Daily inter mountain. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1881-1901, 1900-07-28
SOME TRICK SHOTS
ON THE LINKS

Golters and geometricians agree in one
belief, that a straight line is the shortest
distance between two points. In the
effort to get from tee to hole in the few
mind of the golf player, and, whether
IN driving or approaching, to be off
the line is a ~reproach, while in putting,
unless a stroke is p~urposely made to take
advantage of a slope or furrow on the
turf, not to play straight for the cup is
a dire disgrace. This obligation to ''get
there is SO strong that it effectually
banishes merely spectacular play Or
trick shots.
When the balls lie within six inches
nearest points-the ball closest to the
hole may be lifted until the other is
played.
In medal play the opponent must lift
whenever his ball is in the line of your
put, but in match play, when more
than six inches apart, it is. a stymie. The
ball farthest away must be played over
the intervening one to make the hole,
unless by taking advantage of an I'M
eVenness, the cue may be made by play
ing slightly off the direct line. stymie
is an old Scotch word, meaning the
faintest form of anything"
A SCOTCH STROKE.
It is a good definition to express the
delicacy with which the stroke must be
played. 1t is the fanciest stroke in the
game and a legitimate one, for the is
caste.
In playing 1t a lofting iron takes the
place OF the putter. 1t is held loosely
dn the hand, SO nat the face will go we'll
under the ball, lifting and placing "cut"
on 1t simultaneously. Cut also called
"doss' by the golfers, corresponds to
the reverse twist in billiards, the effect
being to check the forward roll Of the
ball. In a we'll played stymie the ball
ds pitched over the intervening one, and,
after describing a half-circle in the air,
drops into the hole. 1t is a verv pretty
play but a most uncertain one. A novice
may perform it brilliantly at the first
attempt, yet no professional, although
gray in the game, can be absolutely safe
in making it.
Cut also figures in a snowy style of
approaching, sometimes a necessary
stroke when the green is on an eleva-
tlon guarded by a bunker, but only
played on a level ground, as a rule, to
impress the spectators.
1t consists in pitching the ball on the
putting green with the lofting iron, the
"cut" making it stop dead near the
hole, or, by glorious luck, drop surely
into the cup. The position is the same
as for the ordinary half stroke, but the
right hand is held loose, and the stroke,
rather across the ball than s%traightfor-
ward, is finished off by the turn of the
wrists alone.
At tennis spin can be put on the ball
by laying the racket back. In the same
way cut can be put on a golf ball So
that 1t will spout up nearly straight in
the air, and after a rise of 60 or a hun
dred feet will fall within 30 feet of the
player.
This Is purely q trick stroke Of no
advantage whatever in the game, but
IN an idle m it is not unusual to
see a group of players attempting the
shot. The iron is held with the face very
fiat and the stroke made with a short
curve we'll under the ball, sending it up
like a rocket.
INTERESTS A CROWD.
Whenever men and women PLAY in an
important competition in Great Britain
there is always a crowd about the first
tee and the home putting green, while
the best players are followed by a throng
throughout the course.
"A rope has often to be stretched to
keep the spectators back from the
greens. The gallery" does not seem to
worry the amateurs over there, but it
Is different in his country. Our best
amateurs. 1t is true, are quite Indifferent
TO the bystanders OF tee or green, and
perhaps are sometimes guilty. of unduly
"waggling" In the preliminary strokes
to compel attention to the actual play.
It Is like the trick in the circus, where