The Montgomery advertiser., 1909-01-22
.PLAYING FOR SAFETY" NOT GOOD RULE FOR MATCH GOLF. Dinantroun to Cultivate the Craven Fear That Any PartAcular shot May Be Bundereu-rake the
 Risk EearkeaSIy.


 In view of the enthusiasm that is be- ing shown in the game by members of Montgomery Country Club. the follow ing from an expert in The New fork Globe will prove interesting:
 A popular impression exists thar, alike in match and in medal play those who play uniformly for safety secure the larger number of victoriesI but, as matter of actual everyday eXpSrl- ence 1t is at least questionable Whetner this is a sale deduction to make rom the average run of play, says The Lon. course, when a player would be errlhs shamefully, in the light of hls better judgment. were he to take an entireiy reckless shot to clear hazard when experience of his partner, tells him that fine stroke Is beyond his ability success fully to accomplish.
 Any one who takes a FISK or tn5I kind deserves to be severely puntshed' : but such an instance as this, either III single or in foufsome play, Is happlly rare. One thinks rather of the general policy which has been outlined as oelng pnas; play aS% for ss safety" There is a wide. spread impression that because player avoids the bunkers \on the course py ing round them he must improve hls chance ofI1the hole. but this Is by no means the invariable result or such cautious policy. ,
 who deliberately plays short of the bunker when little more confidence and courage, with the help of a longer club, would have enabled him 10 carry 1t. finds his ball very often lying in cuppy lie or in an old iron mark By his timidity, therefore, he has really placed himself in worse position than he was before. He has bad ne. anu a~1 vat fn rFfQaAn. and as his skill in playing out of bad He is neither great nor varied. while his heart Is rather deficient in pluck, the almost certain result Is that the oali lands at last in the terrifying bunker.
 A similar result Is very often proved to be the outcome of the timorous and zlRzag play of him who tries to skirt the corners of the bunkers ny PIayiing as he finds the position of his ball. The bad lie here is just as frequent as in the case of the player who Keeps short on the course; indeed. 1t often happens that the players ball gets in- to a much worse lie than would be the case were it to roll Into the worst pun ker. But in addition to the danger. the nlayAr who takes this zigZag route tC inc hole is always laboring under thG disadvantage of playing his shots in an oblioue direction. The result IS tnS though he has not been in bunker since the tee was quilted, he as ofter
 
 These characteristics of playing fol safety are seen every day. both IT match ana medal play. and though # f' obvious that the failure of the famiiiai tactics teaches the pregnant lesson thaI the other policy of bold and confident play should rather have been adopted 1t is not often one really finds that thS obvious teaching of experience Is eVeI taken to heart.
 between bold play. on the one hand. ant play for safety on the other. seems tC | lie quites clear on the surface or th' problem. Any one who wishes to be- | a large proportion of risks at all stage. | of the game; 1t is disastrous to cultI' vate the craven fear that any par ticular shot may be bunkered. If onct the mind is filled with the thought that | anv difficult shot which is going to bt played is sure to land In the bunker l then the player who allows this state | of mind to master his game will neithAl
 do his skill justice, nor will he ex. ] tract the fullest amount of enjoyment | from the match or the medal round l Why should the terrors of getting intI
 a sand bunker be So overpowering? Il l Is because the large majority of play. 1 CTS refuse to learn the art of how most | effectively to play out of a bad sandS | lfo Every one is much more intent upon learning how to drive long bal l than to devote study and practice tt | the much more important iptermediau,
 shots of the gamea Experience ofter proves that the golfer who has learned to play out of a h1nker with confident
 success in one sh { Is just as likely tC | win the hole az the opponent who has never baen of the turf all the way. The one player has shown the cautious fol ! ly of keeping rigidly on theaeourse bS
 playing short of the bunkeTs, whil'