BIG STAKES

Timaru Herald, Volume CXLIII, Issue 20780, 15 July 1937, Page 5

BIG STAKES

BETTING ON THE LINKS COMPSON’S PROFIT Who are the men w ; ho think so highly of their skill that they are willing to lose £l,OOO every year to their golf professional? Many thousands of Average Golfers, who get nervous when they increase their own stake to 55.. must have asked that question when they read that Archie Compston made a net profit of £2O every week from playing with amateurs. There are not many men in English golf who habitually play for more than a £5 note. Even in the richest clubs the normal stake on a Sunday morning does not amount to more than £l. At Coombe Hill, where Compston is the professional, the general level of the stakes is substantially lower than it was ten or fifteen years ago, but the aggregate amount betted there during a week-end is probably more than at other London clubs. The old tradition lingers. In the past, matches for £lOO a side were commonplace at Compston’s course. Now the highest stake that passes without arousing comment does not exceed £lO. Compston usually plays in fourball matches, either against the best ball of three others or in partnership with one against th* other two. His average stake is 'from £5 to £lO per head. Big money betting among amateurs is usually associated with matches promoted among members of societies,

who meet for dinner at specified intervals and challenge each other over the wine and cigars. They confine their matches to foursomes. The total amount staked may reach three figures, but only a small percentage is wagered by the players concerned. The rest is taken by other members of the society who are not taking part in the match. Compston’s winnings are not taken from long handicap golfers who are playing the penalty of conceit. They are for the most part taken from men whose handicaps are scratch and plus. Why is it, then, that he wins so regularly? The answer is that a professional’s form usually is consistant. He knows just what he can do. The amateur’s form is variable. His trouble is that he may be bad to-day, but he always thinks he is going to be good to-morrow! The professional, knowing what he can do, backs his score on handicap, against the best he knows the amateur can do. One day the amateur does it —and draws the money. The next three times he loses.