GOLF.

Press, Volume LXIII, Issue 19179, 9 December 1927, Page 14

GOLF.

LOCAL CLUB FIXTURES. Christchureh Club—Saturday, December 10th: Jubilee Foursome Bogey Handicap. Friday, Decembers 10th: Anniversary Day Handicaps—Morning, Hogey Handicap; afternoon, Four-ball Logcy Handicap (open to all amateurs). MonDay and Tuesday, December 26th and 27th. and Monday. January 2nd. 19-&: Christmas Tournament.

NOTES OF THE DAY.

(JJy -'Jigger. 1 ') The Jubilee Foursome, which is to be played at Shirley on Saturday, is included in the comprehensive entry list, and those members subscribing to this do not have to pay an entrance fee. but other competitors pay an entrance fee of 2s 6<l. Post entries will be received and players are to arrange their own partners and opponents.

Though a great golfer—on his day possibly the greatest in England—Archie Compston, the -Wolverhampton giant, had met with little success in the leading professional tournaments this season, but he came with a burst recently, to overwhelm James Braid on the veteran's home course at Walton Heath in the final of the £IO4O tournament. Braid went under by 8 and 7, but he was beaten with honour. It was a great feat at the age of 57 to reach the tinal round, but his task was hopeless, for Compston played superb golf throughout, making light of the adverse weather conditions unflcr which' the match was played. Charles Whitcombc, the season's most successful golfer, also went under to the all-conquering Compston.

Taking a full round sweep with the mashie produces a high ball with more or less run to it. The shots look pretty and when working well obtain excellent results, but it is not always safe. When the duffer attempts to play this shot over a hazard or a deep bunker, he often brings the club up too quickly and tho result is disastrous. The best players in the game make sure of clearing a hazard by sending the elub-hcad through and extending the arms in front as far as they will go without exaggeration. The loft of the club attends to the flight of the ball. Usually it i 3 low and comes to a quick stop, depending on the amount of back spin imparted.

The inside of the golf course at Chartens Bay is still playable, and in good order, and as a special launch has been arranged for on next Sunday, a number of golfors have decided to make the trip and get in a little practice before entering for the Christmas Tournament at Shirley. It is hoped that quite a number of Lyttelton players, both ladies and men, will be on hand at Shirley this year.

The agreement as to how much weight should be on the left foot and on the right foot at the top of the swing is still unsettled. Jim Barnes says the weight is about evenly distributed upon both feet. Willie Hunter thinks about 70 per'cent.'of the weight is on the right foot, 30 per cent on the left. George Duncan agrees with him.

Certain tests have been made which show several good golfers with the weight about equally balanced upon the two feet, and several others with about 65 percent, of the weight on the right foot. As usual, it all depends upon the type. of. swing. What tho average golfer must consider is his own balance at the top of his swing, his own feeling of comfort. In the majority of cases he-will find better balance with nbput GO per cent, of the weight on the right foot, and about 40 per cent, on the ball of the left foot. . The main point is to get tho left side around and not be afraid to turn.

The trophy presented by Mr G. L. Rutherford was played for at Shirley last Saturday, and the competition was very keen. The winners .were William. Anderson and F. O. A'Court, who were 2 up,on the/par of the course. Four couples were chasing the winners and finished 1 up, and out of the five couples, if. the contest had been over 15 holes instead of 18, at least two couples would have finished four or five up, as they were that number up with four to play, but the home stretch found them out.- There were about sixty competitors.

"I'll huff and I'll puff and I'll blow the house in!" said the wolf in tho story book. You may remember what happened to that boaster. Something similar happened to tho youngster on one of the courses recently who thought pretty well of his long driving. He happened to hit a good one for a youngster, as tho club pro. walked by. -'How'd you like to hit 'em that far?'' he said. "Lend me your mashie,' ! said the pro. and whacked one down the fairway a few yards further than' the big one of the youngster. The pro. hit the screamer by the aid of an old •trick of Joe Kirk wood's. He turned the face of the mashie in, and so converted it into a driving iron surface. Hence the "screamer" and a pained look on the face of the youngster.

Jerry TVavers, the American golfer who died recently, and Bobby Jones were almost the only two young golf stars who aippreciated that championships were won from some point about twenty yards off the green up to the pin, says Grantland Rice in the New York "Tribune." They were almost the only two who worked hard at chip shots ana at putting. Travers worked even harder than Jones, hours at a time, because he had a greater need of a brilliant short game, lacking Bobby's length and direction from the tee.

Few other young golfers spend much time on the short game. They .ire out to <rive the ball a ride. They have overlooked the fact that a remarkable short game has been the main factor in giving Travers and Jones twelve ntional championships at match and medal play. Jones had a remarkable long game, and he was a fine iron player in_ 1919, 1920, and 1921. But he was winning no championships then because his work around the green was just average. He l>egan to show a fine putting stroke in 1922, and he missed out by a single stroke, although his iron play that year was none too good.

Alex. Smith used to say that he would match Travers against any man in tke world from fifty yards off the green up to the cup. He was willing to bet that from thirty yards off the green Travers would get down in 2 seven times out of ten.

There are many fine long players among tho younger golfing crop, but almost none consistently good in the winning area —five, ten. or twenty yards off the green or upon the green.

Did von ever stop to think that Abo Mitchell's hands had actually passed the hall before the club head reached it? This may not seem reasonable, but it is absolutely true. This is where the scissors movement and the short follow through result. It shows how long Abe Mitchell waits before trying to apply tho power of his right hand. At the last moment there is a right-hand thrust and a roll of the right wrist.

but it is delayed to the last possible moment as he finally whips the club head through the ball. Of course the final punch in a golf swing is delivered by the right hand. Let the left hand wrist and arm do most of the work until the two hands are about even with the ball and then let _ the right hand get in its whip. It is for this reason that many of the modern teachers instruct their pupils to hit with the back of the left hand. They want to see more of the left hand and less of the right hand in the swing. The average golfer tries to put in the right hand punch when the club head is about two, or even three, feet away from the ball. The result is a lunge or a lurch where the effort is expended too far ahead of schedule.

Few golfers realise also how the turn of the body from left to right, with the weight transferred properly at the turn, affects the entire swing. Few of them pivot enough and so get in position to apply any power. Or in attempting to pivot they sway to the right instead of turning the body with hips as the main axis. This correct turn helps to keep the club head in place on the down swing. For the right side is going to turn in toward the ball on the down swing, and if there hasn't been sufficient pivot this will throw everything ahead of the ball before the moment of impact. Which accounts for one of the oldest slogans in golf—"Keep back of the ball." If the right side gets in too quickly there is then little power left to hit with. And the golfer is not in position to get either direction or distance. He is all out of focus.

Two of the longest and most accurate hitters in golf are Abe Mitchell and Bobby Jones. Both have extra full pivots or turns, with their left shoulders well around. This extra pivot length then allows for the turn oi the right side on the down swing without getting the body and hands too far ahead of the swing. Every golfer should practice, not while playing a round, of course, to get every inch of turn or pivot he can and still control the club head and guide it on the long down swing. This is where the speed and power conies from, anf this can be added to by lioiding back the hit as long as possible and then whipping the right hand in with the final punch. These are important details of the golf swing well deserving of hours of practice, if necessary. They should be made matters of habit so that they will operate of their own accord later on when you put the golf swing into operation in active play.