The Washington herald., 1909-05-16

Why is golf making such rapid strides
in this country It can be played BY both
sexes, all ages, and both rich and poor
Il IS ore OF the few sports IN which
player has more than one chance. After
having made an absolute Hub. IL Is pos
sible 70 entirely overcome this error by
making & perfect shot next. Matches that
have been practically conceded 20 be 50
entirely one-sided and undressing that
they weren't worth following have re-
suited in a victory Tor the weak siGe
after q most brilliant round.
Numerous Chances.
When a player is Up and 3 TO 80,
he naturally feels that he has the match
well n hand, but how often these matches
90 to an extra hole and victory is put
down fer the other fellow.
The possibilities are never concluded
in golf until both the players have &C
tuslly holed out and the match Is over
with. For instance. one often hears Of q
player making hole IN one. and twos.
are frequent occurrence. II these freak
shots c0me when the player Is apparently
beaten. one can easily see what q different
aspect IS Immediately put on the match.
When match is dormie, and the play
er who is down puts his drive into a
bunker OF trap. popular opinion usually is
that there IS nothing 70 IL If. however
the next shot from the trap lays dead to
the hole. while the other player IS on the
green. but playing the odd, the chances
OF the player who made the blundeT lock
good 70 win this hole when IL was least
expected
L Is this possibility of making Up for
mistakes that makes golf 50 fascinating
& game. for nc matter how good or how
poor the player. there are always a
few shots that went Off the club just
right. and the nope Of duplicating these,
or perhaps Of improving on them. keeps
the average golfer alive TO the game.
with the hope that he may win tourns-
ment OF pull a match out OF the fire
with some o. these strokes thar he has
seen others make, and thus knows are
possible
Ability Naturally Counts.
There are some players who seem 70
make more Of these remarkable shots
than Others when there is something az
stake: players who are often able to win
matches by their ability 70 really scare
their opponent out Of his shots. This may
seem rather q foolish statement, but /
have seen cases that looked Ike pure
stage fright Occasioned by the holing OF
a couple Of mashie approaches in success
sion-
There is nothing more disheartening 70
a player than 10 lose a hole when he has
had all the better OF It up 10 the green.
Here, with one lucky stab. his opponent
goes down in two more, and the frst
player uses Up three puts because he sees
his chances 10 win q hole swept out OF
reach
L a Hamilton, a member Of the Wyka-
Cyl and Engiswood Golf clubs. has a
short mi6lrOn that he runs up approaches
witns and 70 see him play approach after
approach that either rims the cup, goes
in. or stops within a couple OF inches al
most every time begins 10 wear On his
opponents nerves II most cases. You get
SO that you expect such players are going
70 hole out every time. and II they don't
they frighten you so that you are not
able 70 play your best game.
The annals Of golf show that the unex-
pectsd is always happening, and when you
i6dSL expect IL TOO. no one mas yer DeeFl
heard from in the goIfng world as Invln-
ciDle. and there are 10 players who are
infaIJbIe. either. Every ore makes mis-
takes. and the tine viii never. come when
there viii be such a thing as absolute
accuracy IN this game. IF this were posi-
bic, every stroke played would 60 down in
one, when it was physical possibility 10
drive the tiny sphere the distance 70 the
cup.
The fact remaiDs that On almost every
course there Is one or more holes that
have been made n one. so that this
shows that a perfectly played shot viii
get this result unless luck figures IN the
stroke.
Luckily for golf. II is not results that
prove the attraction, but instead II IS Just
the bare possibilities that lure the begin
ner 10 invest IN 2 set Of clubs and the
old-tiT1srs viii keep al the game The
chances for Improvement, or Of making
up for foozles. or the feel OF one or
two good shots, prove 70 be incentive
enough 20 keep enthusiasm up among all
classes Of golfers