GOLF.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXXV, Issue 3952, 7 June 1913, Page 10

GOLF.

(By “Niblick.”)

VARDON TALKS

SOME URGENT GOLF PROBLEMS Anyone who has visted the South Herts Golf Club must have noticed the secluded little spot tucked away between two holes to which a cosmopolitan band of golfers come to receive comfort and instruction from tke greatest player that ever lived (writes AH. W'.R.” in the ' “Daily Mail.”) Around that snug little nest Vardon has planted all manner of flowering shrubs, and when the wallflowers and roses come out it is indeed a fit shrine for so great a genius. I had come to have a talk with Vardon, and it was there X was directed. I think before you saw him play'a shot you would know Vardon was a great player. He has that unmistakable poise. You can understand why he is called —highest possible praise—the golfer’s golfer; why he is "to everyone who plays and loves the game the prototype of the great golfer. I wanted to hear his views on the present condition of the game, and I found they were, like himself, balanced and shrewd. The following is a short ■Summary of the conversation we had and the conclusions to which we came. He and I were in perfect agreement on one thing, that golf is being slowly V 'ruined, and that by the perfection of the instruments with-which it is played. ,Golf differs from every other game in the following respect. Those iwho originally laid down the laws governing other games naturally realised that their first task vvas jto standardise

the implements of that game —for sufficiently obvious reasons. DEVICES THAT SPOIL- THE GAME

Unfortunately it is only to a limited extent that that has applied to golf. In the.blessed days of the “gutty” the problem ivas hardly pressing, but ever since Herd Avon the championship in 1902, using the “neiv 1 ball,” matters have been working up for a crisis. Ever since that day manufacturers have concentrated''their activities on producing a ball that Ayill run, not carry, farther than before, in which they have ;been remarkably successful; so much that now anyone can hit a golf ball a respectable distance, however eccentric the means adopted. The air is even now full of rumors of neiv balls that will still further eliminate space, still further flatter incapacity, still further spoil courses, and embarrass green committees. Yard on thinks it is only a matter of a feiv years before 400 yards Avill be the accepted length for a one shot hole. Manufacturers of clubs in their turn exhibit endless if misplaced ingenuity in evolving ridiculous weapons, nicknamed “non-pulling,” “non-slicing,” “'non-topping,” and so- on, which is fallacious are both dishonest to their purchasers and causes of stumbling to the learner. Of they equal their pretensions they can but have the effect of still further eliminating skill from the game and gradually making it merely a trial of strength and an excuse for a four-mile walk. VANISHING SWING.

Everyone aaAIo played much golf in tho summer of 1911 must remember lioav the game in those days consisted of little more than unmerited length off the tee and frenzied failure Avith the niblick. Anyone avlio lias stood near the first tee of a London green on a -Sabbath morning and seen the curious athletic exhibition that takes place every three minutes will -have realised that there is another charge to be brought against the modern ball. It is ruining the golf sAving. Yard-on says emphatically that the amateurs of this country are deteriorating rapidly. This is the day of the halfswinger and the forearm “puncher.” The result of such methods is a diminutive carry apd a gigantic run. It is magnificent, hut I do not believe it is golf. Such methods Avould have spelt disaster in the days of the “gutty,” at which 1 correct swinging Avas' essential. Golf has never been the same since its disappearance. The best amateurs playing to-day nearly all learnt their game with the “gutty,” and there seem a feAV on Avhom their mantles may worthily descend. The modern ball, in a word, is spoiling courses, -style, and players. Is there a remedy ? Vardon is of -opinion that the time for standardisation is past. He thinks it could have been done a feAV years ago. but that iioav it is too late. POSSIBLE REMEDIES.

It is also impossible to lay doAvn any very stringent- Luays regarding material and so on. Evasion would be frequent and difficult to detect. Personally I have always considered taht it would be Avorth giving a trial to the simple, rational suggestion of Willie Park, that no ball should be used in a competition that iiould not float in AA'ater. Vardon believes that the same thing can be done indirectly and fairly efficiently by scientific course architecture. Rigorous cross-bunkering with the alternative line AA'ould destroy the improper effectreeness of the “runner” and at the same time not make the game a misery for the short- driver.

He also believes that the ivholequestion should be taken up by the amateurs of Great Britain. (The professionals can do little for obvious rea soils.)

They must start an agitation ivith definite aims, and no longer stand impotently by and let this problem become more and more pressing. Vardon has the greatest admiration for American -golfers, though he hopes to beat them in the autumn, for their keenness, adaptability, science, and common sense, and he believes that it- Ai'ill he taken out of our bands and settled quickly and efficiently on the other side of the Atlantic.