THE ROYAL AND ANTIENT GAME OF GOLF

Star (Christchurch), Issue 16942, 17 January 1923, Page 2

THE ROYAL AND ANTIENT GAME OF GOLF

By “ The Caddie "

The annual meetiug of the Avondale Golf Club will be held on January 13 l iic opening day lor the club will be fixed at that meeting. Tho links, to which a number of improvements will be made, are looking very well at present and a lot of golf is being played during tho off season. According to the latest advices, it is a mistake tor beginners, when takiug up goli, to learn to wallop the bah u ith a driver first. The tiling to do, since it lias become generally admitted that, putting is so important, is to learn lo putt first. Leurn tho game backwards. First the putt, then the approach, uext. the midiron or brassie and last the drive. IV. J. Travis gives good advice when he writes that tlie simpler the means employed to get the baii into the hole the better, it is much easier and les-a fraught with danger 'or risk of failure* to run a hall up than pitch it. If pitching were easier, why not putt with a mashie ? Never use a mashie or any heavily lei ted iron club when the necessity ior pitching does not really exist, it requires a certain fine discrimination, however, to know the moment you get up t'o yoyr ball .iust what kind of stroke should be played, and the proper club to play it with. Don’t allow yourself to get into the way of hesitating or ques Honing whether you should take an iron or putter. Make up your mind end stick to it. Another tiling is worth remembering in connection with tho short game, and that is, not to allow yourself to dwell upon the strength of the- next stroke while walking up to .sour ball. Wait until you get to it before making any calculations of this kind. Golfers are not universally popular in America. One of the leading New \ ork papers writes:-—“All over tho United States are to be seen groups of men and women, ivalking over the glass, cutting up the ground uith golf clubs. What a line thing it would be if as many could be interested in doing useful work on the earth, planting trees, cutting needs along the roads, draining marshy places. Such exercise is better than golf. They would have to make a game of it, with competition, prizes, and, perhaps bets, for men like play, not work. But that could be arranged. Remember how the great king persuaded his soldiers to change 6 river’s course.” A THOUGHT FOR THE ROUND. Topping is frequently caused by dropping the right shoulder, due to the fact that either he wrists or the grip of the left hand, or both, are too loose at the top of the back swing. The result of this is that on the downward movement the club gives the impression of being too heavy, and the shoulder is allowed to drop. This causes the clubbead to strike the ground several inches behind the ball, with the result that i is badly opped. Another frequent cause of topping is lifting the club too abruptly from the ball in the back swing, causing the wrist to break. This is apt Vo cause file clubhead to be brought down on Cop of the ball, and consequently to hit it down into the ground, thereby causing a bad “ top. 5- ' .If you find yourself topping, see that your grip is right, and that you are pronating properly, i.e., starting slowly hack from the ball—-the back movement and the turning of the wrists and i'orearms. starting siniultaueoudy.—Dave Hunter. PROFESSIONAL GOLF IN U.S.A. J. H. Taylor has very ucciured views on the strength of American professional golf, and in “ Golf Monthly ’’ he lays the secret of the success of the Americans to the greater opportunities they possess in competing m big golf. That is very true. The American professionals are handling big money. They are always playing in competition events and it comes ap second nature to them to be constantly on the strain. In other words they are trained to sustain a constantly higher pitch ol effort than are the general average of British professionals. That the man who is always tuned to big effort succeeds was well illustrated when Yardon, Braid and Taylor carried all before them. The three travelled all over the country, constantly taking part in tournaments arid engaging in exhibition matches, with the result that to them competition was an every-day event, and they came to face championships with an equanimity the ordinary professional could not command. There would not appear to he much chance of British professional golf improving much unless players of outstanding merit arc afforded the necessary opportunities of getting a good deal of competitive golf. It must be an expensive luxury at the present time for men to travel to play in the big meetings without much prospect of getting into the prize list. Staying at home coaching and dub-making, with mi occasional game with the members, possibly long markers, cannot Ite conducive to bring out rne .*>est that is in a man. POPULARITY OF GOLF. Golf is rapidly conquering the world. There are. of course, serious obstacles to its progress. Golf can be played only on a golf course, and for a go!I course room is needed. Fiity acres is a small area for the purpose, and ICO acres would be nearer the average ot a full sized course. You can’t put a j golf course down in Hie cornet of the j back yard like a tennis court, nor can tho boys play golf on a public street as they often play cricket. The necessary land has to be bought, or leased, and then the construction of the course costs hundreds of pounds. The great i«. : t difficulty in the way of golf just now ' that of providing facilities for those who wish to plav it. The- r‘amber Oi j courses rs not increasing fast enough to (icoommodate the ever-increasing army o-f new r*lnvert. In Britain the pejpu‘r.lity lhe game was demonstrated by fh-- voting in the great sporting ballot i , aid of the British Red Cross. Society St Thomas’s Hospital fete. The result was as follows:—First, horse racing. votes polled 263,447 ; second, lawn tennis, 248,131; third, golf, 246,106; fourth, dancing. 245,852; fifth, cricket, 244.132: sixth. football (Soccer), 242,736; seventh, motoring. 239.359. Hunt came billiards. 220.009; boxing. 215,509: cycling, 205,415: .swimming, 189.115; football (rugger). 184.171: bowls, 46.9 05: fishing. 135.130: honing. 128.77 S. So milcli tor Great

Britain. If a vote was taken in America, from the remarks recently made by the well-known English professional J. H- Taylor, after his recent tour of the land of tut* Stars and Stripes, it is quite on the cards that golf would have a very big chance of displacing their national sport of baseball. fn fact, all Englishmen who return from the States state that tli© boom in golf in that 'country is unprecedented. From the Atlantic to the Pacific Americans have practicallv gone crazy over swatting the little white globe, and ail classes, from the millionaire to the hutnhle artisan, are obsessed with its potentialities. The millionaire has his secluded course with its luxurious appointments and princelipaid officials, the professionals travel the country far and wide competing for luring prizes, whilst the artisan is liberally catered for with their public courses, some cities and towns giving them the preference of playing on over a dozen different courses, and even then the craze for a round of the link* is exemplified by the fact that magi: players are to be found as__cja.£,li ch t breaks to begin play. WEIGHT OF GOLF BALL. Following is an extract from an official report of the ruling body, issue I b\ the Royal and Ancient Club of St Andrew’s: “The Golf Ball- Sub Com mitte© meeting at Boodles Club decided to test the suggestion that standardise, tion of size only, leaving weight unrestricted, would effort the objects desired. viz. (1) The lestriction of the balance between the power of the bo 1 end the lengths of the holes. (2l Th? conservation of certain essential features in the playing of golf." Previously the honororv secretary had attended a meeting of the exec-.:-tive committee of the Professional Golfers’ Association and endeavoured, without success, to secure the co-opera-tion of that body in the proposed experiment. At that meeting two c-on Cary opinions were expressed. A small minoritv held that the floating ball should have been standardised in 192'L A numerically largev section of those present held that -?o restriction should bp imposed on the manufacture of golf balls. j Subsequently letter? were receive*l from the secretary of the Professions! Golfers’ Association, stating that the members of the • xecutive committee were unanimously of opinion that “ tho present limitations governing the sir* end weight of golf balls have proved entirely satisfactory, and since they be. lieve that alteration in those limit •- Hons would be unnecessary and would prove prejudicial to the best interests of the game, they are net willing to take anv steps which might result th such alteration being made.” Participants in the experimental competition were invited to state the s-~oro which they returned, the weight of the balls used by them, their impressions of comparative length from tho tee. of the behaviour of the ball in th*' short game, and of tlie feel of it on lhe club. In lhe majority of cpw comment; was manffestlv pfwfurirtnrv. But a sufficient body of considered criticism was obtained for the representative golfers who took part in tlie competition—they numbered about 300—to establish the following conclusions: Cl) That standaidisation of size only i* useless. f2» That within certain well-defined Freds a reduction of weight relative to siz; increases the pleasure and entertainment derived from playing golf, aid increases it for players of all gtandar is of efficiency. Of the experimental balls it was tho lighter (294-31 dwt) which excite’ favourable comment. The heavier (32 and 33 dwt) were generally condemned The lighter of the experimental balls commended themselves to their users for these reasons : (a) They were pleasant to hit: (b'l they were susceptible of control—the player having played his shot, received his due reward; (<•) they required a largemeasure of control in adverse and cross winds than the 1.62 by 1.62 halls, an 1 thus introduced a larger element .f variety into the game; (d) they slight I .' increased the difficultv of bitting plieno menally long drives, hut did not make it insuperable : (e) adverse comment of the lighter balls was limited to th** putting, hut it was frequently suggested that the regular use of the balls would soon remove this objection. At th* 3 time of lhe open championship. “ The Field ” newspaper organised ?» long driving championship competition. and after consulting the golf ball., sub-committee, the promoters decide 1 to allow entrants to use balls of their own choice well .n<; those now legal l v playable. The field of experiment wn - not fullv exploited, hut the halls 1.6 2 inches in diameter, weighing 31 dwt were struck by most of the entrant. - ' The behaviour of these balls confirmed the information derived from the d v experimental competitions, viz., “that beyond certain point, increase of weight relative to s-Gc diminishes th*.. suitability of the hall as an implement, of golfing.” Playing at Shirley during the wecK end Mr R. AY. Morgan did somewhat, of a sensational round. Tn his medal score of 72. his aggregate for three holes was 5. He did " Muggirides ’’ in one. and the “Crossways” and "Old Nick ” in two each. LADIES* GOLF. Players at Shirley thi> week include Mrs Wigram and Mrs Vernon. Lady Boys and Miss Harley. Miss Reading, Miss Finmore, Mrs Bristed. Mrs Donald. Mrs Burnes. the Misses Halmai and Anthea Loughnan, Mrs Early, Miss KatljJecn Bristed. Miss Leon. Miss A’Court, Miss Dixon and Mrs Jaj, - . Miss Kathleen Bristed. a young golfer of the Christchurch Ladies’ Club, is making remarkable progress with her golf game at the moment. She is industrious and earnest, and no point of tiie "ame is too much trouble to acquire. The writer ventures to predict a truly great golfing future, for her. She is keen to observe the style and methods of advanced golfers and what :s more to the point, to adopt them. She plays with great ruse and confidence, and incidentally has rolled off seme very fine medal scores during tho summer play.