GOLF

Timaru Herald, Volume CXXXVII, Issue 19813, 31 May 1934, Page 5

GOLF

NOTES AND COMMENTS Owing to the races and the soft condition of the Highfleld links, competitive golf was cancelled last Saturday, many players turned out, however, for a friendly knock with the tee up on the fairway rule in operation. At Glen-iti the mixed foursome event for the Para Rubber Co.’s trophy found Miss Townsend and W. Jones return the best card with 100-27-73 nett, closely followed by Mrs Russell and O. Joseph with 101-27-74 nett. A large contingent of North End players visited Geraldine, but found the locals too good for them, the result being 234 to 74 games in favour of Geraldine. Glen-iti entertained a team of men from Pleasant Point and gained the day with 124 games to 24. A good entry of players from other centres is to hand for the South Canterbury championships at Highfleld next Monday, including “Pip” Wright, New Zealand amateur champion, and players from Christchurch, Dunedin, Invercargill, Oamaru, Ashburton, etc., etc. In the play-off for the Bone Cup. Mr and Mrs H. Coxhead beat Miss Manchester and D. Moyes 5 and 3. The contest for the British amateur championship produced some extraordinary golf and the title was landed Ly a visitor from the U.S.A., W. L. Little, to wit, who smashed all records for this event. He won 14 up and 13 to play, a record, and broke the course .record with 66 for the first 18 holes, 'included in the round was a 3 at the famous Cardinal, a 505 yards hole. Such golf in a final is phenomenal, and his opponent, J. Wallace, just cracked up against it. Wallace was a real dark horse, previously unknown, yet he successively ousted 5 Walker Cup players on his way to the final, including Dunlap, the U.S.A. amateur champion. The championship will be memorable for the crowds of spectators and their extraordinary barracking for the player, Wallace, in his game against another Scot, in J. McLean, practically making it impossible for him to take his shot towards the end of the game. In the semi-final WalJace did a 69 against Dunlap. Little's putting record, 36 putts on 23 greens sounds uncanny. The democratic nature of the game was exemplified in the round where Wallace, an unemployed shipwright met Francis, a millionaire.

Miss Enid Wilson had some nice things to say of the golf of Miss Oliver Kay and Miss B. Gaisford after a game with them soon after their arrival in England. Among other remarks she says: "They hit the ball a surprisingly long way, and played all their shots with great confidence and skill, r. id with the snap which is the hallmark of much professional coaching. If I had two down with five to play against Miss Kay that would be a moment m which I would feel that the famous proverb would prove quite helpless unless it were abetted by a spasm of inspiration, and then it is doubtful whether such a tenacious golfer as Miss Kay would allow the game to slip from her grasp. Miss Gaisford had difficulty in finding the strength of the greens. She has a delightfully easy swing in which the application of power is skilfully disguised. There does not appear to be much force about the blow, but the distance of the shot i oes not substantiate this argument, and leads to the conclusion that much power is applied in the correct place and at the right time”. “To grip lightly with the right hand and firmly with the left is a piece of advice which is not adopted as generally as it should be. The reason for gripping firmly with the left lies in the fact that the left hand and arm are but a shadow of the right, and it rust always be remembered that it is i so much the left hand that is 1 ,le to be lacking in strength as the left arm. If one glances at the 'eft arm this fact will at once be obvious—it has never done anything, and is incapable of doing anything—it belongs to the ranks of the permanently unemployed. To get it into action then one must make a special effort, and that is what is meant when one is asked to grip tightly with the left. The other hand is only too willing to do everything by itself, and that is the reason for the instruction to grip lightly with the right. The fact is the golf stroke is pure' • a blend of the two hands and the more equally the left arm shoves in the swing the more effective will the result be. Nearly all left-handers use both hands with equal force, hence the splendid long game which characterises the efforts of the southpaws generally.”—“Australasian.” There is no form of sport whose uniform has been so extensively copied by those who take no part in the game as that of golf. Two visitors stood in the hall of a golfing hotel. One wore plus fours, and the other couldn’t play golf either. Going by tram to the links, Smith found himself sitting next to a man in immaculate plus fours. He entered into conversation and asked the other what his handicap was. “I don’t know what you mean,” was the reply. “But surely you play golf, don't you?” “Good gracious, no,” answered the owner of

the plus fours. “What made you think that?” “Well,” said Smith, “I noticed your plus fours.” “Oh, did you? Posh, aren’t they? I find ’em so much handier than trousers for paddlin’.” A born pessimist is a man whose putt always hits the back of the hole and jumps out again. An optimist is a man who thinks he can take a brassie and reach the green from the rough. To provide interesting games for those who have been eliminated from knockout competitions and to obtain a guide as to form for inter-club games, Glen-iti has commenced a ladder competition. Probably more pleasure can be obtained from a game between evenly matched opponents than from any other form of the game, and judging from the number of challenges already posted, competition is going to be keen. The second round of the men’s four ball knockout at Glen-iti is not scheduled to terminate until June 17, but one match has already been played, O. Joseph partnered by N. Kennedy defeated C. W. Steel and E. J. Macintosh by the unexpectedly large margin of 8 up and 6 to play. A small representation from Glen-iti will compete at Timaru in the King’s Birthday tournament, while on the home links stroke competitions for men men will be played both morning and afternoon. The women will be playing a stroke round in the morning and a foursome in the afternoon. This shows increased keenness in the women's section, for in other years it has been difficult to secure a satisfactory field for one event on this date. The Art of Putting. On the art of putting Miss Joyce Wethered has the following hints to give:— “I am quite sure of the value of the firm-wristed method because, apart from the well-known exponents of it, I know of at least half a dozen players of repute in this country whose game suffered in the past through weak putting, and who have made themselves within the last few years into really sound and efficient holers out. “The principle of the stroke is that, as the ball is addressed in the beginning, so the wrists remain until after the ball is struck. The position of the eblows is probably immaterial. Some good putters keep them wide apart; others close to the sides. The important point to remember is that the arms should swing freely from the shoulders without disturbing the body and without breaking the wrists. A sense of ‘sliding’ the club head back perhaps best describes the movement. The feeling of movement should be felt all the way up the arms, but at the same time the shoulders should not be allowed to move out of a central position. The idea on which to concentrate is to move the club head backwards and forwards in as straight a line as can be managed and the face of the club should be kept throughout the stroke as square to the line of play as possible. Also the club head should keep close to the ground, in opposition to what is known as the ‘pendulum’ motion which rises fairly steeply both in the back and forward swing. “As a further precaution against bending and turning the wrists, a little different grip to that used through the green is advisible. The position of the hands which has been recommended up to now is naturally inclined to turn the club face. The more the hands are kept under the shaft the less turning can they effect. Also the grip needs to fall well into palms of the hands and not be held in the fingers to the extent that is advised in other shots. In the ordinary grip the palms of the hands might be described roughly as' facing each other with the shaft between them. With the putting grip of the firm-wristed method, the palms should be encouraged to lie below the shaft, facing in fact rather upwards, with the finger tips on top of the shaft. This locks the face of the club, prevents the tendency to turn, and helps to keep the wrists out of action during the stroke. With the hands held more under the shaft in this manner and with an evenly balanced and comfortable stance, the position is a correct one from which to swing the arms and elbows quite simply backwards and forwards,”

Some Rulings. (1) If a ball lodge in anything moving, a ball shall be droppqtf, or if on the putting green, placed as near as possible to the spot where the object was when the ball lodged in it, without penalty. (2) If the lie of a ball at rest be altered by any agency outside the match except wind, the player shail drop a ball as near as possible to the place where it lay, without penalty, and if the ball be displaced on the putting green, it shall be replaced without penalty. It has been ruled that a cow treading on a ball and/or carrying it away in its hoof comes under heading (2) . A ball being stolen by a stray boy also comes under it. A ball played into a train, car, etc., is ruled by (1), and so on, but ,in every case the fate of the ball cannot be assumed. Evidence if its fate must be available to the player and his partner or opponent within five minutes, otherwise it is a lost ball or ball unplayable, etc. In match play if the player and his opponent saw and agreed that the ball was carried away in a train or stolen by a caddie, the match can proceed without any penalty. It is not necessary to recover the ball, if in competition play the committee would no doubt accept the evidence of the player and his opponent.