THE GRAND OLD MEN OF GOLF.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 17834, 30 April 1926, Page 13

THE GRAND OLD MEN OF GOLF.

YA R DON—TAYLO R—B RAID. Very few of the younger generations of champion and professional golfers merit the honour of being placed alongside. the grand old men of golf. From fifteen to twentv and more years ago the higher flights of the Royal and Ancient Game could be attained only by a smaller and more select band than is the case nowaduys, and among that select number were several who stood head and shoulders above all the others. I refer especially tv) J. 11. Taylor, Harry Yardon, and James Braid. Between 1895 and 1911 the majority of the open championships went to these three men, whose record for years was four championships each, until J. 11. Taylor won a fifth, if I remember rightly, .about 1912-14. For practically a whole generation these three masters of the game dominated all open competitions, and it was not until they were well on in the forties that younger men began to make the running somewhat too hard for these veterans. As a rule, however, two out of the three still qualify for places among the eighty elite who play off the four rounds of the. open championship. And it was only last year that J. 11. Taylor was close to the front in the scoring for the championship, which Jim Barnes won lor America. Taylor is now about 56 -58 years of age; Yardon and Braid arc practically the same. In my last article there was an indication to the effect that golf is a game for the old as well as for the young. The fact that a man of fifty-six can play the game well enough It) win a place among the first six in the open championship reinforces that statement. STYLES AND METHOD. Yardon, Taylor and Braid are names held in honour to-day wherever golf has really taken root; but it may be useful, here, to say a little more about these men. For a generation Vardon's name stood for all that was perfect in achievement and beautiful in style, so far as golf was concerned. Long, graceful and rhythmic in his swing, Yardon’s method was to sweep the ball away with .the swift, true movement of the club. The poetry of graceful and effortless motion found expression in Yardon’s style. I think of a delightful statuette of him which conveys this impression of graceful power. He had maiiv 6 imitators, but none to emulate his ease and power. The style of J. 11. Taylor is quite the opposite of Yardon’s. Taylor's swing is not nearly so long, indeed it does not pass the. horizontal, and, in playing against a wind i where Taylor excels) the swing is still shorter; the right elbow is close to the body, and the right side affords a great deal of pivotal power to the saving, which receives its full effectiveness from the muscular forearms and wrists. J. H. Taylor relies more upon the powerful flick from forearms' and' Wrists than upon the velocity of a long sweeping swing, and I think p\s. vneJfiQd means more control and simpler mechanism. One sees the power and effectiveness of it, especially when Taylor is playing against a wind. I recall an open championship at Deal, Kent, when in very windy weather, Taylor had three

Braid’s swing and style are more usual and more orthodox than is the case with Taylor or Yardon. Ilis swing is full, but not so long as Yardon’s: and he makes vise of his muscular forearms to add nip to his shots. In his day Braid was one of the longest drivers among the professionals. As a young man he was a carpenter. and played golf on the Klie and Earlsfcrrv course in Fifeshirc. For many years he has been professional to tiie Walton Heath Golf Club, near London, where Sir Ernest Holderncss is a member; and the two have, of late years, played a good deal together. Taylor and Yardon are both Channel Islanders. Taylor is usually the spokesman on occasions when speeches are called for on the part of professionals; and at speech-making he is quite a scratch man. Not one of the younger generations of golfers has achievements to his credit which, in quality or in amount, can compare with the achievements of these three men. And although these grand old men of the game arc on the threshold of the sixtieth year they are still playing first class professional golf. TWO OTHERS. There are two others who belong to the same generation as this great triumvirate, namely Herd and Raw The latter is a few years younger, but is on the. wrong side of fifty; (he went in for plus-fours a year or two ago, and was chaffed a good deal over it) while Sandv Herd is one vear older than Braid, who is the senior member of the great three. Both these veterans have won the open championship, and Ray, together with Compston, was runner-up in* 1925. Ray is a Channel Islander like Yardon and Taylor. It is not necessary to mention the nationality of bandy Herd; it is obvious. Ray is a very powerful player and a very long driver. Although he gives the impression of being a clumsy golfer he is really one of the most accomplished in the delicate art of pitching and putting. Herd, as a rule, gets quite a pull on his ball with his wooden clubs, and so increases his length, lb- i-< one of the few first class men who do not employ the overlapping grip, but holds the club in the good old fashioned way without overlap or in ter lock By the wav . Vawion is aid to have given rise, to the nnpularitv of the. overlapping grip, which is some times called by hir name Another idi osvncrasv of Sandv Herd is revealed in the rumour that he refuses to wash his hands after the morning round, before going to lunch, because, he says, that would “spoil his touch.” There is more in the rumour than a jpke!

These five famous golfers are all attached to clubs in or near London. Of late years Taylor has laid out a number ot courses, and continues to develop a business as a golf-course architect. Taylor. Braid, and Herd have never patronised plus-fours, although Ray has lately gone in for them. Before the name or the day of plus-fours \ ardon always wore a knickerbocker suit when golfing, and practices the same habit still.

The younger professional golfers both in Britain and in America (especially in America) lay great stress, nowadays, upon the correctness of . their sartorial outfit; plus-fours, pull-overs (many-col-oured 1, noticeable stockings, and immaculate shoes, form part of the young professional’s outfit just as really as does his bag of clubs. COMPSTON AND MASSY IN U.S.A. \\ e road some time ago that Compston had taken a single ticket to the U.S.A, and that Massy had accomhim as a playing partner. The two Europeans engaged in a match against Hagen and Nichols in Florida towards the end of Januarv, which the Americans won. It was a four-ball match over 36 holes, and the aggregate scores were as follows:- -Hagen, 73. 72 145; Nichols 74. 74 US; Compston, 71. 75 116; Massy, 78, 73 151.

I doubt if Massy is quite good enough to be an adequate support to Compston in the matches which the American golfing public will have prepared. Massy cannot be far short of 50, and ho is rather a beefy, heavy man into the bargain. At the top of his swing ho has a peculiar little curl, which seems to serve the purpose of adjusting things towards the psychological moment for beginning the down swing. For years Massy has been rather out of the hunt so fur as first-class professional golf was concerned, but he came back to some extent last season. It is probably on the strength of this "Indian summer" in his golfing autumn that the American tour with Compston has been arranged. AN UNDERSTUDY TO BOBBY JONES? It is not the first time that the name of Mr Bobby Jones has been mentioned in these columns, and it will not be the last. Bobby Jones has an understudy—an understudy who is already almost a peer to the master. This is Watts Gunn, an Atlanta youth like Bobby Jones himself. These two have been playing together at Atlanta for a year or two, and the less famous one has been well prilled out, so that he is now a potential champion. Practically, it takes Bobby Jones to beat him, and even he has to get going properly to do so. Was it in the final or the penultimate round last year of the American amateur championship that Jones beat Gunn ? These two young amateurs met Compston and Massy over 36 holes .at St Augustine in Florida, and were beaten by 3 and 2. Not. long afterwards, Jones, partnered by T. D. Armour (a young Scotsman, now a leading professional in U.S.A.) again opposed Compston and Massy. This time Bobby Jones had his.revenge. lie played the finest golf of the four, and his side beat the two visitors from the Old World by S and 7 in 36 holes. The scores were the following:—Bobby Jones, 73, 71— 144; T. D. Armour. 73, 74 -147; Compston, 77, 79—156; Massy, 76, 78—154.

I would like, to say a little about T. D. Armour in another article.