GOLF.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXXIII, Issue 3693, 30 November 1912, Page 4

GOLF.

(By “Niblick.”) Loat Ball Lost Hole.

It was announced by the whole of the British Press last month that after the end of the present year the “lost, ball lost hole” rule in mack play would disappear, and that thenceforth the penalty for lost ball in matches would be loss of stroke and distances. It is now reported, however, that the above announcement was incorrect, and that the penalty for lost ball in- matches lias not in any way been altered. The league “official” reports given to the Press of the meetings at St. Andrews have frequently been the cause of mucli mi,sunder st andin g. The Number of Clubs.

The open champion of England, Edward Ray, is of opinion that the less clubs one carries round the better, for, says he, if we have two irons or two in ash ie.s’ of equal power it is a sure tiling that whichever we take will ho the wrong one, AYo .should have one set, and play with them alone; and if extra clubs are carried, they should only be looked upon as substitutes for the main set in case of any breakage. Ray prefers seared to socket clubs. He does not believe in a player disposing of a dub just because it- does not suit him at first, as many a club placed aside in disgust may one day produce such results as will cause the player to wonder what on earth lie could have been thinking about to have placed it away on the shelf. The Eternal Rules.

In other games the man in the street is often as”familiar with, the rules as is the player himesli. Bo far as the bulk of golfers are concerned, the rules might almost be non-existeiiL, tor wliat they know about them. Harry Vardan Wins Big Tournament. Until hist month Harry Yardon, the world-famous golfer, had mimed every possible honor of Ids profession but one. Then, after striving for it annually since 1903, he carried off the professional tournament for the first time. Yardon is in his 12nd year, and he can now afford to rest upon his laurels as the most accomplished exponent of the game of golf the world has known ; but he will not. He has years of “second to none” golf, left within him, and he will go on giving of his 'best for some years to come, to the delight of thousands of enthusiasts. Vardon is wondrously popular with “the crowd,’’who know from the demeanor of the man, apart from his skill, that there are none more deserving. Yardon’s latest triumph carries with it the gold medal of the tournament and £IOO of the £IOO presented in prizes by “4 lie News ol the World in connection therewith. Th2 Jst'soy Rivals. Edward Ray, whom A union defeated in the final round of 3G holes, has been curiously bound up with. A nrdon’s.recent fortunes. At Muirheld this year he wrested the championship from'the South H'ert’s man, who finished a good second on that occasion. Remarkably, too, A ardon followed immediately behind Ray in the order of play at Muirheld, and as he was waiting* to drive off from the last tee lie overheard a tremedous crowd around the last green cheering Ray as the new champion. It is almost romantic that the two should he Jersey men. Now, the pair were drawn wide apart in the match play stages of the professional tournament which, ended after two days of eventful golf in the pair meeting each other in the final tie. It was a tremendous struggle throughout \he two rounds. In the morning there were not more than 800 people to witness the first half of. it,-but the second round was played in the presence of fully 3000 onlookers. Charming weather was experienced throughout the day, and the occasion was voted one of the biggest successes of big golf. The character of the play is reflected in the run of the game. Ray was never once up on Yardon, was three down at the end of the first round, four down at the nineteenth, and four down again at the twentythird. And yet Rav lost only on the last of thirty-six greens. In the Heather.

In the afternoon Ray was 2 down at tlio turn. The tenth (or 28th) was halved in s’s, and then an incident happened which swung round the fortunes of the fight in sensational fashion. Ray badly sliced his tee shot into the heather behind the trees which guard the elevnth green on the right. He was tucked up close to the ditch, and in casual water. Fortunately for him, by tlie local rule, which was read out on the spot by Mr. A. C. Croome, the referee allows a ball lying in casual water in the heather, to be lifted and dropped. As a. fact, Ray’s ball was in a depression which ha.d the appearance of a disused blinker. Ray asked where he should drop, and upon the referee saying, “Anywhere in the depression,’’ ho took the ball yards back, a move which allowed him to accomplish a magnificent pitch over the trees and to within six yards of the pin. Ray holed the putt for 3, after Vardon had played an indifferent,short game for a 4? A Grim Finish.

Vardon, now only one up, and tiring fast, went to the twelfth completely upset, but managed to scramble a half. .At flic short thirteenth. Ray squared the match by halving a 2, but the fourteenth Vardon won in 4 and 5, solely because Ray unaccountably dragged a putt which stopped on the lip. Vardon, still showing' signs of fatigue, became two up again at the fifteenth by having when he was nearly' stymied, with Ray again dead. Tlio sixteenth wad halved in s’s, despite Vardon being bunkered. Ray missing another putt by dragging it. Vardon, now dor-mie 2, lost the seventeenth, where he missed a 4-feet putt. Vardon dormio '. At the last hole Ray nearly ended his last chance by slicing nis tee shot into tlio rough, aiiud gro us from aivinnl bun But he w r as not ,et, hca'.' i. Hy bong allowed to remove a stone which was t v’rly fast ~i 'he grovi 1 -un mediately behind his -ball, lie g<-t an excellent, lie, and with a grand eleelc shot found the green. Vardon, however, played lip to the green with two ideal shots, and after holing out in four after Ray, had fallen short with his approach shot, won , the match -with a half in 4’s by one up. Ray and the Worm.

Ray lost tlio mateli as amiably as he won tlm championship at Minefield. For instance, before his very last putt

on the last gr on he found a worm on his line sticking ics body halfway out of the green. Turning to the referee, he laughingly inquired, “Here's a worm; is it growing?” The referee replied, “You can pick it, but you cannot brush it.” Ray, still smiling, picked out the worm and threw it aside. Between holding and missing that approach putt depended the difference between £IOO and £4O, and much added glory to Ray, but he went through the ordeal thus lightly, and when he had lost a tremendous fight so narrowly, he rushed towards Yardon and shook him warmly, not in stiff formality, by the hand.