Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1916-12-26
ONE-LEGGED SOLDIER
Is GREAT GOLFER
Leading English Professionals
Give Remarkable Exhibition
Under Great Handicaps. y
DRIVING IS WONDERFUL

Correspondence of The Associated Press)
London, Dec. l5.-A remarkable ex-
hibition of golf, under extreme handi-
cap, was recently shown at the Sund-
rige Park course during foursome
in which the leading English pro-
fessionals were the contestants. Pre-
vious to the match in which Edward
Ray and James Braid we're opposed
by Harry Vardon and ]. H. Taylor.
in play for the benefit Of the Lord
Kitchener National Memorial fund,
Ernest Jones, balancing himself on
one leg, repeatedly drove the ball
for distances we'll over 200 yards.
Jones, who was the professional of
the Chislehurst club, had recently re-
turned from the firing line where he
had lost his right leg at. the knee.
1t was generally assumed that his
golfing days were over. Immediately
he was out of the hospital, however,
Jones was back on the links.
In the khaki uniform of lance
corporal and on crutches he made
his way to the tee from which Var
don and the others were later to
drive and gave one of the most
remarkable exhibitions the golfing
world has ever seen. Balancing on
his left leg, Jones drove his first ball
straight as the fight of an arrow
235 yards down the course. Not one
ball, but dozen, all flying as far and
as true as-the first. And never once
did he lose his balance. All the
rhythm and timing of the perfect
professional swing was there, and
many amazed golfers discovered that
form" is really the thing after all,
whether you are standing on two legs
or one.
- Will Do Better.
Jones naivelY remarked that he
hoped to do much better after he
gets an artificial leg fitted. So far he
has only been able to make a 90 on
his home course.
The spectators also witnessed some
wonderful play i'll the foursome
which followed. The match demon
strated that whatever may be its
other vicissitudes, war has not taken
a single ounce from the tremendous
driving smash Of Ray, nor has it
dulled in the slightest the keen edge
of Vardon's wonderful machine-hke
play. These two masters of golf
fought out wonderful match. Var
don made 90, ten strokes under the
standard for the course, but Ray was
a miracle man that afternoon. The
witchery of his niblick play finally
set at naught the wizardry of Var
don's woods and irons, and he round
ed out the eighteen holes with &C.
Braid and Taylor were more or less
eclipsed and it is no ordinary golfing
contest when players of their type
can be all but forgotten.
Classic Match.
The foursome had not moved be-
yond the third hole when the big
gallery, which included host Of
Americans, began to realize that what
they really were to see was duel
between Ray and Vardon. Yet Braid
and Taylor were playing magnificent
golf all the way through. Taylor
was trife handicapped by a sore
hand and had most of the bad luck
in the match Braid did some re-
markable putting. He was constantly
down i'll three or four, but Vardon
or Ray were always on hand to halve
the hole and share the honors. Once
Braid sank 30-foot put for two,
but Ray with an air Of supreme care
lessness ran one down from fifteen
feet away and took similar score.
The driving was always wonderful.
Taylor and Braid were seldom more
than couple of yards apart. Vardon
generally was ten yards in advance
of these two, but Ray, little off in
direction, always had from ten to
twenty yards the best of the cannon
aiding from the tee. 1t was four
some in which it took to win and
oftentimes two Ray made 3 on
a 454-yard hole after driving we'll
into the rough.