How to play GOOD GOLF

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 2, Issue 252, 15 June 1932, Page 6

How to play GOOD GOLF

1 J-

McCORMICK

BY

| Speciaxly written por the « Morning Post » = I by J. McCORMICK, 1 | Ojticial Coach to the Rotorua Golf Club f § (All Rights Reserved) i 1 a ARTICLE XIII | 1 MATCH PLAY | | • The old saying that a game is never lost till 'tis won, ap- | | plies with just as much force to golf as to any other game, and | | victory goes to the player who can, with other things being equal, f | use his head to help his wrists and rise superior to the mental haz- jjj | ' ards that bestrew the course. | = The number of clubs used, the varying lies and distances, | 5 changeable winds and numerous artificial and natural traps all go | | to make golf a game apart and naturally, one in which tempera- f | ment plays a tremendous part. | = It is pathetic to see a golfer who in ordinary play is almost = 5 unbeatable, go to pieces in a match through nothing else than ner- | | vous tension. Determination, concentration and will power are | | the only cures for temperament and the development of these | | rests entirely with the individual. Many matches are simply | | thrown away through the lack of a little thought and concen- | | tratiom Consider the position where you are approaching a green | where the flag is close to the edge of a bad bunker and the | | slightest run on your ball will take it over the edge. If you | | have regard only for the flag and try to play your ball right to it, | |' the chances are that the lurking fear of the bunker will get = | you into it. That is, unless you are an expert golfer and I am as- 5 | suming that you are not, but merely an average player. Would | | it not be better then to play your ball on to a selected spot 'on f | the wide expanse of green that is offering without being anywhere | 5 near the bunker? Assuredly, for once you are on the green the | | hole is within putting distance but bunkers are dangerous. There- 5 | fore, pick out the spot you wish to play to and concentrate on get- j§ | ting there, at the same time dismissing all thought of the | | bunker from your mind. | | In playing all matches it is essential to think and loolc | | ahead. Work out the shots you require to play according to the | § position you find your ball in and concentrate on getting them | = right. A good billiard player always thinks strokes ahead of the f | one he is playing and the same thing applies to golf. All ob- | | stacles are on a golf course for a purpose and it is your object § | to defeat that purpose. If for instance, you are confronted by = I a tree, don't just bash at it and trust t.o luck to send the ball = = somewhere, but work out the quickest way to get to the green | | by playing round the tree. You will be surprised how many ways 1 | there are. 1 | Handicaps are given to bring players onto an equal basis | s but very often we find a long oy a medium handicap player beaten | = by an opponent with a reputation long before the match even | | starts. Good players know this and very ofior play on it, but it § | is a form of bluff which can be easily overccme. Forget about = | your opponent's reputation and remember th« fact that he is mere- = | ly a human being and liable to make mistakes. He is more | | likely to make mistakes if, by playing your best you get the best \ = out of your handicap and set him to chasing you, instead of, in f = racing parlance, strolling along in front. = | I discovered early in my golfing career that the boastful = | players were often mainly notable for bluff, and the best method | | of beating them was to call their bluff right at the start. When J = as an immature youth playing in championships, I had older | = players telling me by how much they were going to beat me, | | I used to retort, "Well you've got the hardest part to do," and 5 | very often I got double satisfaction by giving them the beating s § they had promised me. The boastful and loud type of player | 5 soon becomes unpopular in any club, and the time comes when | = he finds it difficult to get any one to play with. 1 | Another golf irritant is the deliberately slow player, and = | in matches, I have found the best way of countering this type | = is to play him at his own game. If he takes six swings, you take | 5 eight; if he takes five minutes to take the line of putt, retaliate | = by taking six, and so on, and you will serve the double purpose f | of frequently beating him at his own game and bringing him to = | a realisation of his own shortcomings. | | In match play you must take the good with the bad, and | 5 you will find that a bit of good luck will be evened up some- | § where by a bit of bad. Therefore if you strike a disastrous 1 = hole, don't throw up the towel and consider yourself out of the | | match, but remember that every other golfer on the course will | | probably strike equally bad trouble at some other hole, so just = 5 keep on with the round and see the match out. A fortuitous long 5 5 putt or a mashie shot that runs into the hole may put you right § | again, the requirement of a good golfer being not merely to be | I a fair weather player, but one who, when the luck is against § | him, keeps plugging until it turns. 1 § Another nuisance which you can avoid ordinarily by simply = | refusing to play with him, but whom in matches you have to put I | up with, is the confirmed growler. I have known one of this f | type stop in the act of adaressing his putt and curse whole- | 5 heartedly an inoffensive little lark, which, inspired by the beauty | | of the day, had burst forth into glorious song. Imagine the | | effect of this sort of thing on a highly strung opponent. § = Safe play is necessary in all matches. It doSS'not do to | | be either too careful or too careless. Because your opponent has § | struck trouble and is a stroke or two down, don't let up and = | think that the hole is an easy one to win. It may not be. | = It is all a case of using your , head and concentrating on | 5 your game. Under-clubbing, is a very common mistake in | = matches as it needs a forced stroke which is very hard to control. s' | When in doubt, use a light club as it is very much easier to 5 | manage. = | When approaching, it is always much better to play for f 5 the back of the flag than for the flag itself. If you play for f = the flag, the stroke is often cut just a little too fine and a bunker | | or trap catches the shot, whereas if you are over the pin, there | | is always ample green to finish on. "Never up is never in" so | | always be up. Under-clubbing is particularly disastrous in | = bunkers, and many matches are lost simply because the player | i has endeavoured to tap his ball lightly out of the bunker on to = | the green, with the result that more often than not, it catches = 1 on the lip and rolls.back. | | Many holes are so placed that they require position play | | rather than great length, and it is at these holes that the experi- = 2 enced and heady player proves himself. § | Playing in wind requires special judgment, and here again, f S the man who studies the condltions and modifies his game accord- | | ingly, will win through every t'.me. In my opinion it is most | I difficult to control the flight of the ball in a cross wind and it is = | only with praetice and tuition that this shot can be mastered | 5 satisfactorily. Playing into the wind, it is easier to control the | | ball, but under these conditions, approaching is difficult, and 0 | | players are well advised to use the low half-iron shot. Into 1 ' | the wind, this is a much better shot than the high mashie which | | will often drift when its force is spent. § ! Following winds give all strokes additional length, and § | there again, thought is necessary in selecting your clubs in order | | to modify your distance. | \ Foursome play is really golf's hardest test, because you | \ have not only yourself to consider, but your partner as well. | \ You get different lengths of stroke and different positions from f i those which your own strokes would normally give you, and as | \ a result your normal style of play must be altered. Again, if | \ you know that your partner is weak in some particular play, you | i must endeavour to save him from using that shot. To be suc- | | cessful in foursome play, you must know your partner's game and 1 | work as a team and not as an individual. - | Four-ball, best ball matches are the most enjoyable of | j all, and often produce the best golf, simply because with a f i partner to help you along, you can be more easy in your game. | : | But this does not mean that you should let easiness develop into | : ; carelessness. | ( Finally and above all, play the game of golf in the spirit | in which it is intended to be played — as a sport and not as an | , obsession. = My next article will cover general notes on the game. f iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiniiiiiiiitiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiuiiiiiicutuiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiK