Honolulu star-bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1912-2010, 1913-11-15
GOLF GOSSIP

Fashions and phenomena In golfing
! methods are in constant process OF
slow transition, and a distinguished
player to whom was talking this
week, writes the golf correspondent
Of the Yorkshire Post. expressed the
opinion that we had at length reached
the time when the flat swing had
gone completely out Of Yogue-at any
rate amongst first.class golfers. The
flat swing may be said 10 have en-
joyed its heyday. during that period
when st. Andrews, and st. Andrews
alone. was. held to stand for every
thing that was good in connection
with the game The delightful city in
Fifeshire Is still shrine. stilI hal
| lowed by its associations, still q per-
feet place for holiday in the spring
or the autumn, before or after the
donkeys and the roundabouts assume
supremacy; but. by the golfers OF q
practical age. ii Is considered q bit
old.fashioned-and all the more like
able for that reason. When, in the.
"nineties," courses began to appear
ia profusion In the south, they were
made to consist OF Is holes Tor half
! that number1, simply because st An
drews had Is and st. Andrews was
the model for everybod.
So 1t was with the golfing swing.
For long while the St Andrews
swing commanded whole-hearted ven
Grafton Briefly. its feature was the.
way in which the player swept the
club round his legs, so to speak, IN
til he could keep 1t flat no longer.
Then up 1t went with magnificent
the executant had his body twisted
and his legs bent into shapes that
limited splendid suppleness Of limb
and muscle, but q grave danger Of
loss Of balance. The modern race of
golfers is considerably eaImer and
more economical in the expenditure.
of IT'S energy. The old st. Andrews
swing is not extensively practised at
the present time, and even the men
who learned IL in its native fastnessI
and afterward went out to WIN fame
in the golfing world have exhibited
patient desires to try and forget how
they used to swing.
Take, for instance, Laurence Ayton,
who. Of all the men who have changed
from amateur to professional during
recent years, seems to be the most
likely to become an open champion.
When, in 1907, he took part In the am
ateur championship and lost 40 the
second round to G. a. Palmer, he roas-
ted the ST Andrew,s swing with u
vengeance. There Is little trace OF It.
now In his style and It is an interest
ing fact that, during the last few
years, since he modified his swing, he
has been eighth, sixth, fifth and fourth
in the open championship.
James Braid's swing was a great
deal flatter a decade ago than 1t is at
the present time; 1t has been getting
rounder ever since Braid, however,
is a. wonder in his way of welding
club. He does not appear to take it |
back more rapidly than the majority |
of leading golfers, but the body move
ment at the waist is certainly quicker /
than than that of any other celebrity |
whom one can call to mind. 1t Is not
a matter of merely screwing at the
hips during the upswing; at certain
stage he seems to wrench his body /
round with suddenness. The most
obvious defect of the flat swing is that |
it means starting the club one way
and sthen setting off on another route
in order to reach the top. Perhaps, /
with the gutta-percha ball, there was q
greater incentive to have the club on
the move as long as possible while the
player WIS gathering strength and
confidence 20 hit with all his might.
Accurate timing is more important
than hefty hitting where the modern
ball is concerned, so that the inclina-
ton amongst the people who study
these matters and profit or lose by
their experiences is to make the swing
round and not too full. +