GOLF

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume LXXXII, Issue 19475, 15 December 1925, Page 4

GOLF

430 YARDS DRIVE NEW AUSTRALIAN RECORD. What golfer could tee his ball up in front of the Post Office and belt the wee small thing past the foot of Wvndham Street ? ’Whoever could do this would equal the mightiest authenticated swipe ever made in golf. In August, 1913, E. C. Bliss hit a ball this distance at Herne Bay, England, ami the distance was checked off by L. H. Lloyd, Government surveyor, and found to be 445 yards—over a quarter of a mile. Recently, at the fifth hole on the links of the Northern Club at Glenroy, 1 ictoria, W. F. Skinner got the green in one mighty shot, and the hole is officially distanced at 445 yards. "When the ball come to rest it was between ten and fifteen yards from the pin, so the actual distance that it covered was from 430 to 435 yards. “Wish” Skinner is one of the most cheerful and popular felows in golf, and when he goes out after extra length something really worth while happens, even if it is only the utter destruction of the ball. Owing to his excellent full physical condition he has some slight difficulty in bending his huge frame to make a tee, and when it is realised that he is perilously close I°—if he has not already passed—the three-score total of years, the merit of his wonder hit increases.

A Gale Helped. Naturally a tremendous hit of this sort could not be brought off without some assistance from the wind, for the big hitter who attains 250 yards on a still day thinks he has done as well as he has any right to expect. There was something very close to a gale following the ball, and this materially helped it down the straight and narrow fairway. The actual carry was well over 230 yards, with low trajectory, and apparently the ball was struck immediately after the powerful down swing was completed. In this way the perfect timing would impart all the power that was about, and at the same time there would be set up a strong top spin that would carry the ball on much further than it would otherwise go when it landed. The fifth fairway is well grassed, and unless the top spin was excent’onahv great the hall would never have <•<.'- cred the distance that it did.