New-York tribune., 1912-04-01
NEWS FOR THE GOLFERS
Many Alterations To Be Made on
metropolitan Courses.
ADVICE BY AN 0LDTIMER
Much Money Spent in Vain Each
Year in Attempting to
Patch Up Greens.

with the arrival Of springlike weather
tne sof architects are getting busy again
In other words, they are PREPARED N c.rr,,
out plans formulated during "nine,..,,.
MOLE discussions when the nights No..
long and the snow deep. At sevaro, :,
the nearby clubs efforts will be mad ;.
stinen up the courses in the v,c,ri,r :,
the greens, or to put il plainly r,.ta
the approaches more exacting. Cases .,.n
! exist where new green's are bairo -.
the idea being TO take advantage ~ sor,.
natural formation Of the ground which
may lend itself to the work at hand IN
conversation along these lines last night
an oldtimer said:
The general arrangement of aoI,
courses these days. 1t is agreed sborId
make for complete variety Of holss M,
| only as TO length, but as To charaxts,
! The way in which they are bunkered IN.
kind Of tee shot that is required AZ than
and the kind Of approach all enter into IN.
question Putting greens should he very
we'll guarded in every case
The putting green's largely determine
the character Of the course. but the final
ha
green is properly guarded this is LACKING
It is surprising how many different Kind,
of green's can be made. and each with its
own particular feature Originality "a
we'll as golfing character should be the end
obtained
Concentrated wear will have a strong
tendency to keep a green always in
poor condition, consequently small green,
should be avoided All artificial undul,
tions In green should be so arranged
| that the cup can be moved from place "a
place, so as to distribute the wear and
without imposing an unfair kickback to a
we'll played approach shot
Where natural greens exist all bad un.
dulations should be removed until ther
gradients are long and sweeping; z herwise
1t will be impossible for them 10 each 4
high state Of perfection either from a sport
ing point Of view or that Of condition. In
remodelling an old course or laying out 4
rev one the main thought should be given
TO the proper placing or close guarding 4
the greens Whereas the player starts from
the tee in order TO reach the green. the golf
course engineer should start from the green
in order to place the tee. In selecting or
guarding the green the end sought is to
make it difficult Of approach from the
centre of the course and from a perfectly
played shot.
THE best green's for putting on are thoA
which are difficult. yet true. \ green may
be as fat as a billiard table and yet may
be untrue because of certain excrescences
4 fiat true green is desirable. but a true
and difficult one is even better There is
too much Of the element Of pure luck on
green whose surface is untrue
When hole is bunkered or generally
planned it should he with the specific OBJ
ject of making it necessary not merely 70
get certain length, but more particularly
TO gain A desired position, and the PLAYER
who does not attain this position should
have his next shot made more difficult Tor
him or he should be obliged 10 take Al
extra stroke TO reach the green
Stiffness and formality are points to ~
striven against in the construction Of bunk
ers and are of equal importance 10 that OF
bad placement 1t Is just easy 10 pro-
duce bunkers that will look Ike A natural
part Of the surroundings while still provld-
ing all the possible playing qualities Tor
which IL is intended. When a built-up face
is required it should he shaped TO have the
appearance of a low hillock, and not as an
artificial. perpendicular earth wall aoove
the sand and the latter should rise 10 vari-
Gus heights into the face or hillock. and
not 10 a uniform height. In shaping bunk
ers care should be taken that no small
pockets exist. no small N-shaped or any
other unplayable places occur. Room should
always be allowed for a player 10 have SUI
fcient freedom to use his club properly IN
any part OF bunker
Money is needlessly spent on SONS
courses. chiefly because of badly conceived
alterations or to misappled labor. Greens
and bunkers indifferently made, meaning
that a greater sum IS spent on their ~
keep. in patching them up and in making
alterations from time to time, than otneI'
wise would be the case.
1T is essential that in the constructor
Of new greens or in the remaking OF them
the work be done well and neither money
nor labor spared The first expense may
he greater but. like many other things,
able I'm seeking proficiency and usefulns"
that the green committee made the same
as much as possible, each year A chair
man should know something about turis
and course construction and have ideas Ia
his head. and he should be kept on tne
committee as long as possible"
over Philadelphia way the huntington
Valley Country Club is out with its sched-
ule. which includes several fairly i'm
portant tournaments June Il. IS and "
have been set aside as the dates for the
annual competition for the Lynnewon
Hall cup. which has been won frequently
by New Workers. The tenth annual open
tournament OF the Golf Association OIL
Philadelphia, open to amateurs ana piV-
fessionals I'm the United States, will DC
run off July l. and l3. Fred Guthber'
native of st. Andrews. has been engages
as the Huntingdon Valley pro
What is regarded i'm many quarters %
the biggest professional fixture OF the year
abroad is The News of the World ~"
tournament scheduled to take place thi'
season over the Mid-Surrey links on octo
ber >. and T. While no championship tte
goes with this fat purse, yet success ths''
is coveted almost as much as in the opeh
for the reason that the leading proiess''
ais of the world make it point 10 ha,
a try al this annual contest. James BRA"
won IL last year. with Edward Kay Hs
runner-up In that tournament ha'
yardon. the open champion, was put o''
BY Braid In the semi-fnal round aitef
sensational match