The Washington herald., 1907-09-24
DEFEND GOLF STAR
Players Say British Slur OH
Travis Most Uncalled For.
MANY SAW 374-YARD SHOT
Awaiting Details OF ,he Topography
of BeciSeuham Course before Judg-
fna value Of Horuc's New Record
for "a Long DrIvc-LOEEest Carry
by American Made by HObens.

New York. sept z2-Thc cabled report
of the mountaineering drive OF w IL
Horne, the professional OF the Becken-
ham Golf Club. in England, over the club
course. GA which lee secured a distance
0f Isl yards. aroused keen interest among
golfers OF ibis vicinity yesterday. espe-
c.auv as IL superseded the record made
/ by Waiter J. Travis Of ga yards. 1t Gar-
/ den city. several years ago
The drive. clearing "a bunker 20 yards
from the zee on the carry. must have
I been made from O. sweet true shot, per
fee-Iy executed, though details of the
course are lacking as 70 whether the
+ earry was over level ground. a deciiviJy
might readily add considerable distance
! % the natural length OF tae drive. though
the length of che roI. go yards beyond
the point where the ball first struck,
+ would seem @ argue "a natural force and
. good conditions u ground
While the accomplishment of drives of
. phenomenal length is Interesting To golf
ers. the record is generally regarded as
rather a freak one This is proved by the
fact that tie best American figures are
. held by man who is not known as q
driver 81 great length. bur rather for the
/ excellence Of his short game. There are
I dozens Of men VINO 0utdrlye Travis daily
in competition who cannot approach him
in his game. many OF them men Of rather
inferior merit as golfers.
Crowd Saw Record.
The record Travis made. which IS rather
sluugd by the English golfers as "uuau-
theuucated." can be- attez-ed Jy a num-
Der OF persons who were on the ground
Mt Garden City on the day it was made
II occurred III the eighth hole on q winter
day. when the conditions were exactly
.prepiti0us FOR long driving There was "a
strong following wind that Oh "a level
ground would carry a BAH along for %
/ considerable added distance The carry Of
the ball was not extreme though il was "a
true shot with good force behind it nat
urllly II happened 20 land OLA "a level
road where the run was smooth and hard.
and it's phenomenal roll carried II lis tx
I traordinAry distance.
II would naturally be expected that
Robert Abbott or Jerome Travers, who
are both noted for an extraordinary long
same. would hold the best American tg-
. urgs. Both of these have repeatedly made
drives of over 800 wards. Allen Kennedy
is another weII-kncwn amateur in this
country who has the honor Of a number
Of extraordinarily long shots while of the
professionals. Hobcns. Gil Nichols. and
willie Anderson are reputed % have made
the best records
, Fred HerrcShuff and Chandler Egau axe
also ranked as among the best drivers ia
, the American game. while Hugo john
stone. at Nyopia, is credited with phe-
u nomcnal distance. Authentic figures of
B this sort Of feat are rather difficult 20
secure. LcinE recalled rather 10y the
j ground on which il is made than by
. actual record of the achievement
, Long Drive by Abbott.
b Young Abbott made the most recent
b conspicuous long drives of any man in
Z the American game. In the recent tour
namcnt at Deal when hc won the trophy,
4 he was in exceptional form. and his
drives were all Of extraordinary length.
The ninth hole NJ Deal is over 500 yards.
and on every. occasion dUrius the tourua-
! ment he was on the green there in two
. shots. an average of over 30 yards Tor
e each drive The exact distance Of none
b of these shots was measured. but some
, cf them certainly exceeded 800 yards. and
Ian Of them were 50 Ions as 10 De re-
, marked
= Allen Kennedy recently at M0ntclaiI
made the green ON the long hole in two
shots on three consecutive occasions, Te-
( quiring an average of better than ~
. yards for each shot. He also has a rec
ord for the twelfth hole at EnglewO0d OF
reaching the road that guards the greer
{ in one shot. This is q distance of fully
h $50 yards. The length OF the carry OF
q these shots was not especially noted.
The longest carry that is generally re-
ported among American golfers wa.
10 made on a shot by H0bcns AZ the four
70 teeuth hole at EnglcwOOd 4 bunker
2 guards the green there and is located Fl
e yards from the tee. H0bcns on one OCca
sion landed plumb on the bunker ia III,
: carry of drive. This play, however. :.
down hill He also made a 3o0-yaTd carry
on the fifth hole at ST Andrews. but thu
play was down decline Of fully l50 fee
depth. which made the drive of "a Tathe
freak nature From where the ball strucl
there is a sharp upgrade which prevent
ed the BAH rolling any great distance
from where it originally struck
ICctober ;. 1907, Remember the date.