The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1896-03-22
r vASDERDECKEN SAYS,

phii hh iHCn DclllUu tnt leII.
WHAT SAYS.
Finally this is what Mr.. T.. r. Sachs, bette,
xnown, perhaps. under his nom de plume Van
derdtcken." writes to TIE Sun On the subject
" Stance is a word that Is not to he fOunt
In any dictionary of my a%cuuain lance, but il is
nevertheless, one in common use with golfer:
wh" respect the traditions of their craft teach
ing the whole body of playing. Scotsmen, ant
among Englishmen, those, for the greater part,
who have imbibed their notions from Scot,
land. am surprised at not finding the word
In such up tO-datc dictionaries as Annandale's.
because it has. always been employed within
the memory OF living golfers to indicate the
himself down for his stroke. II, is an excel.
toward perpetuating IL: With regard to all
goltng nomenclature i is highly desirable that
fully adopted by all new playing countries. he,
cause the Language and idioms of the game as
ter, and there can he no blending Of golf with
any other game. In England. where the most
Of our golf is, tolerated by resident Scotsmcn
simply and solely because there Is Lo other to
be had. while. In their hearts. they naturally
enough despise 1t, we are not too careful of
But we are very thorough In our persistency
IN calling every, place where golf Is played "A
links. But a place does not become links by
the act of playing golf upon II. Links are the
sandy stretches by the s%eashore. and are called
SO whether one PLAYS golf upon them or not;
nothing else. md perhaps that by courtesy
only; but the use Of the word links can he well
for dven. since i Is n token of an ATTEMPT to
II see by THE SuN that this question OF
STANCE is agitating golfers in America. /
should have been disappointed with the game
had no argument on the question arisen, for It
would have been t%antamount to admitting that
proper interest. No BODY Of men me c Sn'h bec w1ne
interested in golf without very soon splitting
into amps on the subject of : stance They
have been playing the game In Scotland for q
few centuries. and have not made up their
minds about II yet; and until every babe that
as his fellows diversity of opinion must exist.
In England 1t Is an easy matter 10 find an an
OF the hatsman at the wicket waiting for the
ball, to he bowled to him.
I'm each case, the general attitude is the
same, the slight, but very a~pparent and impor.
tant variations, being attributable 10 physical
difference ,Gsa &c s. and Eerson%l id9syIcraciss and
whole question. When we have Two such
noted golfers AS Mr.. Horace Hutchinson and
Willie Dunn laying down tenets that nearly
always vary. and, in some instances. arc direct
~ opposed to one another, one might be in
clined To think that one must he In the wrong.
his own fashion. one is Obliged to confess that
no deduction is 10 lbs drawn from results. |
f fase I Ire iniS R ar "P saGp r miGFs han Sn't that Of i I'd IN.
ing Mr.. Horace Hutchinson To visit America
and make a round OF the golf courses; Think
onlOOkcrs would come to the conclusion that il
does not matter very much whether, IN driving.
half an inch In front. II the particular
stance adopted suits the player.
grant. that there Is a good deal In that par
ticular 'if'-indeed, there l. everything / IL,
because a man cannot play good golf in a style
that doesn't suit him: In this the adage, what
is one mans meat Is another mans poison
holds good. In tho course Of time n player
blessed with any, intelligence would discover
that he. was being poisoned. aud alter his
style. Ire beginners who yeAr after year re-
main beginners are people who have no intclli-
gencc, and In their case no tuition il OF much
hss. We may leave them out of tho urgu-
ment, and deal with those only who are Capa-
BILE Of being taught.
ITO a beginner Of Intelligence, presuming him
70 he Of established manhood, | should en-,
golfer. has TO do. This Is Ia. bring the club
straight and sqnnrely behind the ball In a line
for the object aimed Mt, the hole. II the he
ginner could he made To hit his ball fairly and
line between him and the hole, we should al
ready have a very fair class golfer. 1t is In
the cndeayOr to do more than this that we 20
wrong; IN, order TO hit the hall fairly and
1t Is imperative that the club swings
in an absolutely correct arc, the periphery az
which is, OF course, the head of the club.
1T must be an arc without u waYy line in 1t,
and, being q true arc, 1t must not be described
than in a line with the course which
the ball is to take, otherwise we have slicing
or pulling, generally sliCing, the swing OF the
club that trayerses obliluely. the Intended line
Of the balls flight being generally across the
from outside TO inside. Now, what the
has to discover is the stance which
him to make an absolutely correct
trouble himself IS to whose method II is he Is
RIGHT OR LEFT Root FoRwARD2 THE RIaHT.
1T does not follow, howevsr r.. that nothing can
be learned from the experiences OF others, for
Tho contrary Is the case, While / contend that
40 general law a. 70 stance can be laid down.