Evening star., 1915-12-19
TICKLE GODDESS OF LUCK
ONLY SMALL PART OF GOLF
Open Champion Claims That Ability Un-
doubtedly Succeeds Above Any Other
Factor In Old Scotch Game.

given Ray the championship that year.
His tee shot caught the trap, and when
he came to the ball it was not only up
against the side of the bunker. but was
lying deep In a heel print Ray Is
| master of the niblick and the one he
carries is more like a shovel. But even
with this doughty weapon he was un-
able to dislodge the ball, and at his
second vain shot he saw the champion
ship pass on beyond. =. -...-..
A few minutes later on Hilton, with
a to win at this hole after Ray had
| Identical spot, and he found lodge
ment in heel hole that looked as IL
some one had blasted out the spot
Hilton. too, was unable to get out and
lost his chance.
In both cases, you say, this was the
result of poor tee shot and not Of
nard luck This is only partly So Nine
times out OF ten Ray would have been
aole to play out from any trap with
the loss Of only that one stroke. Rnt
one poor shot cost him at least two
more, which is heavier penalty than
Dame Fortune should ordinarily re-
Quire.
creeper Cost Championship.
Perhaps no one has harder-luck
case to cite than Jack Hobens. the En-
glewood. n. j., professional.
One spring Hobens played in the
North and South open championship at
| Pinehurst. Over the full route he fin
ished in tie with Alex Ross. The
| play-on followed and nearing the fin
ish Hobens was stroke to the good.
At this point he hooked his tee shot
to the edge of the fairway, but the ball
was resting where he had an easy iron
shot to the sand green.
As his club came back the shaft or
blade struck vine somewhere in the
rear, and it so happened that this par
ticular vine had an almost invisible
creeper attached which rested directly
under the ball. The result was that the
ball was jostled out of its position,
costing one stroke. and Hobens then
missed it completely, costing another
for when his club head came in to the
ball the aforesaid ball was several
inches beyond its original position.
This attached creeper cost Hobens the
championship and all through no fault
or mistake of his own.
Another Englewood golfer with a le-
gitimate claim to hard luck is Oswald
Kirkby. metropolitan champion.
In 1911 the Metropolitan open was put
on at his club. Kirkby was then play
ing brilliant golf. with good chance
to win. He had recorded a round OF
So and was either leading the field at
the time or within a stroke of the top
Coming to the twelfth hole he had IL
chance to break 20 again and take the
lead by safe margin. This hole is
only 800 yards long-an almost sure
and an easily possible 3. as Kirkby was
playing. He hooked his tee shot here.
and when he came to the bali found
that 1t had rolled into a crevice in IL
:. stone ledge to the left of the course.
1t probably was the one spot within
radius of twenty yards that would
hnn orA c14
kirkby finished he had required eight
strokes and his chance for the cham
pionship had passed.
Hard Luck Turned Into Good. 3.
All luck, however. isn't bad luck.
When Jamie Anderson was playing in
the British open at st. Andrews one
year he teed his ball and stepped up
! to play an iron shot for the green. AS
he was making his preliminary adj
dress small urchin standing by called
out. Hey. Jamie-yere outside the
disks Anderson looked and saw that
the urchin was right. Moving the ball
back to its proper location, Jamie then
proceeded to hole out in one shot. With
that break in his favor there could be
only one answer--he won the cham
pionship. i
In a tournament at Apawamis two
golfers of fair ability were playing 4
practice round the day before scheduled
proceedings were to begin. Near the
finish one Of them, swinging. a mashie.
struck the others knee and left deep
cut. The injured player was carried
/ into the clubhouse bewailing his hard
luck. The next day. limping badly, he
entered the tournament just to get in
n round Of golf more than anything
] else. At the start he was still COM
! planning Of the hard blow fate had
struck him. To his great surprise and
the surprise of others, he not only
| qualified in higher fight than he had
ever figured on. but he emerged the
| the best rounds he had ever played.
The answer Is that his supposedly
hard luck had been good luck. After
his accident he was forced to take an
and as result he kept straight down
the course. He had to play safe rather
! than take a chance on any long shot.
and so through the margin of an in
jured knee he did better than he had
ever done in his golfing career.
| In the main most golfers will find
that luck pretty well evens up. The
trouble is that the golfer win rernem-
and jumped out or the bad lie which
cost shot. forgetting the topped
mashie that ran dead to the hole or the
topped brassie that jumped through Il
bunker and bounded merrily upon the
green: He will remember the short
four-footer that trimmed the cup. but
will make no mention of the thirty
footer that dropped in with resound-
ing cluck and saved from one to three
carry that just caught the trap, for
getting the poorly played blow that
just stopped short of trouble.
| There Is plenty of luck In golf. good
golfer is the one who takes both as
they come, all as a part OF the game.
tCopyyjght. 1915, by Doubleday, Page q Col II