The Washington times., 1915-10-18
VARDON SAYS---
Solid f0oth0d is essential to golfer
wh0 finds hlmsef in a bunker.
MaShie should never be substituted
for nibLick.

I object will be hurled out by the concu,.
sion; i will rise sluggishly without any
For the average shot. however, the lin
IL TO aim at spot an inch and a half
behnd the ball and to bring the club
down so forcibly that its head is buried
follow-;hrough.
| have said that the swing must be
upright. The reason is. ! hope, obvious.
| The object Is not to sweep the ball out
Of It's position; but to force it out by
behind, 1t. Consequently. what is
wanted is virtually straight up and
| down" swing which will dig the club
head deeply into the sand instead OF
position the player should turn his body
| well tu"ard the hole or the direction
| In which he proposes to advance; the
| stance should be even more open than
| that for the mashe shot. In raising
the club some of the weight is trans-
fcrred so that rather the greater part
! of II Is on the left leg at the top OF
I the swing and at the impact. II IL de-
! sirablc to throw the body forward 50
that practically all Of the weight Is on
| that leg at the instant of striking In
this way. will the forcible Dig into the
sand behind the ball be accomplished.
! IL IL uStPhS 10 ttlu'aNOF 10 ktpOD tne
ball out OF the bunker: moro often than
| not. that procedure will end In an ag-
| grayation OF the situation.
| on some courses. the bunkers are al
| most innocent of sand. They are
virtually ciay-pIts. and ms the surface
| OF the clay Is usually irregular, the ball
Is apt t. he cupped in IT rather than
| buried Here the tendency of many
| golfers If to try to play an ordinary APP
proach shot by cutting through the rear
| "dg" OF the cup and bringing the club
| mead into direct contact wit. the ball.
/ IT may be done in some circumstances,
! rat | am satisfied that where the gain
ing of distance is not of prime import
| ancc land 1t is never worth while sacri-
iicin. safety for the offchenCe of Sc
| caring n fairly long shoU, 1t is still best
| to trust % the stroke that sends tho
Huh-ho ad powerfully into the soil be-
hind tic ball. clay is often fairly
dense, but tn" club-head will go into
| 1t all right. The only difference from
! III" ordinary bunker shot IL that tn.
blow must be aiE,eG ably nearer
, to the ball-s1y. half or threc-quarters
| Of an inch behind 1t Then its power
viii not he killed by the resistance Of
! IL" clay.
To tho majority of golfers. long grass
Is s"urC" OF far greater trouble than
Il any bunker. Many there are who. " hon
! they get well into grass Of considerable
Il length and thickness. almost invariably
'hf' 1T l'dSl TWO sllbktS 10 regain the
! iNrwaN. they make 90 little progress
| ~ tn" first attempt that another shot
Il Is nearly always required. Tho rca-
son Is that they set about the task in
In" wrong way; In this case, 1t is no
| "" trying 10 bury tho Club-hoad be-
hind tn" ball. bccaus" the rank grass
viii hold It UP. Equally hopeless is It
to cndenvor to play an ordinary shot
by hitting directly at the ball. The
only successful method is to cut
Ia tl.
i or three inches behind the ball and
y tax" the bali In the passage OF tn"
! club-h"nd through tho vegetation Tf
y"n come down straight on tho back Of
IN" ball. tho roots Immediately behind
/ 1t Will he intact and viii prevent II
from rising sufficiently strongly. It IL
necessary to do little moving: to aim
several inches behind the ball and sWcep
tn" club powerfully through tn" herb
aG" so as to clear a passage to tho bal.
II is surprising what can be done in
this manner. The weight should hc just
about evenly balanced Mt the impact
| so that tn" Cluh-head may travel more
or less level with the ground for the
| r"uuist" period. ] need hardly add that
the shot must he invested with plenty
"f power: YOU start the club down with
IN" ordinary measure OF ease and put
your very heart into 1t as II nears the
| grass.
In whatever difficulty the PLAYER may
! Nv, Ilf SnphlI remember tnhV u ought
| nearly always to be possible for him
| to recover in one stroke. and that he
| should select the plan OF action with
! which he feels sure of achieving that
end. Championships have been lost
| through fatal yielding to the tcmpta
| tion to be greedy. In a match when
III" opponent Is near the hole with the
| like, 1t may be necessary to seize at
a forlorn hope and attempt the almost
impossible, but that situation does not
often arise In the ordinary wav. It Is
hest to make sure of getting clear In
ono stroke. even though you carry the
nnrrowcst possible match Of the long
grass and sacrifice distance in order to
reach the fairway or have to play side
ways out OF n bunker where n shot
In the direction OF the hole looks n
w"ll-niFh hopeless proposition owing to
the ball being ensconced right under
the face OF the hazard The moral
effect Of taking two or three strokes In
on" place Of punishment Is often con-
siderable. the number of complete
hr"akdowns that It has caused could
never he calculated
If you get clear In one. there IL no
very great shock to the system, even
though you lose the hole in match
| while, in a medal round. It usually
means the loss OF no more than that
one stroke 1t takes n real philosopher
to settle down after n lot OF beating
about In n bunker as my old friend
James Braid did In the open champion
ship. which he won at Prestwick in
l9m, He said at the end Of his third
round that he knew he had been guilty
Of tho mistake Of being greedy In try.
ing TO recover from tho vast cardna
bunker at the third hole with his
mnShc He took for the hole. Very
seldom has n golfer gone on to victory
after such an error as that
Copyright, 1915. by the Wheeler Syn