ON THE TARANAKI LINKS

Taranaki Daily News, 15 August 1931, Page 20 (Supplement)

ON THE TARANAKI LINKS

PROGRESS OF CONTESTS VICTORIA’S YOUTHFUL CHAMPION. ESSENTIALS OF THE CHIP SHOT.

(By

“Stance.")

There was very. little goli hi New Plymouth during the week-end. lhe medal handicap on Saturday drew ft very small field, G. Rich with a 72 net carrying off the honours. R. H. 2ui liam and T. A. Thomson tried conclusions in the third round of the Coltman Cup. Thomson was dormy two and then Quilliam annexed the 17th, and when the 18th looked likely to >e halved stymied his opponent and squared the game. They played again in the afternoon, but this time Thomson was going great guns and always had the game in safe keeping, winning on the 15th green. He will now meet C. Walker in the semi-final of the top half of the draw. Leo Quin, maintaining his good fnrm> headed the qualifying rounds at Eltham with two good cards, both well under 80. His golf has been wonderfully consistent this season; and though he will encounter stiff opposition he should again carry off this event. Hugh* ie Wills was next, showing improved form, especially in the second round. Leo Abbott and Jimmy Quin should both do better in the match play. Young Harry Williams in carrying off the Victorian title last week Ims added yet another to the triumphs of youth, having only attained his 16t a birthday a short time ago, He is thus the same age as the New South Wales champion James Ferrier, and if these two could be matched a lot oi hard cash would change hands despite tlie bad times over the Tasman. By the way, Ferrier’s stock lm,s slumped somewhat as the result of his defeats by Appcrley in the final of the Manly championship and by Start. Keane in the in-ter-club contest with Bonny Doon. Keane accomplished his task ill' the decisive fashion of 6 up and. 5 to play. Williams is a left hander, and his win will give a lot of satisfaction to those club wielders who stand on the wrong side of the ball.

AUSTRALIAN CHAMPIONSHIP. Williams lost the championship of the Commonwealth Club in a most peculiar manner, and one which is of interest to golfers generally. His ball was on the edge of the green and his opponent was playing from a little distance back. Williams saw that his ball was going to be struck by :is opponent's and promptly knocked it, away. He afterwards replaced it anti played out the hole. This event is decided on three rounds of medal play, and for replacing his ball Williams had to be disqualified. What he should have done was counted a stroke -■■.vlieh he knocked . away and played his next from whereat lay. Had he done this he would have ‘WL-tlie event by six or.seven strokes, but as it was the committee had no option but to rule him out. This rule is almost unknown to the majority of players and it is safe to say that fully DO per cent, would have made the same mistake as young Williams did. According to some of the annals of St. Andrews the lot of the caddies of over a hundred years ago was not quite a happy one. There is a one who was detected stealing a ball from the 17th green. He was tried, convicted and hanged. No doubt this would be a lesson to the rest. One golfer who killed his. caddy with a club was admonished by the Provost. Unfortunately the records make no mention as to the offence, which doubtless must have been a particularly aggravating one. Nevertheless it may safely be said that the golfer would ‘not be rushed next time he wanted a club carrier.

Note from a Golfer's Calendar—Tuesday: The man who does everything well commences to play golf. Wednesday: The man who does everything well spends the day in heavy thought.

THE CLUB SHOT

Last week the subject for discussion in these notes was putting, and this time we may go a step further and deal with the putt’s collaborator and helper, the chip. Now in the first place it must be borne in mind that a chip is essentially a running shot, and not a stop one. I am now talking of the straight forward chip, when there are no obstacles in the way. The pitch oyer a bunker is a special shot, and will be dealt with in a.subsequent article. The shot at present under discussion is one when the player is, say, from 20 to 30 yards off the edge of the green. The club that will be used will vary; it may be a mashie niblick, a mashie or a number two, three or four iron. The next point that the player must get into his mind is that the nearer the ball pitches to him, the more likely he is to make a success of it. When lining up the short approach it is an excellent idea to fix the 'approximate place where one desires the ball to land so that it will run right up to the pin. Thia simplifies things quite a lot, for all that one has then to consider are the ways and meana for pitching the ball there. Bobby Jones says that he always tries to make this pot just about a yard inside the edge of the green and varies his club accordingly. That jfl to aay, if he is close he will give him a short pitch and a long run. Thia is the simplest of them all. The ball may only have to pitch about four to. seven yards in front of him. As he gets further away the shot will require a higher flight and a longer pitch as the higher the flight the Vess will be the run. in proportion to the length of the pitch, and of course vice versa. For. a still longer pitch he employs a number six iron or a mashie niblick, but it must never be forgotten that he is not. playing his clubs with stop on the shots;' they are purely pitch and run. Now we come to the question of how tins shot is played. Naturally in the . easiest possible way and also the most natural. If one were to take a etone in the right hand and toes it underhand to land on a. particular spot how would it be done? The stance would bi open and the hold on the stone a very light one, and the same is true of tlrs chip shot. The grip with the left is firm, bift that of the right in light; the club is pushed back with the left and then the right hand acts exactly as.it, did when pitching the stone, and. the stroke ie played through the ball. There is.no pinching it out or trying to lift it up.;. the ehot is through the ball. This is the secret, and no player can ever afford to neglect it. - , ;