Honolulu star-bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1912-2010, 1914-05-08
GOLF GOSSIP

Long driving, or what Is consider
ed long driving, is very much q ques-
ton of comparative degree, says II.
III. Hilton editorially in Golf Illustrat-
ed. There are many players who
have the reputation of being very
long hitters but who in reality are
wooden club players of no particular
merit at least in comparison with
the big smiters who move In the
ranks of first-elass golf.
Many times have we been told OF
individual amateur golfers who have
earned the reputation Of being able
TO hit ball distance, which is well
beyond the average of the general run
of first-class players; but ocular evil.
dence of the prowess of these prodi-
gies has more often than not proved
that the distance they are able to hit
the ball with a wooden club Is not q
yard farther than the distance which
the average professional player q
able to strike It. Regulations 90 earn.
ed are more often than not due TO
the fact that the owners nave per-
force been playing the Triton
amongst the minnowb; and the length
of their drive Is in consequence many
yards farther than that OF the OPP
ponents they are called upon to meet.
That occasionally there are to be
met golfers of little or no fame who
are able to propel the ball an abnor-
NAL distance is quite true; and more
often than not it is found that they
are men with minus handicap. But
it is invariably to be noticed that they
represent a class Of player who at
tempt to make a speciality of hard
hitting, and in pursuit of this special
.ty will utilize every device lphysi-
cal or mechanical) that they can
think of. They will fit somewhat
abnormally heavy head to a3compara-
lively supply shaft, and thus hit at
the ball with an exceeding degree OF
ferocity.
The result is not always altogether
satisfactory. One can hardly expect
1t to be with the air of such devices,
but occasionally the expected wonder
HAPPENS, and the combination of the
heavy head, the supple shaft and the
application of force results in 9 spe-
,cies of Lost Chord" effort, and the
player either justifies his existing re-
putation Tor creates q new one) as
hitter of prodigious tee shots.
4 But from our own point of view we
do not regard the production of such
exceptional efforts as representing the
art of long driving in its truest sense.
This art is to be found in the ability
to hit tee shots, one after the other,
a distance far beyond the average.
And this can only be accomplished
with the aid of normal weapons and
a normal amount Of force.
Professionals Hit Ball Hard.
The majority Of our leading pro-
fessionals hit at golf ball with con-
siderable force. Indeed, to the aver.
age handicap player they would APP
pear to be guilty of pressing at their
tee shots. But degree OF force
which would represent pressing to
the average player cannot be said to
do so in the case of these men who
are blessed with such a wonderful
command of their clubs. The very
perfection of their style and methods
permits them to apply more than
average degree of power without TAX
ing the risk of disaster.
But that they can hit the ball with
even greater force than they are in
the habit of doing we are firmly con-
WINGED, though it is very seldom that
a situation arises where this extra ef-
fort is necessary. Nowadays one can
not accuse the first-class professionals
of hitting unduly hard. They certain
ly play more within themselves with
the present day ball than they were
accustomed to do with the gutta-per-
cha ball, in the hitting of which it
was necessary to use a greater de-
gree of force particularly the force
which comes from the body and the
feet than is necessary with the rub
ber-cored ball, which calls for sharp
and crisp blow with a comparatively
restricted body action. -
That somewhat the same methods
are employed, however, in the hitting
of the rubber-core as with the gut
ty" is evidenced by the fact that the
men who drove long ball in the old
days-men like Braid, Ray and Var.
don-are still amongst the very long