Evening star., 1909-05-16
MASTER STROKES
IN GOLF DESCRIBED
Brilliant Efforts Not Alone Con-
fined to the Short
Game.

1
dents, that Matches are won and lost
on the green's" Is only partly true. Count
less incidents might be cited where ulti-
mate success could be directly traced to
Q superior long game.
| For that matter. at nineteenth hole
session not long since this point was the
subject Of discussion, especial attention
being called to tho fact that It was the
long drivers who generally finished In the
money in q professional tournament. The
moral effect Of the screaming tee shot on
tho opposite side is ofttimes tar greater
than the actual advantage gained In
yards.
That categorical imperative In golf. chit
| the ball" seems ever In the mind of one
sturdy Scot, Jack Hobens. who won the
| metropolitan open championship at Bal
tusrol last fall. It is likewise apparent
that he hits the ball nearly, 1t not quite
as hard as he can. and If he occasionally
suffers In direction as q result it must
be classed as q pardonable fault, for, after
all. who Ii there that does not get off the
line?
! At his best, Hobens drives the ball from
the tee straight out, and when 1t comes
| to the end Of its fight 1t seems to tower
LIE shot bird and then fall without
roll. It is the actual carry. the long
sustained flight, that impresses one most,
| and as the ball keeps rising this latter
tendency suggests to the close student
an unusual amount Of underspin.
Individual Style.
While It is the actual shot itself with q
certain club, rather than any strangeness
or freakish action, that counts in golf, in
dividuality In style must ever claim at
| tention. AS for the stroke itself, Hobens
draws the club back close round the
body, SO that we do not see the finging
away OF the arms after the ball at the
end Of the downward stroke. Playing as
he does of the right foot, he quickly gets
both velocity and weight behind the shot.
So far does Hobens get on his average
drive that he Is usually left with half
iron shot or less to the green.
No man apparently enjoys hart hit
ting more than Willie Smith. Neither
does any one convey the idea Of play
Ing golf with greater notion of de-
this same dashing native Of Carnoustie.
who latterly has cast his fortunes
among the golfers on the sun-parched
sands of Mexico. The instant Will ad-
dresses the ball the impression is
given that something unusual is to
follow. Although perfectly self pos
sessed In his movements and always
graceful-extremely so-there Is a ner-
vous energy about his. preliminary
waggle that is borne out in the actual
swing.
For a starter. the club head seems
to spring away well In advance Of the
hands. or anything else for that mat
ter. and while this may be SO there IS
certainly no tagging on his part when
the entire piece of machinery gets un-
der way. Then, the arms, shoulders.
body, and even head appear to enter in
to Joyous. reckless. yet ever harmo-
NOUS race after the club. With such
utter abandon does he enter into the
stroke that Smith gives the impression
or being unwilling to restrict the club
In any way In it's mad career. The
turning of the head to one side at the
top OF the swing causes him for an
instant. at least. to completely lose sight
of the bali. but ere the onIooker has
time to wonder club, wrists. shoulders,
arms, everything, come back with q
rush on the downward swing, and with
final snap the ball Is sent boring
into space at q velocity hard to dupil-
cate
While no stranger to championship
titles and. Of course, a great player in
best shot. odd as 1t may sound, is
brought of with a spoon. In the opin-
ion of many amateurs Of comparatively
recent introduction to golf the wooden
are plenty Of players. however. who
still cling to the spoon, which Is ex-
tremely useful when once mastered.
especially SO in the hands OF q per-
son not overfond Of cleek. To use
the spoon successfully accurate hitting
Is particularly essential Smith recov-
| cred beautifully with his spoon on a
number of occasions during the nation
al open championship tournament aA
Myopia last August. The greater loft
of the club as compared with the cleek
makes it possible to play up to the
green with more boldness, because
there is less to run the ball after the
carry. In using his spoon Smith swings
practically the same as with the driver,
save that in some inimitable way he
spares the stroke to the finish without
sacrificing direction.
Long Drive With Spoon.
Alec Ross. whose habit OF late years
has been to win the Massachusetts open
title each summer. has mastered shot
| that, while effective in his hands, would
be extremely dangerous for any one to try
to initiate. Although not necessarily the
case with the Brae Burn pro- 1t fire.
quently happens that mans popularity
of style Is especially noticeable as the
result of some exaggeration of a minor
detail, some twitch or other manner
ism, upon which perchance he has placed
undue Importance through noticing this
mannerism after q most satisfactory
drive. At all events, one Of Ross favor
ite stunts Is to drive with spoon. a club
originally designed to get medium dis
tance. There Is nothing medium about the
length Of Alec's tee shot, however. He
has the knack Of turning the club head
over sufficiently to meet the ball at just
| the proper angle, and there are few in
this country capable OF outdriving him.
If he were to turn q regulation driver
over in similar manner 1t is doubtful
| II the ball would rise at all.
There Is another point about Ross
which, in addition to his good nature,
| tends to make him favorite wherever
| he goes 1t Is his cool and at the same
time quick manner of playing each shot.
There is little deliberation, for Ross never
seems to be undecided upon his plan of
action or at loss to know which club
| to take.
Speaking Of selecting the right club
| calls to mind the experience OF the golfer
who played often. but never we'll. While
fiubdubbing round on one occasion the
| buffers caddie grew less and less at
tentive. apparently becoming thoroughly
wearied at his employers bungling eff
forts Finally, in a fit OF desperation,
the golfer shouted threateningly: See
here, lad. If you don't give these clubs to
me more quickly III break one of them
over your head"
Newer fear,'' retorted the youngster.
You wouldn't know which club to use
game well from beginning to end with
out shining in any particular department
| when compared with other experts. This
all-around golfer, he who makes one shot
as well as another. is dangerous man
in a match, and no one knows 1t better
than himself Somehow or other. Gilbert
Nichols calls to mind the old Scotch say