How to play GOOD GOLF

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 2, Issue 241, 1 June 1932, Page 6

How to play GOOD GOLF

I J-

McCORMICK

1 BY

| (All Rights Reserved) | „ ARTICLE IX. | THE MASHIE NIBLICK AND THE NIBLICK. | • These two clubs. are always made with very strong shafts | and have more loft on the face than any of the other irons. They E aie so constructed because the work allotted to them is generally | from the rough or from bunkers. | The niblick itself is hardly a necessary club in the average § golfers outfit for it is usually only used when you are in a very | difficult lie in the rough, or lying in a heavy bunker that is well | banked up. In big golf, however, it is very necessary, for it has | the power and weight to hit the ball from these. difficult positions, 2 and often makes all the difference between the winning and losing = of a match. | The mashie niblick, however, is a much more generally | use.ful club, for besides doing praetically all that a niblick can ! do» can t>e used for approach work and on the greens. The £ heavy head and the deep loft on the niblick, make it very difficult | to judge approach shots hit with it, but with the mashie niblick, | the same shots are much easier to control. 5 The mashie niblick is praetically a necessity in any golfer's 2 outfit for it is praetically impossible to get round any of these | modern courses without calling it into use. Personally, I like to 2 make this particular club a real friend, and use it quite a. lot | for short approaching. This is partieularly the case when bunkers | or other trouble, lie between the ball and the flag. Its extra loft, | when the shot is played correctly, gives the ball much more height 2 even than the mashie and so decreases the run when the ball 2 strikes the ground. For this reason alone, it is absolutely essent2 ial when you are playing into well guarded and fast greens. jjj As an example of what may be done with this club, I recall | one instance in my own experience. I was playing in a four-ball | match and had over-shot the green with the result that the ball 1 finished in deep sand 40 yards away. Naturally, I used my mashie2 niblick, and hit the ball firmly. It went almost straight into the | air, and when over the flag, commeneed to fall, running right s down the stick into the hole — to the more or less delighted sur- | prise of my opponents. | Like the mashie, the use of the mashie-niblick requires 1 heaps of practice and concentration. Above all, you must strike s the ball firmly if the club is to achieve its purpose. As the | bunkers have the most terrifying aspect of all to the average | player, I will go into bunker work very fully. What you need 2 above all, in these- bad lies, is confidence, and the proper psychoI logical attitude toward the trouble. When the majority of play1 eis find their ball lying in a bunker, they are so worried mens tally, that they have duffed the shot before they ever play it. = ^ I will first take the ordinary approach shot to the green | with the mashie-niblick. I strongly advise players not to go in 2 for long shots with this particular club, as it is not built for long = distances, and in any case, straining for distance, will ruin your 2 contiol. The shot is played very much as the mashie strolce with | the difference that you must strike more firmly in order to obtain | the length required. This is due to the extra loft on the face. = Grip, as you do with all your clubs, but a shade more 1 fiimly as the extra strong shaft requires a firmer grip. Make = your first two fingers and thumb of the left hand the master part 2 of the grip, and stand with your feet fairly close together and | near the ball. Every part of the body must be entirely at ease | with the feet planted firmly on the ground, and the ball lying off = the left heel. | Place the heel of the club firmly on the ground behind i 1 the ball, and commence the swing in the manner outlined for the ; | other strokes already described. Push the face of the club back j 2 along the ground, at the same time turning the face over and out- i | wards. Continue pushing the a: m and club back in this manner ! | until the arm is extended and tl-e whole of the left side is pulled j 1 in towards the right and the left shoulder comes hard up against i | the chin. Then ease the fingers just slightly to enable the club j = to come away from the palms, and the wrists to ease. As this is ; | a short club, the hands should now only be slightly above the I 2 shoulder, with the left foot turned inwards but only slightly off I = the ground, the right side well braced and with the weight of the 1 = body on it. j | When commencing the down-swing, do so slowly so as to j 1 get the club head and hands away first, at the same time keeping j s the body quite still. Continue the down swing slowly until the : 2 club swings back into the fingers of the left hand and then com- E | mence the speed by pulling down at a spot under the back of the ; 2 ball. The heel should come down simultaneously which means = | that everything is down when the ball is struck— head, heels, I | club, hands and eyes. As the anns extend in the follow through, l | they will pull the right side in towards the left, at which stage l s the left hip and knee should be well braced and the right shoulder = 1 pulled into the chin. Only at this point should the player look up. | = This coriipletes the full sv/ing, and as the shot gets shorter = 2 so the stance becomes closer, the grip lower, and the heels closer S | together. If you practice this method you will find that, when the i | stroke is a very short one, the heels will be together, the top of 1 = the shaft touching the body, and the ball right under the eyes. = 2 In all strokes, swing your club back until you can go no = Ijj further in comfort, and then easej the fingers and let the wrists i B come into play. Come slowly down from the top, sharply through i 2 at the impact, and finish with the club head close to the ground = | and taking a little turf with the ball. 1 | When playing from bunkers, always plant the heels I j together and grip the ground firmly. This is very important, for § 1 the feet should not leave the ground at any stage of the swing. 1 | Grip your club firmly in all the fingers of the left hand, for this 1 | will cause a stiffening of the left arm. This stroke is the nearest 1 3 you will come to a stiff arm in golf, for the very simple reason § j that the club head has often to travel through very heavy sand. = l A stiffish arm controls the club head on its line of flight . | : Push the club outwards so that you can see all the knuckles i lj of the left hand and push the left arm back at this angle so that E E you can still see the knuckles at the top of the swing. Keep your I j grip firm on top and only ease the body to let the knee and hip § l come in slightly. This last applies for long shots only. Stand as | j still as possible on the down swing, with the slow motion from the = : top and the firm haiyi blow at the moment of impact. Play firmly | : into the ground with the face of the club still sloped and finish § j the stroke close to the ground with the knuckles still showing 1 j toward the flag, the face of the club still sloping outwards, and § ! the feet on the ground. .§ j Keeping the knuckles visible throughout the swing adds § ; slope to the club, and allows you to hit the ground hard without = ; digging into it. It also takes the ball smartly into the air, apply- 5 ; iug the necessary back spin to prevent it running when it strikes 5 j the ground. The closer you are to the bank of the bunker, the 1 j more you should slope your club, and the higher you > should swing | back to get the necessary speed and control for. the sharp eleva- | tion into the air. | In sand bunkers such as are f ound on most links, it is | very necessary to know how to apply the explosion shot. This is | done in exactly the same way as the stroke just described but I striking straight down into the sand. If the sand is light, and the 5 speed sufficient to let the club go through, don't check its course, S for the ground will do all the checking that is necessary. | Never be frightened of your back swing in a bunker, for 1 you simply must swing high in order to get the necessary power § and control for the down stroke. The majority of players fail in 1 bunkers because they are frightened to swing back with the result I that they make a short sharp back swing and an upward scoop of § the club to lift the ball out. Avoid this sort of thing at all costs, jjj for i't will get you nowhere and does not look like a shot at all. § Play your ball well off the left toe in most cases and stand § as still as possible with the chin a.s steady as though it were in a § vice. If you have an extra high bank to loft over, then alter your = stance by putting the rig'ht foot well in advance of your left and § as much slope as possible on the club. This position will make | you swing across the line of flight causing a high, sliced shot. In 1 all bunker strokes, when you face youi* club back as described, 5 take a line to left of the flag, as the sliced shot will always kick to § j , the right. i Remember this motto wlien playing in a bunker. "Keep § still, dig in, swing high back, and keep the knuckles showing all f the time." f In my next article I will deal with putting. | iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiwiiiiiiiicwiiiiiiiiiiiiiiuiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiuin.