GOLF.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXXIII, Issue 3663, 26 October 1912, Page 3

GOLF.

CHAMPIONSHIP OF GERMANY

Extraordinary Coif.

The Championship of Germany attracted the leading professionals front England and France (James Braid being the only prominent absentee), as Hie Baden Baden Club was very generous in its prize-money, which amounted to no less than £6OO (first prize £l3O, second prize £BO, third prize £OO, fourth prize £175-, and so on ad infinitum). The course is a course is a short one, and it was not in good condition, as the’ heavy rains haw wrought havoc with the fairways and greens. It was therefore remarkable that all the scores returned were something out of the ordinary. r Jhe competition record of 67 for the green which was put up by Harry Vardon when he won the Championship there last year, was beaten several times. At the end of the four rounds of stroke play, it was found that- J. H. Taylor and E. Kay (Open Champion) had tied for first place, with a wonderful total of 279 for 72 holes, an average of under 70 pm - round, which is enough to startle one. The first four scores make very interesting reading; tlicv were; J. H. Taylor: '66/67, 73. 73 —279. E. Ray; 76, 66, 68, 70 —279. AY. H.* Horne; 67, 69, 71, 74—281.

George Duncan : 68, 69, 76, 71—284 In the first twenty— that is, the prize-winners—there were 16 rounds under 70. Ray, Horne, Duncan and Taylor each had two rounds in the sixties; Vardon, the holder, who was fifth, had consistent rounds of 71, 70, 70, and 74. Altogether, 30 of the competitors completed their four rounds in 300 strokes —-or under. The most wonderful part of the event, however, was the play-off of the tie between Kay and Taylor, as never before in the history of the world’s golf was such a remarkable performance put up in any championship. It was agreed to play 9-holes, the first four and the last five, and the play off was followed by a large crowd of enthusiasts.

To say that Taylor played superbly is but a feeble description, for never had Taylor played with such dazzling brilliancy. . Kay, who came in for much sympathy at the close, played well enough for even Ray; 34 for 9 holes is all right, but it was six strokes too many. Taylor played like an inspired man, and with 2,3, 2,3, 3, for the first holes, settled the question of the German Championship for 1912. From figures like the above, it might l>e wondered what manner of course this is of the Baden Club. The holes described above are as follows: No. 1 mashie shot gr-on well guarded by bunkers; No. 2 ditto, No. 3, full cleek trouble over and short of green; No. 4 a long tee shot, to carry a line of poplars, then short mashie pitch to hole; No. 6, full cleek. trouble everywhere, but dead straight. It will be seen from this that it was not a very easy course. Taylor's score for 9 holes was-as follows —2.3, 2. 3. 3. 4, 6. 3. 3. —28. Rav was 34.

The Colter's Nightmare

Slicing is the nightmare of all golfers; it gets us into all the troubles to be found on the links, and oar round then becomes anything but pleasant. A player who was sorely troubled with this, to the golfer, awful “disease.” found that he had so altered his grip .with the right hand that the' back of the hand was being

one suggesting that lie should try catching the club with that hand more underneath—more of a circ-ket grig, in fact —the very bad slice disappeared. and consequents the length of drive increased, all the long shots cither with wood or iron flew i cry much straighter. and his game-all over bc-came much improved : so much so. indeed, that at the end of a week or two this golfer from having become once more an absolute and all to frequent “i'oozlor.” succeeded in knocking six to eight strokes off his handicap allowance. The foregoing may be a simple and valuable lesson to some of the many players laboring under the same “disease'-’ that until recently had seemed incurable in the case of the golfer mentioned, and had almost been the means of his determining to give up the game and take to bowls —or worse. Of course, some players will continue to slice, no matter how they grip their clubs, as a faulty stance, and many other things may cause the worst of slices.

A Remarkable Golf Shot. A remarkable shot recently made by Rav, the open champion, at Port j Erin, when, after driving out- of bounds, he holed his next shot from ! 220 yards, recalls to mind the fact • that one one of the best shots in the recent open championship at- Muirfield was played by McNeill, of Portrush, who. on the last day, was partnered by the great James Braid, close to the green at the last hole is a huge bunker, and McNeill's ball lay hard up against the face, which overhangs. It- should he remembered that the sand in the nnnkers at- Muirfield had been purposely mixed with earth to prevent- the wind blowing the lightdry sand away, and when the rain came this mixture became like clay, and it- was quite a hard matter to extricate the ball even from a good lie. McNeill, however, played straight for the pin, and by some wonderful means ho not only got the ball out. but laid it absolutely dead, and secured a four:- It was indeed a great shot by a rapidly-rising player, who i

is apparently possessed of all the qualifications that go to make a champion-

A Challenge to the World

It is not generally known fifai George Duncan and Tom Ball, tho two young golf professionals who issued « challenge to the world to play a four-ball match recently, met and defeated Edward Kav and Harry Vardon, in a contest of that description. When the players were on the Continent after the decision of the Open at Muirfield, it was suggested by someone that the Open -Champion and the ex-Open Champion should take up the challenge in a friendly way. They did, with the result that the challengers won two games out of three. The trial of the challenge pair was severe enough in ail conscience, and their success tends to prove tho assertion made that Duncan and Ball would beat any other two players in this kind of game. To defeat the couple who finished in the first two places in the Open Championship is an accomplishment of which the two young professionals should be extremely proud. •In a few weeks the first golf professional that China has ever known will make his appearance in that country. This is interesting, as instancing the remarkable spread of the game. The distinction is to fall upon Richard Graham, who is at present assistant at the Raynes Park Club, and leaves in a few weeks’ time to take up the post of professional to the Shanghai Golf Club. Graham is a clever "olfer. just over 20 years of age, and although he has not had much competitive success, he has play ed a deal of good golf, such as doing' a 70 at Raynes Park and a similarly praiseworthy score at- Bramshot. ors - ham was employed as private coach at the age of 16, and is said to possess the rare gift of being able to impart In's knowledge of the intricacies c,I the game to Ids pupils.

Ths Colfsr’3 Favorite Club. It has been said that in every golfer’s bag there is one club which never fails, even at the most critical moment. an that eve-yone knows ‘or Harold Hilton’s, spoon, and of the wonders he accomp ished with it, m - - were one to inquire of one’s friends a" to which were their favorite clubs*, most probablv the implement predu* - ed would be the lightest and the shortest of the set. It is a fact that o T *ti a club of that description one can exercise almost complete cont.o-, which does so much towards giving that confidence which is so necessary to success in this queer, ancient game. Even golfers unknown to fame ma-co great shots with their favorite _c--i and it will nearly always be round that it is the shortest and light---club thev possess. Inquiries recent:;, made by a well-known golf journalist in England, has elicited the information that the favorite implement many of the best players was a chi:oi the short and light type, but t;.-: man who said his “i‘ad-me-never v “ - a niblick got the “bulge on Jim.

New Rules as to Lost Balls. AY he n the lost-ball-lost-hole rule was framed, the idea underiving it wax that if you hit a bad into a placewhere you could not- find it the situation was so hopeless that you were bound to lose the hole. 4 hat theory

is. of course, true in many instances.

but- it is equally untrue m many more. Besides, it lias always oeen an anomalous ruling, as compared with the bad lost* out of bounds. In case «'t the latter, me stroke mny. always.

can lose a ball in bounds. as the i« suit of a. shot which pnay be quite good one or only half bad. * One has often felt aggrieved at lining to give up a lio’e on losing a ba: “it must he about here,” you say. 1 your search for it. and you reel tin the punishment is all too severe o* cause you cannot find_ the particui: tuft of grass uudep which the ball at sneaked out of sight, and when it. only a few yards out or that straigi lino that would have made tlie Strok a good one. Most- golfers will think the. propose alteration in the rule governing a lo; ball a most- sensible, one. One c-oui recount numberless instances in whic the old rule ’ has operated _most ui fairly There is the ease or Hie par er who blunders hopelessly from ti tee and who goes on playing, ins tea of at once picking up, in the hope t-n; something dreadful, mav happen : you. And something dreadful do* happen, for whilst your opponent take seven, say, to reach tne green, •• pull your second a trifle antp the ha runs iusr a little wide of tne gree into these rushes that swallow it u never to be seen again, and you jOthe hole. The proposed change is t make the penalty for lost ball strok and distance. The tendency to pit ting on fast greens, pull putts a.war seems greater when greens are fas The explanation that at once occm is that one is afraid of the hole: tin instead of lotting the club go straigi through, one snatches at the ball m timid, nervous way. Most playe: have the same unfortunate lialut : playing a short putt when it is neoe sary to borrow ground. I carry. • borrowing too much thc.v unconsciou ly help the ball to “fall” h’ a culiir away with both hands and body. Co: fidence and boldness, are the lvest ec reetives of putting faults, and a we! known English golfer gives the folio* ing advice: “Stand firmly, let ti right- hand do the work, the left soring chiefly as a guider, and take paii to hit the ball truly. That is wh; yoa .must always do and on fast- greet the need to fulfil faithfully all thes conditions is all the greater.