Honolulu star-bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1912-2010, 1914-09-23
GOLF GOSSIP

Herelis an excellent hint from C. b.
in the World Of Golf on the Judging of
distances. Some people seem to have
what a witty writer on golf called the
new, sense"-that of Judging distances.
To those who are nos so fortunately
endowed these few ideas viii doubt
less be of USE. s
A problem which is continually be-
fore us, always presenting fresh, If
ficultfes and causing good deal Of
anxiety, is the Judging of distances.
Continual practice is perhaps thg best
method of improving ones judgment,
but there are possibly a few other
ways which can be of some assistance.
Z Most clubs issue score cards with.
the length of the holes given more or
less accurately. Study the card at
your home course, and get to know
exactly which club to take for the
short holes under all conditions of
wind and hardness or softness of the
ground, and also the one to use for
the second shot at longer holes, as.
Stunning that a normal length tee shot
has been hit. 1t is as well. however,
to ascertain whether OF not the. lengths
are correct; If not, agitate to have.
them properly taken by surveyor.
When playing on strange course,
secure card giving the lengths of the
holes, so that by comparing these with
the holes OF home a very good idea
of the best club to take can be arrived
at. 1t is just as well to find out from
which tees the measurements are TAX
en-. as quite often there is a set of
tees some distanct further back, which
are used only for competitions Tor
matches, and as q general rule the fig
nres are based upon these lengths
With all due respect to those in charge
of the management of a club, 1t is
perhaps advisable TO point out that
there Is tendency to give slightly
exaggerated version of the measure
ments SO that the course may appear
as long as possible, and it is thus as
web to be prepared to find the holes
little shorter than the number of
yards stated on the card. The best
method of arriving at the lengths is to
measure from the middle Of the CON-
petition tee to the middle of the green,
but Judging by one or two little exper-
fences ] have had, il would appear
that this is not always done.
A truly excellent rule is to take the
longer club when in doubt, so that
should the judgment be at fault, and
the stroke not be played quite cor
rectly, there is always chance Of
finding the ball on the green. The
only time when this rule does not APP
ply is in the event of there being
serious trouble on the far side of the
green, such as ditch, deep bunker,
long grass, or any ether hazard likely
to cause trouble.
i remember very distinctly how a
certain well-known player used, in the
guilty ball days, when playing in a
very important event, to walk ahead
counting his steps, ur-il he was, as far
as he could estimate, halfway between
his ball and the hole In this way he
was able to decide which club would
be suitable for the distance Owing to
the greater length that the modern
ball can be hit, this idea is. now
scarcely practicable, but it might oc-
casionally be adoDted by anyone in
doubt concerning the best club to take
for particular stroke.
Perhaps the best method of improv-
ing ones game, both in judgment and
the development of the strokes, is to
play on as many difference courses
as possible. Even If they are bad
courses. it does not matter from the
point of view of Improvement, in fact
it is in many ways excellent practise
to play under adverse conditions.
Germans. Hungarians. and Latin Rou.