GOLF.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIV, Issue 70, 13 September 1911, Page 3

GOLF.

YARDOX EATS TO WIN. .} The golf autlioritv of the Yorkshirel Post tells us how it was that Harry' Vnrdon won the championship. Vardon won, lie says, because lie trainee) carefully; and his training was a judicious mixture of golf and diet. Eating and drinking are questions of interest to many who ure not golfers just now; so Vardon's regimen is wortli giving. He took a light, breakfast and lunch, both without meat, no tea, and a good dinner in the evening. Four pipes' of tobacco, three pints of liquid—including one glass of whisky, or its equivalent—were also allowed. There is evidently good sense in Tin's preemption; it restrains, but with moderation i it does not tell a man to live wholly on tomatoes and lettuce leaves. ARROW VERSUS GOLF BALL.

"Arrow versus golf ball" is one of the few sensational entries in tiie records of the Royal Company of Archers, who form the bodyguard of the Sovereign when he visits Scotland. It occurs twice. On the first occasion a match was played early last century, over the Musselburgh links, between'an archer and a golfer, whose names- are not given. The conditions were that the arrow had to-be shot right down into the hole, and not merely made to pierce its side. The arrow won, but it was a. close tiling. On the second occasion the archer was the Rev. John Tait, minister of Abcrladv, and chaplain to the Company, and the golfer the renowned Tom Morris. They played the eighteen holes at Lufl'ness, and the result was that the chaplain finished live up, doing the round in 76 to Tom's 82.

ARNAUD MASSY—'•CHARACTER" OF THE LINKS.

_ Massy lias been only such a compareI tively short time in the first iiigbt of i golfers, and his appearance in competitions in the Home Country are so relatively rare, says "J.P." in the Daily Chronicle, that h<> is almost unknown to any but the closest followers of professional golf. Even the man in the street —by which I mean the man who does not know a golf course from a cricket pitch—is quite familiar with the names of Varclon and Braid. Our own ehainpions' have succeeded in making themselves known to people who are ignorant of the game in which tlicy exeel. That, perhaps, is not the least of their triumphs. To a great extent Masosy is still nothing more than a name—the name of a Frenchman who has acquired a quite unnatural skill at a game in which the temperament ami characteristics of a Frenchman are considered to lie quite unsuited. To those who know him, -however, Massv is one of the most striking personalities in golf. In his own particular way he is as great a ''character" as Andrew Kirkcaldy, for whose company he seems to have a decided preference. At Sandwich the two were inseparable companions. When they were not playing they wandered together over the links. Andrew had little to say. Ail the talking was done by Massy, and you could hear him all over the course.

AS BILLIARD PL AVER AND .JOIIX BLUNT.

There is something irresistibly humorous about the French champion, who has the rotund figure of a middle-aged man, and the light-hearted gaiety of a schoolboy. Except when he is playing golfand even then he contrives to introduce a touch of lightness to the proceed-ings-—he is one of tlie"most irresponsible of men. To see him in a game of billiards is one of the funniest sights in the world—except for the owner of the table. It is his habit to eschew the use of the ''rest." He surmounts' the difficulty by climbing on to the table and squatting like a frog on the baize while he makes his stroke. He manages to pocket a ball, it matters not which one, and he yells triumphantly in his French way, ''A poc-ket! A poc-ket!" He is great enough to be privileged to say exactly what he thinks; At a wellknown club in the South of France, where a certain firarnl Duke holds autocratic sway, the Royal personage in question gave .Massy a graphic description of an exceptionally good round, which he said lie had just played. Massy listened to the recital solemnly enough, ■but was unconvinced. ''Your Highness must have dreamt it," was his caustic comment at the finish.

A MEMOBABLE MEETING IX FBANCE.

Massv's victory in the French "Open" last month was his first since 1907, the year in which hi* so completely routed the ol<l guard. Tie had fulfilled' the prediction of his mentor, little Ben Savers, at floyla.ke. and the lending British players, burning' for revenge, went over in a body to La Boulie to wrest the champion*,'lip from- the grasp of the intrusive Frenchmen. The invaders were led by Braid, who. being the defeated holder at llovlake, was chiellv relied on to put matters right. For 'once, however. Braid failed. So, too, did Vardon, and the rest. .Massy not only won again, but young (iassiiat, another r reiLchman, holed a long putt on the lii*fc green to Iwat J3nii(l for second place. "We are a jolly sight worse oIF now than we were before," growled one of the vanquished Britishers, as Gassiat's ball disappeared into the tin. The journey home from Paris that night was like another retreat, from Moscow. Nowadays, the international feeling is not nearly so pronounced as it was in Ihe early days. The crack British professionals' have been forced to recognise Massy us one of themselves'. Certainly none of them begrudged him his great \ ictorv last mouth. He was the only one of the competitors who did not make any serious mistake in the course of his four rounds. It was entirely due to his machine-like steadiness that he accomplished his remarkably low a r gate of 254. '