Honolulu star-bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1912-2010, 1913-06-14
GOLF GOSSIP

1T is q very nice thing to acquire
proficiency at golf early In life. and
the person Is fortunate who Is able
to lay the foundation Of q first-class
game In his youth
"One OF his advantage is that, In
after years. he needs little practice In
order to maintain his best form. Thus
when II. H Hilton went to Hoylake to
play for the Royal Liverpool Club
against the Oxford and Cambridge So
ciety, recently, he had engaged m
only q dozen rounds in as many
weeks. Yet he accomplished score
of 7s. and beat R. H. de Montmorency
by hole
"Similarly, John Ball had played
practically no golf at all for month
or two when he won the amateur
championship In 1910. He was IN
much the same condition Of deficiency
Of practice when he triumphed at
Westward Hol last season. Yet he
did not seem in the least degree TO
feel the lack Of training.
presumably the fact OF the matter
Is that the art Of golf. once learned.
Is never forgotten. Edward Blackwell
did not touch q club for some Eve
years when he was in California. He
came back and the first thing he did
was to secure the King William ~
medal OF the Royal and Ancient Club.
But the fates did not decree that we
should all learn the game In our early
youth. and there Ii no sense IN let
ing the above information. given BY
the World Of Golf. discourage N.
Even II we may never rival Mr.. Bah
or Mr.. Hilton. we may nevertheless
became a credit TO ourselves and our
club. The same magazine goes on
to say:
by the way. It Is interesting to
read In connection with Mr.. HiltOn'4
score Of % against Mr.. de Montmor-
ency that It was accomplished In
spite Of two stymies. Scores (espe-
cially good scores) are considered
proper and informative details for
publication IN connection with matches
decided by holes, and there Is good
ground for their PRONUNCIATION. since
they usually AFFORD very fair refIec-
ton OF the character Of the play. But
there Is considerable diversity Of me
thod in connection with their reckon
ing.
aThus 1t would seem that this
round Of 73 by Mr.. Hilton would have
been round OF n but for The two
stymies We do not know whether
he was stylnied when he was within.
say, two feet Of the hole, or whether
he was several yards away when his
opponents ball interviewed. Probably
the former was the case. inasmuch.
as stymie when the player Is
considerable distance from the hole
Is hardly worth discussing very seri-
ously. A golfer has the right to ex-
pect to hole yard putt, but Il he
has putt Of 10 yards and il stymied,
It is different. He still can lay his
putt dead, and It would be long odds
against his getting It down even II.
he had clear line.
'Tf Mr.. Hilton was stymied for
short puts, his score ought to be
reckoned as II. Figures recorded In
connection with matches are neces-
sarily approximate at times. but they
are intended to convey an idea OF
what the player might have done In
a medal round They are just scores
mo more and no less There are no
stymies In scoring contests; conse-
quently. as approximations have to be
made from time to time, the player
who cannot hole yard putt because
he IL stymied should be given the
benefit Of the belief that he would
have holed It but for the obstruc-
tion'