Youth In Ascendant In British And American Golf

Taranaki Daily News, 26 November 1934, Page 11

Youth In Ascendant In British And American Golf

PROBABILITY THAT NANCY JUPP’S STYLE WILL BE SPOILED ,

''[''HERE is no doubt that in Pamela Barton and in Nancy Jupp Great Britain possesses two young' golfers of exceptional merit, who, as they mature and gain experience, may very well develop into world. champions (writes the golf correspondent of the London “Observer”). Who knows that in one or the other there may not be another Miss Wethered? Miss Jupp is as much a prodigy as was R. T. Jones, who began “blazing the trail” at the age of 14, when he won the Georgia State championship, a success he followed up a year later by winning the Southern title. Nancy Jupp has gone one better; at the age of 13 she is a national champion, and in accomplishing this astonishing feat she defeated opponents five years her senior. As everybody knows, this means a tremendous difference in physical strength and staying power. In the case of Nancy Jupp, this' has been overcome by an infinitely superior technique, and a far greater skill in shotmaking. Her golf is her own, and, while she has-watched others and noted carefully how they perform certain movements, her swing and general style are perfectly natural.

It is the most glorious swing imag-inable-full and round, but without any suspicion of flambuoyancy. I like the confident -way in which Nancy Jupp addresses the ball; the feet are planted firmly on the ground with the weight supported on the heels. There is no hesitation, no fuss, and no hurry; the club goes back in a wide arc to the horizontal and is brought down again easily and smoothly with the necessary application of venom at impact. Great Strength Unnecessary. Being the simplest of movements, it goes to prove that, in order to obtain length, it is neither necessary to be strong physically nor is great force needed. Although Nancy Jupp is scarcely any taller than the driver that John Morrison fashioned for himself, and possesses no exceptional physical development of her own, she reaches holes of 440 yards in two shots. In her case this can only be done by perfect timing, a perfect swing, and precise coordination of those muscles peculiar to the golf stroke. With most people it is a question of learning not to do the wrong thing, a terribly slow and difficult process; but it is different in the case of this new golfing prodigy, who has only to go on swinging'the club in ’ her own way. which, fortunately, happens to be the right way. lam not suggesting that Nancy Jupp is the perfect golfing machine; to do so would be ridiculous, for she has a long way to travel before this ideal state is reached, if ever it can be reached. At any rate, Jones has never reached it. and he has given up trying. The child’s progress depends very largely on whether she turns a deaf ear to all matters of theory, of which the number is legion, or adheres strictly to the simple, natural way of swinging and of executing the shots. Having seen Nancy Jupp play at Stoke Poges, it would be supposed that the girls’ championship is at her mercy for the next five years, when she must perforce retire by reason of the age limit.-

But a man well known in the golfing world has laid a substantial wager that Nancy Jupp will not win the title next year, his contention being that not only will she then know more about the game, in itself a danger, but that she will be so self-conscious as not to be able to do herself justice. It is the wager of a man who knows the world and- knows how unstable is any position in the realm of sport.

In the sphere of men’s golf it was imagined that there never could be another Jones, and yet he had scarcely shaken the competitive; dust from his feet than another youngster, John Goodman, this time from the Middle West, broke into the arena, and, like Jones, won the open championship in defiance of the world’s professionals. A week ago we had Lawson Little, of San Francisco, senior student at Stanford University, completing the double—the winning of the British and American amateur championships in the same y ear — a f ea t which only two other men before him have accomplished. One was Harold Hilton, whose vintage year was 1911, and the other Jones, who was successful in 1930. Jones’s feat of- winning the quadrilateral, of golf—the two amateur and the two open championships —in the same year has not, and never will, I imagine, be emulated. It is so stupendous an achievement that the brain refuses to conjure up a picture of another amateur golfer repeating the process. The Incomparable Jones.

Some of my friends who know nothing about golf, and, consequently, do not’realise what such a feat means, tell me that I am wrong. "What one man has done,” they declare, "another can do.” Logically, I suppose, they are right, but I repeat that, as far as I am concerned, I cannot visualise another young golfer bursting on the world with the same, measure of success as Jones. Obviously, Lawson Little, who tramples over his opponents with a steam-roller effect, is the man to watch. At Prestwick, this summer, he beat James Wallace by 14 and 13, and, in the process, accomplished the phenomenal score of 66, while at Brookline, in the final of the ■ United States amateur, he beat his man 8 and 7. It was by a margin of 6 and 5 that this juggernaut of golf accounted for Cyril Tolley in the Walker Cup match at St. Andrews.

This is unquestionably the age of youth, though the Hon. Michael Scott, ‘in his 58th year, successfully challenged the claim by defeating Tolley in the final of the West of England championship.- Scott is the exception that.proves the rule. At the age of 17, Pamela Barton is the French open champion, and a member of the British team now in America, an honour which no golfer of her age has ever before received. Hector Thomson, who was boy champion three years ago. has, at the age of 20, succeeded J. McLean as Irish champion, in the recent' international matches at Porthcawl. Thomson, who was one of the stalwarts of the Scottish side, helped materially ini the team retaining the championship. I predict a great future for.the Glasgow youth.