A LIGHTER BALL

Evening Post, Volume CVII, Issue 16, 19 January 1924, Page 20

A LIGHTER BALL

WHAT IT MEANS TO GOLFERS

Whatever it has failed to do in other directions the United States is about to make an attempt to bring peace and nan^^ fo th.c golfing world, writes W.^ Greenwood, in the "Daily Telegraph It has restored the stymie, barred the use of grooved, slotted, and punched clubs, and now, apparently, t^ g? n,S to settle the V£>xed question of the ball. Whether we like it or not, there will ln the near future be imposed KPn n i- if gdlfinS Public a new type of ball, lighter than the one now in univerEal use. It is a little curious that America, where the craze for length is probably more pronounced than is the case m tins country, should take up the matter where we left off. We took the initial step in restricting the size and weight of the ball, with the paradoxical result that, instad of cutting down tho length of our drives, we added to them, lnis was scarcely the fault of the form of legislation, but was due entirely to the ingenious manufacturer, who, catering lor the-desires of the mass of players, produced a ball that, while conforming strictly to the prescribed regulations, totally defeated the object in view. And 1 have_no doubt he. will do it again, but each time that his sphere "of activities is limited the more difficult he will findit to seek a way of escape. So finality, is likely to be reached some day. A step in this direction is to be taken by the United States, where experiments are being conducted with a ball a tenth of an ounce lighter than the present one. A tenth of an ounce sounds a trifling matter, but the golfer will find that it means an enormous lot when comparing his drives with those he now. obtains. In length it means a difference of twenty, yards when driving against the wind, lnis is the opinion of Mr. John Low. the ex-chairman of the Rules of Golf Committee, whose researches' in the golf ball question have gone deeper than any other person's. Therefore at a hole where you now take two full bangs with wood you will be forty yards short of the spot, you usually expect to reach. To the average golfer a difference'of forty yards at a long, hole will present new problems, if not new terrors to the playing of it. .There are bunkers he now' safely carries; when he finds twenty yards cut off his drive he will be in them. He may. not like it, but.he will have to put up with it. Why? Because the tigers of the game, a few mighty hitters, drive the ball so very,far that the special characteristics and ; certain features of the course are destroyed or rendered nugatory—that is as far as they are concerned. So the many must suffer for the sins of the few. If the hearts of the golfers were searched they would say in perfect unison, "Golf is harassing enough without adding to its .torments." However, it does not mean that the loss of. twenty yards in distance will be the same when driving down wind. It may perhaps be as much as ten yards, but.where the wind is strong the difference may be nothing at all. But the lighter ball will be an easier prey to wind caprices, and a fault in striking will be more rapidly developed and have far graver consequences than is the case with its heavier brother. Of course, the scientific golfer will .bring the wind to his aid, and in this cohnection it must be conceded that he deserves any advantage that the fruits of his skill in the playing of the shots provides; . This is an unanswerable argument in favour of the lighter ball. We do know that with' 'She present. ball many indifferent and some downright bad shots often go unscathed. With an implement' of less specific gravity the tendency will certainly be to make the punishment fit the crime. There _is another aspect of the case— a financial one,1 and not by any meansunimportant in these days when money is scarce, and when the calls upon what little remains in one's pockets are increasingly provoking. , To meet the power of the ball links and courses have been stretched periodically, until they cannot be stretched any more. , The of additional land, the upkeep and the taxation of it, and the constant reconstruction of the holes have become ai burden which few clubs can face without inviting bankruptcy. American authorities regard; it as ridiculous that, in order to keep pace with the "debauchery of long driving," clubs should be compelled to buy and maintain larger tracts of ground. Besides, they add, golf is not a test of pedestrianism; it is essentially a game of skill. In effect, what they say is : "Who wants to walk four and even five miles in playing a round of golf?" . S .The reply, of hundreds of thousands of handicap golfers, the men from-eight-een down to nine, is': "Why should we be made to suffer ? Wo cannot hit the ball far enough as it is, and yet you are going to knock twenty yards off our j drives-" And their last despairing cry is : "For heaven's sake leave us alone in peace. ' Verily, it is a complex prob lem.' ;