Next Weekend's Competitions

Chronicle (Levin), 1 June 1948, Page 7

Next Weekend's Competitions

The second bogey round this season wiu be played by the Levin Golf Club on Saturday next, the draw being from 12.45 to 1.15 p.m. As the previous round was won by a margm of six up under more favouraole. conditions than are a.t present prevailing, the keenness bf all intending competitors wiil be fully noted in next week's, fixture in an endeavour to defeat COlonel Bogey. " Apart from the bogey match, no furtner official ciub games have been arranged over the King's Birthday weekend. However, local golfers will have the chance of upnoidmg tneir own and the clufr's prestige either at Otaki or BUckley, where the annual tournaments are being held. Both the clubs have issued cordial invitations to be present to ali men members of the local club, and attractive programmes have been drawn up foi piay, which takes place irom Saturday untii Monday. Jottings With tne possible c.keption : of perhaps New Zealand and Australia, golf is mainly played overseas dur-, mg the summer season only, which to we in the antipodes makes amazing reading, when the scores of the ieading; professional players come to hand throughout a tournWt: ment season. :;; Lasting for practically the. whoie of the summer scoring week after week, reaches terrific new level.ibW scoring, and it would be a -wise prophet who couid forecast eithpr the winner or his winning- score. Golf is rapidly gaining adhererijts in no uncertain manner, botli in New Zealand and in every gplfirig country overseas, and secdring playing areas is becoming an u*nwieMy burden to all in the execu-. tive positions of any clubi v* New piayers, wno were definitely in the unknown area of who's Wlio in the goifing world, now appear iwith startiing suddenness . - to bewiider both opponents and public with a series of low match winning scores. • . : Towards low scoring, American and Engiish players have a definite advantage over theif.other. brother golfers south of "the liney their play mainly consisting, pf summer conditions, when with fast fairways and well . watered. greens, their game is made, lf possible, somewhat ' easier: in the process. Although at I somewhat of a disadvantage undqr winter conditions, when the. majpr-1 Ity of New Zealanders participate in pxay, constant practice couid enable any of our players to' c'om - pexe equitably with any top ranking overseas players. The numbei of local players who piay summer golf is not very numerous at present, but the number is , steadily increasing and perhaps within a short spece of time, when the lihkare over their present "in, the making stage," summer golf will be well to the forefront with the majority of club members. To play summer golf, every shot ithat is made differs entirely froin I a simiiarly played winter shot. iWith the summer air being invariably lighter, all shots seem to be little effort to play and remarkable distances are gained by ev,en the comparative newcomer to. the game. j Notwithstanding the extra dis-' tances gained under summer , con: Iditions, the writer feels that ■ & truer test of being the complete golfer is made by the average piayer under winter play. Every shot from tee to green has to b£ pxayed correctly. Distance is certainly sacrificed, but all matches are mainly won through accuracy with every shot in the bag. The fcig hitter from the tee is usuahy found wanting in some other " uepartment of his game, compared with the average hitter, who is usually found sending his ball always on the line. Many players under summer conditions have found to their unhappy lot that winter play is an entirely different conception of golf, as they are unable to get the .expected distance fWith their shots, this resulting in forc.ng themselves into errors, which take a great deal of eradicating. To this end, length from the tee is not everything, and more p^ay with irons would prove beneficial to the average piayer Locally, the club is in the happy position of being able to place the ba'il in thb fairway for all shots. This position may not, however, be always in force, and many players who have not had the pleasure or other wise, of piaying the ball wheie it lies, for all their shots, may flnd their low scoring rapidly becoming a thing of the past and their low 80's becoming nearer the century mark. A low marker is rarely seen on any links, being competently unable to bring into play any of hiS irons. Those divot marks so innocently made and not covered come under the category of playing the ball where it lies. Instead of using oniy the driver for practice shots, try swinging the iron. It will pay fruitful dividends, in the not too distant future. Golf is definitely a two-handed game, but the use of the left hand s too often ied astray by too mpch use of the right. With normal right-handed playerg, the left hand is usually the weaker of the two and the right often overpowers its fellow member. The left hand is normally expecteed to keep the club face ( where if belongs until the moment of imnact. The club head's position a L impact is one of the most important features of the swing. A firm. correctly placed and correctly acting left hand and wrist permit the right hand to put in its power, without changing the proper position' of the club head. The left hand and wriat must be strong,

otherwise the ball is likely to perform antics. When starting the" back swmg, don't Leave the main essentials behind, i.e., left arm, wrist, shoulder and hip. These -dominate the wing and the right arm does not enter into the fight until almost the moment of impact. The over active right hand eauses more trouble than any thing in golf. Keep a firm grip . with the left hand through the swing and a light grip only with your right.