GOLF

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume LXXXIII, Issue 19828, 30 April 1927, Page 5

GOLF

SEAFIELD LADIES’ CLUB DRAW FOR ECLECTIC MATCH. The following is the draw for the; Eclectic match at the Scafield Ladies’ j Club on Tuesday next: — Airs Eadie v. Airs Corrigan. Mrs Pritchard v. Mrs Mewburn. Mrs Harkness v. Afrs AfcDonald. Mrs Gilbert v. Airs Goldsbury. Miss McDonald y. Afrs Runnerstrum. Afrs Cameron v. Airs Wills. A-liss Calvcr v. Mrs Paul. Alisa Henry v. Afrs Hackshaw. Afrs Williams v. Afrs AfcArtney. Afrs Hassall v. Mrs North. Afrs Watson v. Airs Wilkinson. WANGANUI CLUB GRADES AND BUNKERS. Comemncing to-day, players at Bel-mo-nt will in future be divided into A and B grades, end buttons given to tho winner of each grade. The matches will as usual be played on handicaps, but players of .17 medal handicap and under will be classed as A Grade and those of 18 handicap and over B Grade. This grading will continue <in the Bogey and Medal matches throughout the season, but will not, of course, apply to any special matches, 4-ball, mixed foursomes, etc. It has been noticed particularly this season that a large number of players are making no attempt to smooth over their footmarks after playing out of a bunker. It is very little trouble to do, and it shows that the player has some though for others on the links. A far greater sin due to sheer laziness is that of walking right through the bunkers. Most cross bunkers have a gap in the middle to obviate walking through them, but players have been observed this season who are either too lazy or too thoughtless to take tho trouble to cross by this path, but tiamp straight through, leaving several nice large footmarks for the next unfortunate who lands therein.

WANGANUI CLUB • MATCH AT PALMERSTON NORTH NEXT WEEK A team from the Wanganui Club will visit Palmerston North next Saturday May 7. Any players who can make the' trip are requested to put their names down on tho list at the club house or ring the secretary. SEAFIELD CLUB , CLUB CHAMPIONSHIPS (By 11 All-Square.’ J ) . Tho first round of the three qualifymg rounds for the club championships couunoncos this afternoon. The draw was published on Thursday. Provided the southerly cold snap itself out good scoring cards should bo handed in, as the greens and fairways are in excellent order for low scoring. In conjunetiou with tho qualifying rounds r modal handicap will also bo played for tho Captain 'a trophy. For tho benefit of new players it is necessary to state that tho qualifying rounds will be stroke play and that all holos must bo playect out. Short putts cannot bo conceded by an opponent; all putts must be holed out. It is also necessary to mention that practising on or to any green on the course the day a medal competition starts entails disqualification. Several instances of this from players who should have know the rules better, were noticed last season.

The handicaps of several players have been reduced by the handicapping committee. England, as a result of his improved play at New Plymouth, has been reduced to B—lo. Lints, who reached the semi-finals in the Southland Easter tournament, has been placed on the 4—5 mark. REPUTATION" and unexcelled playing qualities uro reasons why Spalding Golf Balls figure in more major events in one year than auy other make. For quick and easy recognition during plav, the name “Spalding" is in four colours m each box of twelve balls—red, blue, purple, green—three balls in each colour. British-made— used tho world over. g EVILS OF A TIGHT GRIP AT GOLF LOSS OF POWER AND DISTANCE. “CUTTING” PITTS (By ABE MITCHELL in Daily Express.) A correspondent in Reading writes asking if it. is correct to have a firm grip in tins aiMress and a verr gradual tightening apatite whole way' back, as he fin<ls a diitSenEty in keeping a good grip righty thirouglii the swing and espeoaliy ia back swing. The. firmness: of eaei; player’s grip IMtess accordiiag to what he really thtefas is best, asa# i n 0 means wssqr to Jay Arena a hard-and-fast rule e» tfcafes parat; W I would say that it 1® hest to Mast With not too tight a grip. F©r on© IWasg at the beginning of th© upswing, a too tight grip often that when th© kill is struck there I® a danger that the grip may be too firm altogether, with the result Gust the mttcelen at th© arms and wrists Weotste so much stiffened up' that they in-eiioe-l to retard rather than »pe<wl tsp the pace of the elubhead. While tho actual blow is firm, tho great point in tfe e golf swing is to keep

the muscles which are brought into play, fairly easy without being at all slack, and this is aided by keeping just a fairly firm grip. There is a great difference between a grip and a grasp of the club. The latter is often a grasp strong enough to hold a heavy cricket, bat, but such a tight grip is altogether unnecessary in the golf swing. After all, the movement is much more of a ' ■ swing than a sheer hit at the ball, i There is th c follow through to be thought of. Play Through. There is, too, the root idea that in all the best swings the aim is to play through the ball and not to stop immediately it has been struck by the clubhead. Even conceding that contact is only for a fraction of a second, there is always the need in golf to play through th c ball. This is necessary even when it lies in sand in a bunker. If the power ceases thc moment contact is made, then it means that the power has cased up before contact with thc ball, and that, of course, is the last thing that makes golf easy or successful. Therefore I think that if thp grip is too severe in the address it tends to . become even tighter as thc clubhead is swung up. and naturally to hold on to j the club with an ever-increasing power 3 tightens the muscles just when they should be loose without, as I say, bej ing at all flabby. I Those golfers who develop corns on the hands invariably grip the club too ‘ tightly at the wrong time. The grip, in . my opinion, should be easy in the dress, and almost naturally it will ’ tighten up as the clubhead begins to ’ leave thc ball. That is instinctive. , I Som c players grip so tightly in the adj dress that they have to loosen their ‘ (hands somewhere in tho swing. That 1 being so, it follows that thc clubhead I may wander out of its proper circle and ’’ cause the ball to be badly struck. e Some good players would tell you that they hold on pretty firmly all through the swing with the left hand. II I think that this is really good advice. G After all, it is thc left hand and arm ? which make the arc of the swing. If 11 a fairly tight grip is maintained by the r left hanfl, the liability for the left arm c to flex at the elbow is reduced, and to t keep that arm straight is always a good - plan.

Turn the Shoulder, There should not be much difficulty in keeping a firm grip with the* left 'hand if the turn of tho left shoulder round with the clubhead is done completely. Many players seem somewhat afraid to turn that shoulder round in the upswing, so that not only are they liable to let go with tne left hand, but they tend also not to have their left arm held taut enough at the top of the swing. If the left shoulder goes round and at the same time slightly down towards the ball any difficulty of gripping with either hand should disappear, but it goes against our common ideas to turn the left shoulder away, as there seems to be a doubt in the minds of many players that the body will get round and back in unison with thc clubhead. That will not happen. And even if it docs, then the up-swing is being performed much too quickly. That alone will tend to make a player grip too ■ tightly and curtail thc follow through to a great extent. Gripping Lightly Many of the good players grip very lightly. Indeed, some of them say that they think golf best when the grip is lightest; but that, I would suggest, simply means that they grip without strain and are able to keep a firm enough grip of the club, which does not have a chance to turn in the hands. Such a tension of the fingers is enough. There is no need in the golf swing to cramp the swing by too tight a grip. Indeed, I might say that the moment when the grip is tightest is just at impact, but immediately afterwards there comes a tendency to slacken not only the grip but all the muscles. Too tight a grip brings thc body into the stroke. Then we are apt to forget to got thc chibhead into the ball, and we tyush our shoulders and our back into the blow, thinking that by this means we shall drive the ball a long way, but it is the clubhead which does a great deal of th© work, and tight fingers and muscles mean that it does not get its proper share of the work. Actually, the shots which demand a tight hold of the dub are when the ball is bunkered or in the rough. In both instances the clubhead must not be permitted to turn away as the ball is struck. In long rough the grass may wrap round the shaft and tend to twist it out of the hands, but a good firm grip will prevent that happening. “Cutting” the Putts. Another correspondent in Nottingham wishes to know if it is a good thing to “cut” thc putts. He tells me that ho is a good putter, much to the surprise of his friends, who say that his is an exaggerated style. He seems quite content, however, and putts as well as any of his friends. Well, he is a lucky golfer. I have, of course, seen this style of putting, but I do not know of any good golfer who would choose to putt in this way. From all I can make, out, we all seem to try to strike the ball fairly and squarely in the middle of thc putter’s face, and also in the dead centre of tho ball, in order lo niaKe it roll truly towards tho hole. In a short putt I have seen myself at the last moment “cut” up tho ball ever so little, but I go in fear of these putts and prefer thoso whore tho ball can be struck quite truly. Good results in all styles may aeerue for some long time, but whore any style is exaggerated tho liability for it to go wrong is increased, and there may e&me a time when the ball, like a Millard ball, catches the wrong side of ths hole and, instead of dropping in, it stays out, lying at the edge. While I would not advocate this method for other golfers, it may be that my Nottingham correspondent has a peculiar gift in his way of putting, and if that be so my advice would be to stick to it, despite the arguments of his friends.