FINISHING OFF THE HOLE

Taranaki Daily News, 2 August 1935, Page 10

FINISHING OFF THE HOLE

ESSENTIAL PART OF GOOD GOLF ' CRITICAL ASPECT OF APPROACH PLAY (By “Stance.”) THE rdal secret of the best golfer’s play is the art of what Tommy Armour has aptly described as “finishing off the hole.” One will often see players despatch plenty of good shots from the tee and send seconds handy to the green, but somehow or other they never appear as prominent figures in any important event. 1 toy miss somewhere, and that somewhere is in the finishing of the hole. As Gene Sarazen said of Bobby Jones, ‘There were plenty o us who could match Bobby or even do better up to the green, but on and around the green Bobby was probably five to six strokes better over every 36 holes, and we had to catch those strokes.

The art of finishing off is, as nearly every player knows, a matter of pitching, chipping and putting. No matter how well a player may execute his long shots, all this skill will be in vain if he cannot go down in two more, Taranaki golfers will doubtless remember a final at Ngamotu at Easter a few years ago when one player after an almost flawless display of shot making. could not persuade his ball to go down in two more strokes and - suffered a narrow defeat instead of scoring a brilliant win. This' is only one example; nearly every person, who has witnessed big golf will be able to recollect scores of others. Many of the best players experience their, periods of helplessness on the greens and every now and then express views which probably a week afterwards they are regretting. Sarazen, for instance, suggested a hole with an eight inch diameter, the tighter bunkering of greens and the lengthening of the holes. Naturally this would be all in favour of Sarazen, and for that reason he has never been taken seriously in New Zealand. Tommy Armour, a master of accuracy in his long shots, but no wizard on the greens, once made the suggestion that each putt should count only half a stroke. No doubt these two players were serious in their suggestions but their ideas did not bother the average player. He has always been accustomed to taking three putts, and he receives a. thrill, when he goes down in two. He also takes rather a savage delight in watching and -reading about the Olympians of the game experiencing the same troubles. Putting is a great leveller and, as a well known humorist once said, the supermen have only a profound contempt for the “mugs;” the superman had nothing in common with the mug except an unconquerable tendency to miss three foot .:putts. - ■ ■■ ■ ------- Unquestionably the game puts a big importance on the short work, but therein probably lies the real secret of the great popularity of golf. This very quality gives the man with the delicate touch a chance of countering his more powerful opponent. He can be consistently outdriven from the tee but still be there at the death. The short game is an art in itself. It requires a variety Of shots all of its own.- There are shots requiring: a niblick, others a mashie niblick and many a mashie and : iron. Slopes and the different paces of greens have to be studied before a decision can

be reached which club is needed. Again it is often as - well to study which side of the hole is likely to be the easier for the putt. All these factors enter into the playing of the approach shot and as can be easily seen requite thought as well as the delicate touch necessary to the proper execution of the shot. Cilip shots must .be practised; there is no other road to success. Playing rounds assist to a small degree but to achieve any real results the only way is constant practice. Nearly every player will have his own style, but two pieces of advice may prove useful. -No matter what club may be used, hit the ball firmly; take a small, piece of the •turf and be Still watching the place whence that turf has been moved when the ball comes to rest. . Practically all the problems of the approach exist ■ in the approach putt, with one notable exception. There is no choice of clubs, for the putter is in 99 cases in 100 the only logical weapon. Every golfer has been given one piece of advice regarding approach putts, that is to be up. Advice in golf is as free as air and it is possible that even tliis time' honoured dictum may be wrong. As great an authority as Bobby. Jones has cast, grave doubts upon its real usefulness. • A far better idea is to concentrate on laying the ball dead. One is not expected to hole long putts. Such things do happen, but, like art union prizes, they .come as surprises. What the player is expected to do is to hole in two putts, i.nd the simplest way to do this is to lay the first as close to the hole ,as possible. • • These shots require a delicate touch and a skill that comes from practice, which is different from the hit or miss blast' from a bunker. It was for tins reason that the late Dr, MacKenzie, the great golf course architect, departed from the System of making, jnyriads of huge bunkers. He made in their places mounds with grassy hollows behind them and greens with cunningly devised slopes. He maintained, and very properly so, that a shot from a grassy hollow over a mound to the flag was far more of a golf shot than a blast from sand. There will be few apart from the real ' diehards who will disagree with this view. Dr. MacKenzie was perhaps the greatest benefactor the game has known, and it is pleasing to be able to read that his ideas are being carried on by the two well known Americans, Bobby Jones and Periton Maxwell.