The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1900-02-13
GOLFER PLAYS.
MANY IMERIClN IDEAS ECLIPSED
ny vaRDON'S STYLE.
The star Expert of Great britain Goes Up
Against tho Best BAH OF an Amateur
combination but Wins Quite Handily
-CrItiCisma by Prominent Men Present..

Combination. but Wins Quite HandiIy
Criticisms by Prominent Men Present.
American golfers electrified Harry vardon
yesterday when he made his first appearance
In an exhibition match In this country. at tho
Laurence IIarbor Country Club against the
best ball OF tho clubs best amateurs. Morti-
mer VI. Singer and John NJ. Ward playing
against him In the morning and Singer and
II. G, Nillepigue against him In the
afternoon. IL was q thirty-alx hole
match. H.. II. Robertson. President OF the N.
Il. A., was the referee. The only special rule
was that when a bal was i'm 6edd0d In mud tho
referee had the right to lit and drop 1t. 1t was
a dismal. ovcrhanging day, with the clouds at
times dropping down sprInklings OF rain, yet
the gallery Of about eight hundred WAS faithful
to each stroke and followed the match through
out, even to the odd holes after the contest
was over.
Alter the first hole. where vardon missed his
chance for q four in putting weakly. the cham
pion set out to show his quality. Thereafter.
although Ward was succeeded In the afternoon
by Nilepigue. the Singer combination was at
the mercy Of the noted professional.
Nardon faced the first gallery" 10 watch his
play that had assembled in this country. Al
though the hero Of II hundred battles on tho
links Of Great Britain, the presence OF q new
gallery in a strange land was not unnaturally
a cause o! some tropidation, but after the iirst
two holes. when assured Of the sympathy Of
the crowd. Nardon showed his true skill.
Many shots that he had to face were utterly
different. from the nature Of the hazards. to
any that he has ever seen before.
Vardon has been 40 written up by the best
authorities abroad that the golfers who fol.
lanai tLA- . ban. - n $500 A.kAsN
what to expect. Yet in the accuracy Of the
drives and tho brassey plays. in tho splendid
style Of the long and approach plays with the
iron clubs. and In the excellence Of his putt
ing. although a mId-iron was used and the
greens were. In "A rough, winter condition,
nothing ,ike Nardon's pe.rfectI9 pa has ever ben
sben In nn nix c2 Wi.G ra Az aided f in suT lD.i o Sas
champion Of the world TO come to this country,
! the slow-back aud hec-tapping style and effort
on tho follow, through was utterly lacking in
How. then, did he do 80 well. Those Who
looked for the stepping out OF Vardon on tho
thirty, clad in tn Norfolk Jacket and knirker.
bockers Of soft erayish tweed. that English
travellers affect, His driver, with an American
inches from end to scare. The head weighed
seven and .one-halt ounces, and the shalt
VA wa round, not oval as SINE say, The
the. oldest style bail in Scotland. Playing
his iron shots the club Is carried somewhat to.
either loot. This Is the same in the putting.
FOR in the two descriptions OF the game Nard0n
seelus 70 think more of the goal that his ball il
ting. but on account Of the rough greens Var
don may have changed his stylH, he tried iora
"cut' each time On the iron shots a clod Of
stab or JERK the shots. The d! vot is an incident
of the stroke. These iron shots are simply q
mobilization in method of Nardon's play with
He. has discovered the ph,caopher's stone
centre Of the chest the pivot OF motion
t. bear ont this assertion the onlooker
pointed out that with each swing, no matter
how, close the hands were held to the nody
whether with wood or iron, the same
exact circle was described, and, once
It's greatest force aud followed with Increased
momentum. but on the straight line 10 the d.
%rectiqn flag Other players NAV aim as true.
or gain longer distance, but after the swing
Nardon has a wrist motion that rounds out the
flush of the stroke. Some opinions on his
style rom the experts on the links were noted,
"A marvel OF accuracy" said W. J. Travis.
He gets more distance with less effort than
ITO me-. sal! John NJ Ward. after his morn.
ing round, IT - IKE a man aiming at a target
at q target he. only carries in his, minds ege.
At baseball | have tried to gain direction with
n.wooien bat, anl, this makes me appreciate
Maturin Bailou, i q. .Spalllne,. q W. Stock.
ley. ". 4. Putnam W, 3 Crittegden, Ed Bur
!. II doubleday, Julian W. Curtiss, J, NJ.
Young, Tom Bcnlelow, George L. Armstrong
and a host Of other amateur and professional
The story Of the match begins with tho
halvrd hole IN i've. Then Nardon won his first
hole in Ave, after, Ward had trimmed on his tut
Coz tla hnlf uhtnh ahn,NIl haya nnna ip,pp Nm
the third hole Nardon made n sclaft 81 his
second with the driving mnshie, but be
f n"!n e WITH RSiis s MD ron ~i nnd h lonr 'eG out Of in ,hs
neat four. The. drive to the fourth
hoe is w hill and was carefully
according 70 these measurements. which were
undoubtedly exact, 2ls Yards lie won tho
h9le in I e .; MhSneyer he faced thi: hole,
drove as far, which backs up what he said in
THE sun interview on sunday as to what he
considered should BE- a fair drive from the
four holes played Vardon. although no
lai an easy chance for "a 3, on
,nS hnI TSdt sln s%5f; 5 "S cS this hole =; S snl very !,
good, A. he had been in rough country after a
'TThee sixth hole foil to vardon in 4. Ward
thinning herr for a Ions. chance for q 5. Tho
first round finished with Nardon > ny. the
seventh hole going tothe amateurs best ball in
Tor a 8 Which oyerran. a loot and the cham
pion failing TO get the chance down.
To this point NarlOn had scored ~. and the
best ball Of the two amateurs had scored ~.
The second round brought out the same ac-
curate play bv Nardon. while. at critical points,
n is said In horse racing, the amateurs
came back to him" but not through
Intention. singer. by q long put. won
the fifth hole for the amateurs in 3.
Otherwise the feature OF the round was
NardOn = hall on the sixth hole in >. On his
drive the champion was on the hard ~gravelly
PLAYING from the poor lie with his brassie he
did title better. 1t was a trying moment. for
Ward was on tho green In 3 and sure for a
8. 4 grandly played iron shot brought Var
don close 10 the hole and he secured a half In
3 on what seemed a certainly lost hole.
The morning round ended with Nardon \ up.
Nardon by strokes was 20 and the best ball.
G2.
For the afternoon round villcpigue Joined
Singer as the Iartnar in the now iorlur IN hope.
Nillepiguc made a brave effort. but. Ike
Ward. no pressed through overanxiety
ard his occasional brilliant plays coul1
not atone for this weakness. On the
NTH hole. whore Villepigue lifted after
In five. after Nardon had been on the green in
two and near the hole. taking four more to get
down. At the end Of rhe third round Vardon
was L. w. but II II had been a real match he
would have hal the honors bv IL M and 10 to
play. On bye holes Singer maintained
Tho steady play that had been the feature ~
the match from the amateurs standpoint, but
VarlOn still had tho whip hand. and. without
being forced to a special effort, the champion
ended the exhibition twelve holes to the good.
The scores follow: