FROM FAIRWAY AND ROUGH

Taranaki Daily News, 11 August 1932, Page 11

FROM FAIRWAY AND ROUGH

GIVING A FOREHAND BLOW PLANTING TREES ON GOLF LINKS WALKER CUP MATCH NEXT MONTH

(By

“Stance.”)

Though the course at Waiwakaiho was in good order last Saturday, the greens were inclined to be tricky, and this doubtless accounted for the very ordinary scores in the four-ball aggregate match. Outside the good cards of J. McNeill and J. S. Church and R. T. McQuade and B. H. Couchman the scores were much below expectation. Church has been remarkaby consistent throughout the whole season and must have won two or three times. The annual contest between the teams selected by the captain and the secretary is due to take place in a little over a week’s time. It is to be hoped that the committee w'ill be able to play the match in pairs, but of course the big number that usually take part makes this very hard to arrange. Once again the two Fuller brothers, W. H. and G. P., look like taking a big part in the finish of the Joll Cup event at Waitara. In the semi-finals G. P. is faced with H. D. Alexander, while W. H. meets A. S. MacGregor. If both should come through they will have an opportunity of fighting their last year’s battle over again. On that occasion W. H. won by a narrow margin. The Stratford course is still improving and the back fairways should soon be in good condition. Nearly all the creeks have been drained and mishit balls are now usually recoverable. Though the growth on the greens has been hampered by the heavy frosts the surfaces are very true, and next month should be in great order. All arrangements have been made to keep the course open throughout the summer, and as it is so close to the town the game should be very popular when the days get longer. Needless to eay the keeping of the links open during the warm months is going to improve the fairways out of all recognition next winter. United States Amateurs.

Every two years 'the pick of the anjateurs of Great Britain and the United States do battle for the Walker Cup, and this year the contest will tpke ptece on September 1 and 2. The States will be represented by the present champion, Francis Ouimet, the runner-up to him, Jack Westland, intercollegiate champion George Dunlap, the sensational young Virginian, Billy Howell, two ex-holders of the title in Jess Sweetzer and Harrison Johnson, George Voight, Charles Seaver, Don Moe and Maurice McCarthy. With the exception of Ouimet, Sweetzer, Johnson and Voight, all these are youngsters who will be having their first international game, . and their showing will be watched with interest, though 0 taking a line through John de Forrest, wl i won the British title aftei competing unsuccessfully in America, the general standard in that country would appear to be higher than in Britain. For some time past there has been a great inclination to put trees all over golf courses, some in good positions and others in bad, but apparently opinion is changing. In a recent article Cornelius S. Lee, one of the special committee appointed by the United Statea Golf Association for the eelection of courses for the open and amateur championships, writes as follows: “It is undoubtedly a mistake to have trees on a fairway or closely bordering upon it. Two men, for instance, may hit equally poor shots, yet one may have a dead stymie, where he can do nothing more than kick the ball out at right angles on to the fairway, whereas the other may find practically a perfect lie, enabling him to play straight for the hole.” There is quite a lot in his contention, as anybody who has been behind one of the enclosures at Waiwakaiho will very heartily erdorse, and it would' seem that the placing of trees to divide fairways can be overdone. Trees certainly add to the beauty of a course, and when planted to break winds or to show up greens certainly serve a very useful purpose, but when placed on the left or the right of fairways about 160 to 200 yards from & tee their beauty, at least from the eye of a golfer, soon fades to less than zero. The Way- to Correct a Fault.

A very prevalent fault in the game of a big number of average players is that they either attempt to hit the ball a backhand blow with their weak left hand or hit it incorrectly with their strong right hand. This is where the game of the average player differs co tremendously from the game of the crack, and the writings and statements of the Olympians of the links are apt to lead many players, astray. The training of the apprentice to a professional and of caddies has always tended to develop the left hand at the expense of the right, and in the case of those who have been playing since before they entered the teens the left hand has developed into an almost all-powerful limb. They tell us that in their games the left hand and arm absolutely dominate the swing, and they are right in their own cases, though perhaps not so much as they themselves think. But the ease of the average player is quite different. He has developed his right hand and he wants to do things with that limb. He has played probably cricket and tennis, and in both these games he has been'in the habit of using his right hand with a forehand blow, and naturally when he takes to the game of St. Andrews he has a desire to do the same. To attempt to hit the ball with a backhand blow with his weak hand does not seem natural to him, and any swing that is not natural is not likely to bring about the best results. Now this is not to say that the right hand and arm are going to entirely dominate the swing-—that would be fatal—but one thing appears certain, that the actual hit has necessarily to be a deliberate punch with the right hand, a hard forehand blow. As every tennis player knows, the forehand shot is the hardest and the most accurate, and it would seem that it is only logi-

cal that golf does not differ so heavily in fundamentals from any other game. As Tommy Armour has very wisely said, the left hand must be the guiding power. It must be the predominant hand in the upward siring and—perhaps this is doubtful—the leader at the commencement of the downward swing, but from thence on it simply holds the club in position for the right hand to supply the punch. . xi. • i.* When one speaks of using the right hand it must not be taken too literally. This does not mean that a player has only to go out to the course during the week-end and lay in lustily with his right hand and forthwith all his trouble will fade into thin air and all his drives will be straight and his seconds will come to rest on the putting surface. Far from it. Any strong force must necessarily be controlled and directed in the right manner, and. this is true in using the right hand. First the weak left hand must be placed on the club in its strongest position —that is, well over to the back of the shaft and the blow with the strong right hand must come from the inside out. The arm must be kept close to the body and never allowed to stray, for unless this is so the pent up force in the right side and hand is likely to run berserk and develop into a mighty slice. Nevertheless it can be controlled, and once controlled is going to give the player greater strength and more command over the ball and its flight.

The Fitzroy golf match arranged for next Saturday is a four-ball aggregate. Players will be arranged on arrival by the match committee, and both season ticket-holders and casual members will be eligible to enter.