GOLF.

Otago Witness, Issue 2817, 11 March 1908, Page 35

GOLF.

NOTES BI BULGEF. The annual approaching competition ol the Otago Club took place on Saturday, week, when J. R. Park proved the winner. Last Saturday was monthly medal day for the above club, and a worse day for golf could not well be imagined. It blew a howling gale from the north-east, and made good scoring an impossibility. Even on the putting greens it waa sometimes difficult to- keep one's feet. Ninety-six was. the best scratch score, this being done by both Basil and Bob Smith. W. WyinJ.f proved the winner of the gold cross, with a net score of 88, his gross being 100. This was a very popular win. The silver, cross was won by F. Reading. Following are some of tlie best cards:— - Gross. Handicap. Ne%

The Silver Cross. ' F. Reading .... U9 18 101 Mr F W, Mao Lean, a popular member of the* Otago Club, has left for Wellington, where he will in future reside. He will be much miseed by hu friends at BalThe programme for the annual East** tournanfent of the Christehmch Golf Glub ie out, and this meeting should attract a. large number of golfers to the Cathedral City This fixture since it* inception naa proved a success, and, judging by the -number of Dunedin golfers who intend competing, there will be any amount of "foreign Mood to add to the interest from I local standpoint Entries close with the secretary of the Christchurch Golf Club on Saturday, April 11, and l the programme consist* O f '-£adies evente. (1) Golf Championship of Canterbury, Two round* of 18 holes each ; medal play, conSr6h.mpion.hip of Ctttetbupr; two stc?-s5 tc?-s a- as? s*.- «- Committee in the "Scott" case has been awaited with interest I give mi explanation, 2f tbTdeEy, which appeared in a re«m« five of the^AuetralaflUnc-"^ cases m which the whole ot the members of the, Rules of Golf Committee -*re unarnmous are answered at once, and a* this is not ?he case with the question submitted by your club the matter comes up for ; dwouelion in May." Two things are evident ;a the above. One i«, if a paper did eav. Jhat the decision was that Scott was disqualified, that paper had no authority to gay co. The second is that a proportion ol the Rules of Golf Committee (how large a. proportion it is impossible to say are m favour of the Royal Melbourne Golf Club . finding. To enable my readers to understand how the above answer is *™>vedat I will give the method m which the Rule* of Golf Committee work. They are all members of the Royal and Ancient Golf Club, St. Andrews. St. Andrews, however, is a wintry town in Fifeshire, and very few ol the members live there. They are scattered all over Great Britain, and only com* to St. Andrews in the golfing season, la order to oblige those who ask them questions, and to save delay in answering them, when a question comes to the secretary he* rosts a copy of it to each member, and they send him their answer. If the committee are unanimous the answer is sent to the: questioner at once. If, however, the 'com; rrlttee are not unanimous it is left to one; of the half-yearly meetings in May o« November, and there discussed aod decided, on. The latter is the position the abovtf Question is in at present." _ The following is a list of the winners of the most important events in the world during 1907:— Open Championship, Arnaud Massy; Amateur CW pionship-, Mr John aBll ; Irish Open, Mr «Jji D. Brown; Irish Close, Mr H, M. Cairnes; 1 Irish Professional, J. Edmundson: Scottish Amateur, Mr G. O. Simpson; Scottish Professional, John Hunter; Yorkshire Amateur, Mr C. Hodgson ; Yorkshire Interclub, Bradford Golf Club; American Open; Alec. Ross ; American Amateur, Mr J. I/.

Vfcarmn; Australia, Hon. Michael Scott; Canada, Mr G. S. Lyon: Open Championship of Franoe, Arnaud Massy; Ladies' .Championship, Mies May Hezlet. If 1 were aeked by a beginner which I considered the most important rule to keep in mind when learning to drive, I should unhesitatingly say : " Bee that your club is travelling its fastest when its head passes the ball. There are said to be 17 things you have to remember as you drive. I oould give you them all, or moat of. them, easily, but the above is the most important. Some players are so particular about their swing, both- upward and downward, that they forget the main object is to hit the ball. It is an old saying of mine that ''the ball does not care what you do with your club at the back of your head." It only cares what the club is doing at the moment of impact. If you have & mighty swing-, and lose impetus before your club comes to the ball, it is all wasted. All the other rules are for the purpose of making the olub hit the ball correctly, and they are of use. But first and foremost you must hit the ball bard. This is so very obvious that some people would say it was a truism, but when they have seen so many beginners and, indeed, advanced players as I have neglect it, they will begin to reconsider. - - Ladies are, I ;bhink, the Boot frequent ■ offenders in this respect, ney take such a long swing that they have $0 power to bring their dub fast down, on the ball. Some of -the leading lady players In. the late Australian . championship erred In this respect. There is another rule which obviously springs out of the above, jmd that is : "Do not make your swing so long that you cannot have your clubhead foing its fastest when it passes the ball." f you watdh a "boy beginning to golf, the first thing he does ie to hit the lml 1 as hard as he Can. «H does not care for stand, steadiness of body, eye on the ball, or anything else. The only thing he thinks about is there is the ball, and it is to be hit. So he hits it. He forms the rest of his swing afterwards. He commences at the proper end. If he occasionally picks up a bad or ugly style, he at least does the main -tiling m golf— he makes the ball go in the direction he wants, and he makes it go far. Austaalasi&n.

W. Wyinks .. .. George Williams .. Ern«at Smith L. fc. BarAtt . . J. O. Kettle .. .. J. B. Scott '. .. B. J. Smith » B. J. Smith .. .. C. G. White .. •• H. D. Stronach H. A. Salmon .. •• 100 105 96 107 98 100 96 96 110 101 101 12 IS 7 14 4 6 14 3 a i i 88 90 91 93 95 95 96 96 96 98 99