GOLF.

Press, Volume LV, Issue 16430, 25 January 1919, Page 12

GOLF.

SOLDIER PLAYERS.

Golun J leaders of "Tie • Press' 1 will bw interested in lko following extracts from a letter written to Sir Peter 'l'rolovo by Mi B. C. Rutherford, of tho Shirley Club, now o£ the C.1.8., dated Sling Camp, November 22nd:—Tho news about war has been wondciful. An armistico js well on tho way to a permanent poacc. Peaco celebrations over hero have boon of tho mtiu order. Training, etc., goe3 on in thi3 camp just tho same, as if • tho guus were atill firing.. Tho 3'Jth Keinforcementß, ' mixed witn ii lot of old chaps, lelt iicro ior I'ranee a few evenings bucii. 1 have not been ioDg here, so Jiuvc no idea which reiulorcomeum 1 will bo attached to. Ido want to get Christmas and JN'uw "Year in .Biigluy. When on my sick leave, I had tho pieasuro ol seeing Braid, Vardou, und 'Xay.or in action. It was a four-ball match, Jiraid being partnered by Jack White. 'Alio latter won the Open Championship once, but ho is not in tho same class as the great three. Tho match took, pluco at Sunningdalo. It is a lovoiy course, about 2G miles west of London. Tho day could not havo been better ior golf—bright sunshine with ft light breezo. Of tho three I liked Braid's p.ay tho best, but there is really nothing to chooao between them. 1 They never make bad shots, only as the coiirso fiad a very narrow fairway, tlicy occasionally got into trouble, in a side hazard, or long grass. They take turf with all iron shots, and never force with any club. Tho greens . were very fast, and it was there that tney hud mo3t trouble. Taylor has such a short, staff swing, and yet he gets tlie distance. Vardon'a style and play reminded me very much of Arthur Duncan's. Braid tailcest the c.ub back «J fast, and does not follow through much. He generally got the longest drive, but never by more than seven or eight yards. Jack White had an ugly style, and was always outdrivon by a lot. Ho had local knowledge, and putted the best, and helped Braid on numerous occasions. Vardoii and Taylor won 2 tip on the 36 holes. I Bent the Christchurch Golf Club a snap I took during tho afternoon round. •\Vhi!o on leave I went to Brocton Camp to see Harrv Richards: whom should I come across but lies. It was lucky our meeting. Ii nil goe= well in the fixing Tip of peace. 1 hope to liave some games v.'iih Ilea iu tliis country. BETTER GOLF AT HOJIB: I have had the opportunity (writes the gtwfing correspondent ui "Xlie Daiiy iiiuii") ot discussing witu ;i number oi prominent players tlio question 10 what odocts of the iusl low years will be upon tho go.l of the immediate luiuiu. 'x'here is a surprising consensus ol opinion that tho standard oi play will be Jugher raliior tlian lower than formerly. Thorn will be, alas! fewer great goifers, but several chamx>ions lo whom I epoKc last week expressed t iie view that thoae wlio come back t-aiely from tho war will bo ' better on tlic linlts for their Army i.ie. 'Aheir point was that self-control —tho mom important conotitueni in the golfing temperament—will havs been developed to a degree never previously attained. bo fur as concerns the veterans —and i" August, 1914, a large proportion of thc / leading goifors were over military ago—there is evidence already thai -iulc pl>'y_ and much work have had a beneficial effect on their games. . . ~ There can be no doubt# that in the old days nianv of them were in a condition bordering on* clrfonic stalcnc-ss. They had too much golf X know, for instance, that Ham- Yardon, the world's champion, feels that 'lit? is iu belter foriu 'tnun bo bus been ifor a long lilac past. His roundß havo been infrequent, lmt he has done some remarkable things at Totteridge—not the least interesting or them having been five consecutive - s i> the same hole. It is a new hole made m the summer, so that the course couid bo adapted for hr.v-making, and, although only about ICO yards long, is difficult, because - the green is no more than lialf tae normal ordinary individual would be glad to do it in two once in a way; to secure tnat figure m five successive rounds 13 unquestionably a record in matters oi this lima. At St. Anne's-on-Sea, Lancashire, last montli, when Vardon appeared in a warfuv.d match, he played golf, which was for all/the world like the gams "J* I » 5 vrr.t to produce in 1303 and 1899, he t.*hs incomparably the golfer in history. Personally, I should not )e suiprircd" to see him «vi« th«f itsndard r.jst Etasan. He is in tio.risui mood.