ON THE GOLF LINKS

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 2211, 25 July 1914, Page 16

ON THE GOLF LINKS

£By Green.]

History-making Clubs. Harry Vardon is wonderful for. the principal reason that ho has suddenly become a good putter again. It all happened in this way. Ho was looking through a lot of clubs as they' were about to be dispatched to some foreign climo when he came across the putter he is now using. There is nothing original about tho club, it being just a plain, straight-necked putter with cleek face, but Vardon felt something in it which made him say, "I know I can put with this one." Now he is putting weirdly with it. That is how his new putter stayed at home to mako history instead of being deported to China or some such place. There is another new club in Vardon's bag with which ho is making some wonder shots. In appearance it is a, cross between a mid-iron and a jigger, and he came into possession of it in a curious manner. Vardon was travelling through the night from Edinburgh to London in company with Ben Saycrs, and, having a compartment to themselves, Vardon stretched himself the full length of his "side" and settled down to sleep. Sayers is such a fidget that he cannot sleep in a train. About every half-hour Ben would wake up Vardon to ask him how he played the different shots. Once Sayers insisted upon handing Vardon a club, demauding to know the strength of his grip at the point of impact when playing a half-iron shot. Vardon instantly fell so violently in love with the balance and weight of the club, that he prevailed upon Sayers to send'him an exact copy of its head. Now it is easily Vardon's best cluin. —George Dun*an in the "Daily. Newe."- ■ At Johnsonvllle. . , The Johnsonville Golf Club.is getting on well with its competitions, and this afternoon the men's-foursomes (handicap bogey match) will be played for the Moore trophy. Entries will be taken at the club house up till the time play j starts. Last Saturday, the handicap bogey match for the Patron's Trophy was won by D. Sloaue with'a score of 2 down. H. I. Graves was second with a score of 5 down. . , . ,' The mixed foursomes (9-hole medal competition) played a fortnight ago, was won by Kirker and. Miss Grapes with a score of ■ Length and Lie of the Clubs, 1 have made • a particular point ot recommending tho plaj-er.to see that his driver and braesie are of exactly the same length and lie, and' the more experience I obtain of golf the deeper frows my faith in tho value of this int (writes Harry Vardon in the "Daily Mail";. So far as I have been able to judge it is the brassie that provokes the greatest misgiving among the majority of moderate performers; they live In. such mortal dread of bungling a shot with it that they aro invariably chary of using it. , In many cases the causo of their mistrust and failure is that they have a brassie of. a different- lie from the driver. It is either a little more upright or , a littlt. flatter. Their natural instinct is to stand for it in the samo way as for the driver, and, as a consequence, either the toe or the heel of the brassie _ is off the ground when the club-head is placed behind the uall preparatory to the accomplishment of tho'Btr'oKe. : )n regard to iron clubs, I do not agreowith .those who say that here also the lies should be exactly the same. The shorter the club the moro upright it ehould be, inasmuch as it compels one - to stand a little nearer to the ball. The lie of the cleek will be,tho closest approach to that of : the wooden";clubs.' The difference will be very sniall-indeed, "but it will be just sufficient to allow one to stand a trifle nearer to tho ball, as one should do, for the cleek ;than for the driver or the brassie. There will be only a small disparity In the lie of any two instruments in tho bag, but it is a sound rule to lay down that tho shorter the club the closer the player should stand to the ball in order not to havo to stretch his arms uncomfortably during the address. As a rule, the cleek is a little shorter than tho driver, the iron a little shorter than tho cleek, and the masliio a littlo shorter than the iron. These graduations are for the common good so long as the golfer Temembers close jn a trifle on the ball foi every inch that is lacking in the length of the ehaft. And when he is standing nearer, it follows ns a matter of course that tho lie of tho club should be corresponding-: ly more upright, so as to enable him to ground.the full extent of the sole of the club during tho address. Jottings. Harry Vardon has appeared five times at Prestwick in championship fixtures, and has won on three of the five occasions. " •. Tho championship clubs are feeling the strain of the big events; it was great good fun when' the meetings began and ended well within a week, but now that they look like.extending over ten or more days, the honour of possessing a championship course is becoming more and more embarrassing (says the <! London. "Siwrtsman"). The idea of removiuf* the qualifying "rounds" to neighbouring greens_ is good so long as the clubs in the vicinity are in sympathy with it, but, so far as one can gather, few of the organisations concerned are at all enthusiastic. After the first day's play in the qualifying rounds of the open championship at Troon, a London daily said:—The rank and file , of the professionals are up in arms against the- whole championship arrangements, their grievances being that five days' interval entails expenditure of. too much time ■ aud' money; that the division of the competitors over two qualifying courses one mile apart is absurd; and that the municipal greens condemn that course, for the greatest events of the year. The grumbling behind the scenes is the most prominent feature of the championship thus far,- and the next meeting of the P.G.A. will be a lively one.. Until the present year no one-armed player has yet been an entrant for tho open championship. The appearance of Yves,' the one-armed professional of La Boujie, at Prestwick, last month, was quite unique in that respect. Yves is a fine golfer, anc] has performed very creditably in several French open championships. In-spite of his disadvantages, lie drives a- long ball, but this is not so remarkable as one would at first suppose. As a matter of fact, a driving contest once took place between Yves and George Duncau, the latter holding his club with one hand only. Duncan, to the astonishment of most people, outdrove the Frenchman ; and, in fact, got almost as far with hiR onehand drive as ho was accustomed to do