Honolulu star-bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1912-2010, 1915-06-30
News and Comment
Written by Experts
GOLF GOSSIP
By HARRY VARDON.~
1.-THE British Champion }

e
tours in the United States. that Amer
lean golfers are better holers-out than
British golfers. Taking the general
standard, they are. not yet so good in
ether departments of the game. but
they are the cooler on the putting
green's, and, after all, absence OF anx-
iCty is the chief essential OF success.
Whether il is that they possess the
better temperament for this dainty
part of golf, or that they have not
played long enough to appreciate how
dreadful a DOGGY it may become,
do not know. At any rate, there is
the condition of affairs as it appeals
to me at the present time.
Without doubt, successful putting is
mainly a matter OF confidence, and
that several great golfers fail to win
championships by reason of this weak
ness is probably due to the fact that
they have never gained complete con-
fidence in their ability 20 get down
four-foot putt.
Developed New Nerve. j."
For many happy years it did not
SO much as enter my head that |
could miss a short putt except as the
result of carelessness. Then i struck
a bad patch in this hitherto simple
business. The result was that i devel-
oped in my right forearm nerve that
puzzled a good many medical friends,
and subjected me to indescribable
mental torture Whenever / prepared
TO play short putt Git was only close
to the hole that had any trouble, SO.
that the affliction must have been
born largely of imaginaticn) | would
wait for that nerve in the right arm
to jump. The instant / felt that it
was about to start ] would make a
dash at the ball in desperate effort
TO be in first with the shot, and what
happened as a consequence Of this
haste may be readily imagined
Last spring the jump left me entire
ly for a month or two, and whenever
anyone asked me how | was putting /
touched wood before explaining that
all was well-so far Early in the
final round of the open championship
at Prestwick, in June, the wretched
thing suddenly reasserted itself i
felt the jump with a thrill of appre.
hension that is far, from being pleas
ant memory. Anyhow, the main point
was not to let my partner and only
formidable rival at that stage, j. H.
Taylor, know anything about it.
Tried to Keep II From Taylor.
He was as well aware as ! that if
the distress became serious could
miss puts down to six inches; it was
strange to be walking along obsessed
with the thought that not the small
est inkling of this development must
be allowed to reach Taylor's ears, lest
it should stimulate him to believe, as
almost certainly 1t would have done,
that he had me as good as beaten. |
Perhaps it was. just this diversion
from the knowledge of the possibili-
ties of the Jump" itself that enabled
me practically to overcome 1t and to-
struggle home first. /
His Most Trying Test of Nerve. !
AS test of nerve. that last days
play at Prestwick was far and away
the most trying that can remember. |
That we two should have drawn ahead
of the other competitors, and then
been drawn together for the final
rounds. was in itself sufficient to agi-
tate either of us to the utmost. That
we should be struggling for the honor
Of sixth victory in the championship
teach of us, and also James Braid, |
having won five times previously fill
ed the cup of excitement to overflow
ing. / know played one shot without
seeing the ball at all. 1t was buried
in fine loose sand in a bunker to the
left of the eleventh green, and close |
to the face of the hazard. The sand
was scraped away from the top of the
ball, but it was so loose that it closed
over the object again. ! could not
wait; / swung, guessing and hoping,
and fortunately hit the shot all right !
That was an exceptional occasion;
in the ordinary way. bear constantly
in mind the conviction that the best
way to win an important event is to
play just as one would play private
round at home, and not endeayor to /
accomplish the performance of life
time. There is such thing as try
ing too hard. 1t begets anxiety, which /
is usually fatal was guilty of it in
the United States open championship
at Brookline, Mass, in 1913, and paid
the penalty. That was lesson shall +
never forget. -.