Evening star., 1909-04-11
TESTS OF GOLFERS
IN MEDAL PLAY
Professionals and Many ANA
teurs Pin Their Faith to :
the Score Game.
From the New York Telegram.

From the New York Telegram.
There is one question continually CROP
ping up in the game of golf which some
players seem quite unable to settle with
any degree of satisfaction: What Is the
true test of golf-match or medal play?'.
To the professional there is one answer.
and one answer only, and that is-medal
play. And probably the professional Is
right. In any case. 1t is a fact that he
is supported by the opinions of a large
percentage of all classes and ranks Of
golfers. Any player who understands the
game will acknowledge that there is too
much of an element of luck about one
round Of eighteen holes to decide who is,
or who is not, the better player.
Many amateur players have decided
preference for the match play fern of the
game, simply because it suits their uncer-
tain game better and they know that in
match play they have a better chance of
class. 1t is merely this steadiness VIII CHI
makes the difference between the scratch
man and the player of small odds, and
when the two get together in match play
the chances are that they will. be on
something like an equality as regards
holes won and lost.
The scratch man may go out something
like this: 4, 4, 4, ). A. 4, 3, 4-36; while
his opponent proceeds as follows: 3. 3. q,
5, z, 4, 3, 4. 3-39. On medal play there
are three strokes of difference In favor
of the scratch player. yet on the match
game the erratic handicap golfer actually
holds "a lead ofOne hoe. But there can
be two opinions as to which is the better
player, or what the result would be in,
say, four POUNDS of match play.
Moral Influences Factor.
Then again, the moral influence of a
lost hole often has been the means of
causing player to blow up. No two golf
ers are alike in temperament, and in a
match round between two players of
about equal ability an unusual spell of
luck may make all the difference to a
players chances. 1t may be a bad lie
following good drive, or any other fac
tor In the game. This Of course. will
happen even in medal play and at any
lime. but then the player knows he is
playing against the field and is not con-
tinually haunted by the thought of what
a lost hole may mean to him.
1t is not a test of a mans nerves when
on the rack that proclaims a golfer, al
though nerves certainly have a deal to
do with it. AS an instance. 1t Is difficult
to imagine a harder ordeal than Willie
Smith had to undergo last year at My
opia, when some one was good enough to
come out and tell him that he required a
brace of IS to tie with Fred Mcleod s
score. Without this knowledge Smith
might have made a stroke under and won
comfortably. There are, of course, those
who say that the knowledge did not af-
feet Smith. Probably not-outwardly: but
the golfer has yet to be born who could
not be affected by such a situation.
This however, is an outstanding In
stance, and. to revert to the match play,
1t may be said that a player in big
match wins almost on his nerve and his
ability to brace himself when playing be-
fore a gallery. Any one who follows the
game intelligently is aware that the lat
ter stages Of match play tournament
invariably show a marked deterioration
in the play. The British amateur final a
year or two ago when James Robb was
the winner is q case in point, and was
at the time the laugh of the golfina
world. The f1nalists on that occasion
veriest duffer might easily have beaten
either.
Went to Pieces.
1t was actually a test, not of golf, but
Of endurance. Holes were won and lost
in alarming figures. and the actors in the
play tried every known means to stifie
ther emotions, such as smoking ciga-
rettes and munching candy. The climax
fifty to reach the turn. Robb may have
been the better golfer, but no one would
say he won that match because of a
better display of golf.
Another factor in match play Is what
is termed the "luck of the draw" In a
big tournament, where the players are
divided into two sections, one division
may contain a number of champions,
while in another group player of out
standing ability may be bracketed with
inferior players. This players appear
ance in the final can we'll be described
as due to 1.-The luck Of the draw" Those
who remember the woman's U. S. G. A.
championship final at Chevy Chase last
fall had striking instance of this. In
one section were grouped many cham
pion possibilities, who were compelled
to fight it out among themselves in a
sort of survival of the fittest" struggle,
while in the other part of the draw Miss
Fanny Osgood was head and shoulders
above her rivals. The Bostonian did not
reach the final, but certainly the 'luck OF
the draw did not initiate against her
chances.