The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1914-06-08

tempt MADE 10 Cllti-
else the players or
the courses IN any R--
mt a general way. JOHN q ANDERSON
because the game here was In such a
primitive state. Furthermore, at that
'u" Ntrdpu nor any one else could
frorhcsy how many improvements would
.- made in the decade 10 come. hut now
fier = second visit, with the subject stlil
fresh .u hts mind. he has given US the
rfid elections and Impressions con-
.errIrr the failure and the defects OF
American golf
Before dwelling at length on n few
'.ausNts suggested hy Nardon let me say
'ult We should consider that our golf has
reached fairly high average In the scale
rur fourteen years aEo We had little in
d.nd 'n the way Of golf courses that could
p. criticised. our golf then was IN too
primitive state TO demand even such 4
proceeding.
To quote q few lines from his article :
You have some Csod PLAYERS over here
but they are not trained To play the right
way Your golfer cannot PLAY q
proper game because his course IL not
right Tho greatest fault OF the
American golfer IL that he plays too much
for a pull He does this because there Is
nothing 10 stop him. for ne isn't punished
You can play any sort of q game over
here and make go NJ t. American
courses do not make for good golf
TT "a all nonsense 10 say that your
voung men are better players than the
middle aged man. You make hard work
- IN game You oyerdo IT, My advice
20 me American is to practise more than
10 plays
"rve noticed that number OF Ameri-
clns scorn golf form That is a deplor-
able mistake"
"Nost Americans lay the course Of their
h'll 80 they work in toward the hole from
ght to lctt Nine times out Of ten they
Mould work Goo from the left. for the hole
topography fayors the man who doesn' I
pull.
Americans are tho best putters In the
world and the Englishman Is the worst
The only way "A man can become
good player Is TO watch a good player
or consult a professional. There's MOTH
ing IN this teaching yourself In individual
style
you can blame your courses for every
thing, They are holding back your golf
RS Good judgment Is not used In trap
ping your courses. Where YOU have n
hundred hunkers on a course we have n
hundred on a hole Few Of your courses
have what We call character. You don't
Deralize enough our public courses are
the worst links IN the country. but they
are better than most OF the best private
links over here"
We'll there II IL. scathing. TO say the
least. hut before giving vent 10 a harsh
denial or an emphatic contradiction let
us face the matter and see whether Var
don has right on his side. one thing is
certain. Both Nardon and Ray had a
better opportunity 10 see what our courses
and players are because they PLAYED over
more links than probably will fall or has
fallen 90 the lot of any Of our own golfers.
Nevertheless 7 think that the case az made
~ u 60. tai
though believing that Il would have been
perfectly tru" two years back.
Nardun certainly whacks away NJ the
man who has this developed pull. He
SAYS that the courses are 10 blame, and
they slone. \ little later on in the ar
ucle he tells MS 10 go to a professional
and get advice from him Well, I have
.sen about all the professionals in the
and play, and nin"-tcnths of them play
'or pull. II was not until McDermott
played those three shots out OF bounds
over the fence At Muirfeld and had ana
ivred hia defeat that he set about chang
ny his STYLE ca that he could send the
ball straight down the course with never
q hook. He hasn't succeeded yet In to-
ally Graduating this evil. hut he never
would have finished In fifth place last
year In the British open championship II
he had not conquered his tendency 10 pull.
But my point In this Those PLAYERS
who have been taking lessons and those
who have unconscously adopted the style
o' The best players have had an example
Of the pull shown them in large quantities.
ana II IL no wonder that they are 10 az
llcted, However. no one blames the pro-
fessonal for adapting his game 10 the
tNigency OF the situation or the demands
o' the course. At the same time I can re-
member being told that there was no
drive so long or so satisfactory as the
slightly pulled ball, The reason. how
ever, was not that ascribcd by vardon
namely, the hole topography, Rather was
u because you were supposed to get yards
ilrth"r on account OF the long run which
pull IL supposed To generate. And this
II the reason, | verify believe. why many
golfers OF the present day strive for that
delicate hook \ fetishIlke idea seems IA
POSSESS their minds that "A great amount
~ added length IL gained. The real dif-
'"rouce comes when the shot finds a trnr
Or long grass that on some courses. the
seventeenth at Brooklne. FOR instance 1.
waiting for Just such a stroke
Perhaps II might be well to speak here
~ another point that Vardon makes III
says, YOU will remember. that the Ameri
cans play at the hole from the right to
ne left That sounds a bit strange wheT
W're * 50 much pulling going on. one
would naturally think that To play I'm from
mo lcf' would he the natural resultant
! can see of course that thls might b,
frl' sn far AZ short mashle shot wal
concerned, but II Is trilc difficult Il
reconcile the rest ~ the statement, for We
nave sp many holes reached in two. Our
courses are not bunkered to catch tn,
pulled drive. we will grant--that is. no
nearly SO much as they should he: bu
then we are told by Vardon that hole to
Biography everywhere favors the man whit
plays II from left to right, But enough o.
tbs Il all comes down 10 the truism
"lir'ctlnn first and then distance"
You can blame your courses foi
everything" There Is no doubt but thai
Nardon is right. although to the Is oil
- handicap man this would he poor nine
i"e0th hole consolation. But the trutt
viii ont and we might AS well face Il
hr'vely The facts Of the matter have
been known to many body OF committee
men composing the greens committee OF {
cub hut a boyle In the form OF the higi
handicap golfer has hindered develop
Ituts, The clubs are supported by tn
I'D and the bad players, aud unfor
'uuately the latter are In the majority
EVr years a feeling. which has almos
r-717 10 ne tradition, has been In evi
h"1ce everywhere that any attempt 4
better the course by the addition o
hlDkers, traps long holes or the like ha
been construed as n direct slap AZ thi
t1rd ~ high handicap men, who supper
M club.
NathinU ronld ha further from tho nc