The morning journal-courier., 1907-12-19

straight, so far as it did fly, in com parison with the "gutty" ball. being less affected by the wind Gas was only natural, seeing that it had greater specific gravity and a lower trojec- tory), and also far less affected by slice and pull. Now, if these qualities be considered, although at first sight they may not seem to hang together" yet, on second thoughts. it must be appreciated that they are all of piece; the ball which goes "deadA off the butter is less likely to be kicked aside by any chance body which it meets as it rolls along; the ball which goes low, and which Is soft and heavy, would be apt to run far on a hard ground when 1t fell, whether off the drive or the iron loft, and the fact that the ball is not much affected by slice or pull is of a piece with its in- capacity for high and sustained flight, because this latter is. to a practical certainty, conditional on rotation in- parted to the ball; and so, also, are those deviations from the straight line of flight which we call the effects of slice and pull.
 One thing we have gained with our modern lightly going balls-that is, greater pleasure in our golf. That we have made it better trial of accurate hitting, which is only a longer way of saying of skill, I do not think, for the plain reason that an ill-hit hall of the ruhber-eored kind will go much more nearly the same distance, and with the same result, as a well-hit rubber-core than an ill-hit "gutty" would go in comparison with a we'll hit putty" In the old days of putty" and "gutty' we used to say "gutty' for pleasure, but putty for profit" meaning that the good-putting quau- ties of the putty" ball made it, per haps, the more paying missile, the one which would win more matches, but that the superior liveliness off the club and the brighter sound of the "gutty" made that ball far the more agreeable of the two. At the present time. we may put the equation like this, in form, of rule-ofthree sum. comparing the putty with the "gutty,P and tllis again with the "rubber-core" that as the ''gutty" was to the putty" so is the 'rubber-eore" to the "gutty." That expresses the relations between them quite accurately,
 All these points are interesting to note--any point in the comparison is interesting to note-because it is per- fectly plain that our golf-ball manu- facturers for the time being and as re- gards the rubber-cere balls (which are the only kind the public will look at-and quite right, tool are in the most primitive state of empiricism. They are constantly trying expert ments, without any principles of, con struction whatever-children to whom the world is opening as new discov- ery-and it is very difficult for them to attain the truth. So many men I tell them so many various tales. And that in itself, is not to be wondered at. \ For one thing, while putting is so iIn- portant part of the game, there are as has been said, other points which are important too, and much more amusing. It is because the putty" ball was not so amusing, and because it did not fly so fan that men finally gave 1t up in favor of the guilty, though it putted better; and for like reason they have now given up the gutta-percha in favor of the rubber core. But there are various kinds of the rubber-core-some are much more lively than others. These, as a rule which has hardly an exception, are the less good putting balls, What, then, 4 does it behoove man to do---to sac Erifce the driving lightness for the put ting deadliness, or the reverse? The answer to this has to depend a great deal on the man and his muscles. If a man is very strong and hitS very hard, he can propel heavy, dull ball quite a respectable distance; and, relatively speaking, a hitter of this stamp does not get nearly as much value out of a light ball Git has been noted very of ten how much the second and third class players have been helped by the livelier balls) as a weaker-brother Such a man as this, then can afford the little loss of distance which is in- volved in the use of the heavier, duller ball, and finds himself more than re- paid by the balls steadiness on the green and fine putting qualities in | general But it does not follow that it would pay a less muscular man to make the same sacrifice of carrying length. Therefore, when a man rec l ommends you a ball as the best in the known world Gas many men do recom- mend many balls), you will do well to consider him carefully, what manner of man he is, and if he is a triumph 1 of matter over mind you may expect the ball of his eulogy to be rather too gross and heavy a body for yourself. being, of course, the ideal medium of symmetry and strength; but if, on the I other hand, the eulogist be slender and graceful rather than muscular. then you may suspect his recommenda- tions to be ball of the kind which is on the light and lively side for one of your' perfect thews to use to best advantage. That, to the practical golf CT, is the conclusion of the whole mat ter; but as to the practical golf-ball maker the conclusion is not so plain, nor to be reached so quickly.-West- minister Gazette.
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