Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1916-01-09
ENCOURAGEMENT FOR BUFFERS
COMPETING IN GOLF JOURNEYS
Strong Nerves Absolutely Necessary to Win
But Stars Like Ouimet and Travers
Have Gone to Pieces Under Fire.
BY JEROME d.

BY JEhOME ~. IhAt EhS.
Our duffer friend. William Smith, de-
cides to enter an invitation golf tour
nament. of which many dozens are held
all over the country from April to jan
uary.
Smith knows that his best game is
not likely to beat an 81 or IS. and that
his average game is about SO to 80.
But he figures to himself that with a
90 or 50 he can easily get into the third
or fourth SIXTEEN and perhaps have
a chance to win in one of those lower
divisions.
When his starting time arrives he
walks up 70 the first tee, takes a prac-
tice swing, and then. as he addresses
the bail. suddenly finds that his nerv-
Gus system is paralyzed. There is
probably q gallery looking on tgai-
Ieries generally gather around the hrst
tee 10 sec the start). and poor Smith
feels Immediately that every eye Is
watching every move OF his swing. lie
is so anxious to get away a good shot
that he lifts his head, tops or smears
the drive, and then looks around long
iuEly for some hole to dive into and
hide. The disgrace is keen-ln his own
imagination. He has lost his nerve.
mas SHOWN In'tt ne VAS u HutNeSi ~
blowing up on the first shot.
or perhaps he gets away a good drive,
marches on iauntily after the bail, WITH
head up and cheerful heart. reaches
the green on his next shot, and then.
after laying an approach putt up with
IN two feet. misses. The chances are
that he will continue missing these
puts right along thereafter. if this is
his first tournament. TO" all confidence
will then have been destroyed.
For Mr. Smith. dufer, We nave a rev
words of comfort 10 impart. We may
give him a chance TO cheer up q ut
and to lose some of his depression
over an apparent lack of nerve under
fre. TO explain our point We will shift
the scene
Strain Hit a Champion.
We will shift the scene TO Summing
da,e. England. near the city of London.
Tie tournament under way is for the
st. Georges vase. one of the biggest
tournaments of the year. Out from
J.nGon and suburbs a crowd of at
least 1000 golf enthusiasts has come TO
follow two great stars. One OF these
stars is Harold Hilton, then British
amateur champion. The other is Fran
IS Ouimet, then American open cham
pior.
Ouimct already had proved himself to
be one OF the goling phenomena of the
Earlc. He had gone out against var
oon and Ray at Brookline before, and
with the finest nerve | nave ever seen
had beaten them for the American til
tie. Here. at last, everyone said. is the
golfer of iron nerve. the golfer VINO
doesn't know what. means.
For had he not played Nardon and Ray
of their feet without showing a CULVER,
without a break in his play from first
to last?
But the scene is now at Sunningdale.
With 1000 looking on, Ouimet stepped
up to the tee. The crowd was prepar-
ing to look far down the course to see
one OF those 250-ysrd shots leave a white
streak against the sky. Ouimet swung
Mt the ball. lifted his head. struck with
the heel of his club. and spun of a
shot. half-topped. through a portion OF
the crowd. 1t was almost a clean miss.
Why? Well. Ouimet said. shortly after
the match. that he was so nervous that
he could hardly hold a club in his
hand. And yet Ouinet, / know. has as
fine a golfng nerve and as fine a tenn
permanent for play as any golfer in the
game.
Another Nerve Shock.
For the benefit of MIR. Smith. duffer.
who deplores his lack of nerve control.
] might shift the scene again. The
leading actor oil this occasion is my
self. 1t was the night before the Brit
ish amateur championship at Sand
witch. | had gone over two months be-
fore to make ample preparation for
This big International event. | had
been playing the best golf OF my life
] had at least nine years tournament
experience behind me-. and | had played
In a British championship before. After
dinner / retired fairly early to get a
good nights sleep for the big test next
day. when | was to play my first
match. Eleven O'Clock came, but no
-1~-. --1 ~ -.sYl
awake. At ! O'Clock my eyes were
wide open and every nerve in my body
jun sideways. At : O'Clock the
next morning ] got up without having
sense as any alibi. II is merely a state
Inent Of fact. The long siege OF prepa-
ration. the knowledge of the impor-
tance OF the occasion, combined with
outside worries. had torn into my nerv-
GUS system with a crash that might
have been made by the shell of a six
teen-inch gun.
J was a beaten man before I alked
TO the tee, and beaten that early for
the first time in my lie. On the Sun
day before | a played Sandwich in
- trokes. my last preliminary round.
That day Palmer, the Irish champion.
returned an SIS. fourteen strokes worse
than ] had played twenty-four hours
before and vet this was enough to
neat by the margin of two. For I had
a 90, by all odds the worst round Of.
iN'a ~ ~ CT 1tllCI-
lean soil two months before. And yet,
before that ! had always been able to
play my best golf under FIRE.
encouragement for Dufer.
These two examples are offered by
way OF encouragement to Mr.. Smith,
suffer at large. For 7 can tell him
truthfully that no golfer ever lived
who was not harassed at one time or
another by a nervous upset that
wrecked his game. II is simple enough
TO call a man a gutter. But that ex-
frression would never be used II 1t had
70 come from a man who had never
lost his nerve or control of his nerves
In his life. There are no exceptions to
TINS statement. And by all odds the
most interesting study of golf is the
tudy OF golf nerves and golf tempera-
aent as applied to individual cases.
In the first place. just what Is golf
temperament? Is it power of concen-
tration? Is 1t mainly a lack of nerves,
or a control of nerves. or possession of
nerve? L have seen some of the nervi-