East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current, 1909-07-17

desire to know somethink more defi-
note about Mr. Taft's game of golf
his style of play his temper and
temperament while in action and
above all his average medal score. To
take the last first, 1t may be said
! that the presidents average medal
score is not a very low one, but THAI
in match play he is not an easy man
to beat He has way of plodding
through the middle of the course, all
the time, making as straight as pos
sible for the little cup on the next
green. Even at that he is not re-
markable for his accuracy either in
the long game or the short game, but
he seldom misses a shot absolutely.
A high percentage of his drives are
straight, although they are usually
not of great length, Mr.. Taft plays
his tee shots with n great deal of
care, addressing the ball intently, af-
ter planting his feet well apart, and
swinging his club back slowly, indi-
eating that he is playing for a sure,
rather than a brilliant drive.
Since Mr.. Taft resumed play this
spring his average medal score haa
probably been in the neighborhood of
96. He played better golf than that
last summer and last winter at Hot
Springs, Va, and Augusta, Ca, but
at that time he was playing nearly
every day, while he has recently been
playing not oftener than once or twice
a week.
The presidents short game is per-
haps not quite as good as his long
game-meaning by the latter of
course his drives from the tee and his
brassie work. He is a little too likely
to play short on the hole in his ap-.
proach puts, and his strikes from the
rough and artificial hazards do not
always yield adequate results. 1t fire.
quently happens that his medal score
is spoiled by his failure to extricate
himself readily from trouble" on
one or two holes of the IS.
Walter j. Travis, after playing
with the president last month, re-
marked to a group of club members
at Chevy Chase that he could soon
coach Mr.. Taft to play an excellent
game of golf. The Several times
champion declared that the president
already had a good style of play and
that he had no bad golf habits that
would have to be overcome. Inciden-
tally Mr.. Travis indorsed Mr. Taft's
method of scoring in four-ball
match. The president holds that the
best ball should not necessarily win
the hole in a four-ball match, but
that the winning side on each hole
should be determined by adding the
scores of the partners on each side,
Mr.. Travis declared also that this
was the way a four-ball contest
should be conducted.
When President Taft plays golf at
Chevy Chase he usually plays in a
foursome (four-ball match), and on
many occasions Vice President Sher-
man is one of his golfing compan-
ions. Mr.. Sherman is not nearly as
good a golfer as Mr.. Taft, but it is
perhaps doing him no injustice to
say that his average medal score for
is holes is not many strokes from
10. The president plays a pretty
even-tempered game, seldom uttering
a word of impatience. Not so with
the Hon. James Schoolcraft. He is
all too likely to make bad matters
worse by becoming impatient when
he misses a shot or plays into a haz-
ard. 1t is probable that the presi-
dent could give the vice president one
stroke in three holes and beat him
rather handily at that.