ON THE TEE.

Star (Christchurch), Volume LXVI, Issue 20649, 25 June 1935, Page 11

ON THE TEE.

The Strangle-hold on a Club is All Wrong. NOTES BY 808 FERGUSON. Blisters and sore hands are subjects for advertisements, and are frequently topics of conversation with golfers. There is absolutely no reason why playing golf should cause calluses to disfigure the hands and remove half the pleasure of the game. If you suffer from this complaint, your technique needs correction. When you first decided to hit at the “wee sma’ ba’,” and hired a professional to show you the way it should be done, he told you that a harsh grip was fatal. Perhaps, since that time, you have forgotten his excellent advice, and have wondered why you are always applying plaster to injured parts of your hands, and why our game has deteriorated. The answer is to be found in the headlines at the top of this column. The strangle hold on a golf club is all wrong. A 1 Espinosa, the Spaniard who chipped nine strokes off the par for the course of the Mexico City Country Club in December, 1934, knows the answer. He went round the course, 6800 yards, in 63, a Avorld’s record for that distance. Espinosa has been in the leading flight for some years now. In 1929 he tied with Bobby Jones for the American open and lost the play-off. Any professional from the States will tell you that the Spaniard is liable to spring a surprise just when you least expect it. In the course of an interview in the “ American Golfer,” Espinosa says that no decent golfer lays tight hands on the grip of a golf club. The calloused finger has no place in the ancient game. A gentle, even pressure of the hands on the handle of any club in the bag will do the trick far better than a violent strangle-hold. The hands, properly interlocked at the little fingers, should not create, at any point, a callus-form-ing pressure. Whenever the flesh of the fingers, or palms, is pinched to the point of distortion, something is wrong with your “ clutch.” There is no reason why a golfer should have corns on his hands. Espinosa goes on to point out that, because the average duffer plays golf with his “ maulers’’ instead of his clubs, blisters are prevalent. A man might just as Avell get blisters and bunions handling a knife and fork at the table, or shaving, or writing a letter. The kick is in the club head, not on the handle. It isn’t necessary to hold so that your knuckles shovv A\-hite like the snow caps on a range of mountains. He goes on to. say, " since my fifteenth year I have been throwing club heads at golf balls with all the strength that the shot called for, and you can’t find the slightest indication of callus or distortion on either of my grippers." Al’s hands are soft as a woman’s, and flexible as a pickpocket's. it was those hands which gave him the following figures Avhen he broke the world’s record for eighteen - holes at 6800 yards on December 23, 1934: Par: 0ut—4543 44543—36 Espinosa: 0ut—443443432—31 Par: 1n—544354434—36 Espinosa; 1n—534253334—32 Total— 72. Espinosa 63. What with the rain, snow, sleet and heavy dew. and the soft ground consequent on the foregoing factors, scoring becomes even more difficult. By scoring I mean returning a card that is a credit to you and the handicapping committee. I do not mean scoring in the cricket sense—the bigger the better. One of the chief troubles experienced in this AA-eather is the difficulty of being accurate with approach shots. This is a hobby of mine, but I know that great importance is placed on this department of the game by the men who are regularly in the big money in international tournaments. Of recent years great faith has been placed in the run-up shot, in contrast to the old high lofted shot, which Avas favourite with players of earlier years. It is a great shot when the fairways resemble bitumen roads, or when there is a ridge at the approach to the green, but is a shot to be at-oided under normal winter conditions. Take the fourth hole at Shirley. A run-up approach is the only safe shot in almost any Aveather. But on any other green a high mashie niblick is likely to gi\-e better results at this time of the year. It is weil-nigh impossible to gauge the resistance of the grass at the edge of greens in this weather, and over-shooting, or under clubbing. Is sure to result from consistent playing of run-up shots. I recommend you golfers, one and all, to persevere Avith orthodox approaching methods while conditions are as at present. Recently I had cause to congratulate A. R. Blank on his wonderful run of winning form, and I am sure that Blank AA-ill join me in congratulating G. W. Green on his performance in defeating the Canterbury champion by 6 and 5 in the semi-final cf the Ward Cup at HareAvood during the Aveek-end. Blank had to concede twelve strokes, but he would not have suffered such a crushing defeat from the average sixteen handicap player. Green is a man of whom we Avill hear more in the near future. He is a young player, and, I am told, entirely without nerves, the cause of so many excellent golfers’ downfall. His handicap liafc been reduced several times of late, and he has earned another reduction by his performance against Blank. For a man on sixteen to be out in 4 0 in this weather is no mean feat. I want to AA-ish Green a highly successful season, and I am sure that all golfers in Canterbury avIII join me.