured for once-into making a statement, he declared that Hagen was right. “We do not practise at golf,” he said, “in the sense that practice must. become hard, regular work. It is a distasteful business, unsuited tol our easy-going frame ;of mind, but it is essential.” THE DRIVING SWING. I have proclaimed myself consistently as an opponent of the straight left arm in the up swing which Wethered cultivates so sedulously, and I still wish that he would modify it for his wooden club shots. It may be. perfectly suitable for the irons, but I am suic that the driver and other wooden clubs need a little more freedom and flexibility of muscle. I am surely not wrong in my mental picture of Wethered some ten years ago, as, for instance, when he won the British amateur championship at Deal and so saved it from going to one of the strongest forces of Americans that ever assailed it. It seems to me that for his drives he used to stand in a re-

laxed way, with his head well over the ball, and swing with all the ease of a man who saw no special virtue in a straight left arm for a full shot. Still, whichever way he is playing, there is always something stimulating about his golf.

■ ON THE PUTTING GREEN. THE NEED FOR CONFIDENCE. All greens will play differently after a spell of really warm ’ weather, and most handicap golfers are put off their green-play when it is found the first few putts on fast greens go well past the hole. The tendency then i<s to cease to hit and commence stroking the ball. No matter how fast the greens are playing, the result will be fatal. The need to follow through cannot be too much emphasised —it is as essential in putting, if not more so, than in any other stroke. The moment a player is afraid to hit Is is putts every element of the through stroke is removed, putting goes to pieces and affects every department of his game. An excellent system to apply on the green is to adjust the length of the back-swing to the distance of the putt. For example, if a player swings back four inches for a putt of three feet, he will add about an inch for every yard further he is from the hole. Two purposes are served by such a procedure—it prevents over-swinging, and as concentration on strength is no longer

necessary, it leaves the mind free to considei- line and direction. When the player finds he is not following through as he should, practice should be devoted to taking the club-head back ima straight line close to the ground, at all times square with the intended line of progress of the ball. A maxim to remember is to putt “with the ear on the hole and the eye on the ball.” Every golfer hao his own stance in putting, and no good purpose is served by changing. A sound stance for the beginner to cultivate is to plac'e the weight of the body on the left leg and grasp the club firmly in the right hand. The ball should be opposite the left heel, with the eye looking- straight down to give the line. The club goes through in pendulum fashion with the right hand in control and the left steadying.