GOLF RACKETS.

Waikato Times, Volume 110, Issue 18521, 29 December 1931, Page 2

GOLF RACKETS.

AMERICAN PLAYERS. VON ELM’S ATTACK. FEW REAL AMATEURS.. While It has long been suspected that, in tho matter of their amateur status, a good many Amerloan golfers have come dangerously near the border line, If they have not actually crossed It, the revelations made by George Von Elm, until recently one of tho world’s leading amateurs, about the widespread nature of the transgressions will come as a surprise, If not a shook, to most people. If only a tithe of what he says Is true, the condition of amateur golf In the United States needs a drastic cleansing, says a writer In an English exchange.

In Great Britain things are not altogether as they should be, but by comparison with America our golfers are saints, always supposing of course, that Von Elm is not talking out of his hat. Personally, I see no reason to suppose that he Is doing anything of the kind; no man has a greater insidi knowledge of the ramifications of golf, and having crossed the dividing line 'solely for financial reasons, Von Elm is now able to speak freely of bis experiences as one of the most prominent figures in the amateur world, and as a contemporary of R. T. Jones.

Each having forfeited his amateur status in order openly to capitalise his skill, their consciences, it is to be imagined, are now perfectly clear. At any rate, Von Elm declares that with Ills new sense of freedom he never was so happy; as a “business-man golfer” he now gets a thrill out of the game, a condition which he has not experienced for many years. Von Elm made his disclosures at a time when the Royal and Ancient Club of St. Andrews was about to bring into force a new and more comprehensive definition of an amateur. The Right Position. Von Elm makes the definite and sweeping pronouncement, that he knows of only two real amateurs in America. While, of course, he does not name them, the West is claiming Join Goodman, the youth who defeat id Jones in the first round of the chain pionship three years ago, as one of the two Simon Pures. Goodman, who has no money of his own, and no wealthy sponsors, travelled to the championship in a freight-car, .and, because he could not put up at one of the hotels, obtained permission from a local farmer to pitch a tent in a field, where he cooked his own meals. Other districts, I imagine, will he setting their heroes on pedestals. There is the case of "Chick" Evans, of Chicago, who came to Sandwich to play in the championship, and, rather than accept hospitality in a liner, worked his passage in a cattle boat. Von Elm goes on to say that every golfer whose game Is of the championship class knows there are ways and means of circumventing the amateur law. Many golfers, he states, accept sub-rosa travelling expenses from their clubs, though the practice is an infringement of the United States Golf Association’s rule. He points out that the association pays tho expenses of the international Walker Cup team, and asks: “How can the practice he right in one instance and wrong in the other?

Von Elm cites a long and formidable list of Illegal praotlcos rampant In tho States. Tho distribution of freo golf balls to amateurs Is so common as to esoapo notion, while clubs and general golf oqu.pment are, In a vast number of cases, made the objects of gifts. It would appear that Von Elm, In common with many other players, . has not bought a ball for years, though tho American rule Is tho samo as that of St. Andrews, a player being permitted to accept two, but oach must bo clearly marked with the word “Sample.” Among the various “rackets” are the betting, guest, literary, and stock market, each of which affords an avenue for exploitation. Betting Dodge. The betting dodge, says Van Elm, is simplicity' itself. If a wealthy member of a club wishes to send a particular player to the championship, a match is arranged between them for 500 to 1000 dollars, and the payingout process takes place on the 18th green; on the surface all fair and above board. In the stook market racket stock is carried for a favourite player and naturally, says Yon Elm, “there is always a profit." "And If a golfer Is bis enough for his name to sell he can always turn literary, though It Is against the rules to sign one’s name to an article which he has not written. But so many of our best golfers have got away with it, that no one even bothers to check up on these lines. One of the latest Mrickers’ of the 1931 vintage is the signing of a note for money borrowed from a a friend. If the latter never presents the note for payment, whose business is it but his? And the note Is always evidence of the amateur’s lily-white intentions.”

Because of these practices, or subterfuges, call them what you will. Von Elm declares that the amateur rule should be modified and recast to fit modern conditions. The old idea of a “gentleman-player" Is out of date. Because he can no longer afford to go careering round the world playing amateur golf, and also because the present method of subdivision is a furtive, hole-and-corner business. Von Elm has cut himself adrift from the amateur ranks, though he Is convinced that none who knew him will think any the worse of him for doing so. He asserts that there is no golfer of high rank who does not, willingly or otherwise. capitalise his game. Whatever he sells in the way of business he sells more and bigger if his putter is “hot,” or he chips close to the pin in championships. Ootd Water. H. H. Ramsay, president, of the United Elates Golf Association, throws n bucket of Iced water on the suggestion that the amateur rule should be altered In meet the times, and to provide for some of the practices mentioned by Von Elm. “Not withstanding Iho difficulties, t! Is oi i r belief." declares Ramsay, ''that amateur golf to-day Is on a higher plane in so far as the absence of questionable prarlii’ns is eonerrned than any other major sport, nf course, i! is obvious that rules cannot he devised which will prevent wilful fraud. “The fact Is. thouch, lint the nvm who seeks to find a loophole in the (Continued In sext column.;

amateur rules stamps himself as a cheat from the outset. He cheats his brother golfers, because he secretly does things that they are unwilling to do; he cheats the professional golfer because he is attempting to sail under amateur colours and at the same time engage in practices which are only open to the avowed .professional. Our experience shows that the amateur golfer who tries to skip through the rules Is, sooner or later, found out."

Ramsay 19 unaware of any reason for any substantial changes In tho policy of the United States body, which Is that expenses of an amateur golfer may bo paid only In the case of the Walker Cup match with Great Britain, of regularly organised college teams, and of artisan players In the publlo links ohamplonshlp. Ho very properly adds that “Golf, after all, Is a sport for sportsmen, and sportsmen have consolenoes which guide their actions without the real necessity of printed rules.” Still, Von Elm's exposure does leave a rather nasty taste In the mouth.