Honolulu star-bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1912-2010, 1912-07-30
GREENS
TRY PLAYERS
SOULS
Local Golfers Can Sympathize
with Protest Against slipping
Greens That Are Too Fast

The putting green of today Is. the
subject of an able sketch in the Lon
don Daily Nail: The modern putting
green becomes with the opening OF
each new course more complex and
ingenious work of art. It may be
said with comparatively little exag-.
geration that at one time the maker
or golf courses selected for his green
the latest and smoothest piece of
turf he could find. Next he rolled II
until he had smoothed out such natu-
raj wrinkles as were in 1t; finally,
even as Yankee Doodle stuck feath-
ei In his cap and called it macaroni,
he stuck flag in the middle and call
ed it putting green. This proceed
ure was occasionally varied BY the
selection of deep little dell or hoi-
low, having this charming property,
that ball once in it couin never get
out again: thus approach shots, good,
bad, or Indifferent, AL served almost
equally well their ultimate purpose.
No Variety.
A sloping putting green was, as a
rule. q thing Of beautiful simplicity
iii that 1t all sloped one way Fearful
stories were told of two players stand
ing at the bottom of such q green and
having alternate puts at the hole.
they had no need materially to change
their positions, since the ball, having
evaded the. hole, rolled gently dowr
hill again TO the spot whence It start
ed and the hole was IN the end halved
BY mutual consent. It may be remem-
Eered that a somewhat similar incid-
ent occurred in the final match OF the
London amateur foursome tournament
little more than year ago, when, on
day OF piercing east wind and hard
CLASSY green's each side reached the
ttnth green at Walton Heath n one
stroke and each ultimately conceded
the other 9, half in i've. Greens 81
this character swere usually to be
found upon ,dpWnland courses, and
when at last they learned a Weif.merit-
cd popularity, they were succeeded
by something hardly less hateful.
nat green built out of the hillside.
having on one. sideaEA baCk-wa1l 81.
chalk and on the other aiprscipitous
drop
A Happy Medium. fsssss,fa So
tbs clear that tho undulating green
Is open to abuses; the hand of the de-
signer must be skjllful and the undu-
l9tions must not be overdone, lest
they become almost as irritating as
the old green's that sloped as. the roof
OF q house. There is a tendency. al
ready visible on one or two courses
to confuse that which is interesting
with that which a merely tricky. and
whenever player through no fault of
his own is confronted with a put
which is really impossible, where no
human skill can lay the ball WITHIN
less than six or seven feet Of the hole.
1t may safely be said that the bound
airy line between the two qualities has
been over-stepped. Again, the design
er has to consider all reasonable
kinds of weather, and the put that is
both fair and interesting in winter
may become farcial in an ordinarily
dry summer. Finally, there is an in
creased responsibility on the green
keeper, for 1t is possible by display
on quite ordinary stupidity in cutting
the hole Immediately at the foot OF a
slope to give to one man hopeless
put down hill, and to his opponent.
who has done nothing to deserve it,
q back-wall that shall double his
chance of holing out. Dangers must.
however, always attend the exaggera-
ton of any. good quality, and the
greater number of the undulating
green's of today undoubtedly add to
the legitimate interest of the game.