The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1916-06-25

golf 10 not q lengthy one. the rules OF
the game are something OF night
mare. A statistican has computed that
they run to 1900 words. and as they are
all meat" 20 to speak. every scrap Of
which ought to 70 thoroughly disested
surprising that the average beginner.
generally decides to trust to Provi-
dence or his caddie to keep him with
In the law.
But It 10 to be feared that . great
many rules are broken every day for
the reason that caddies are either
ignorant or do not consider It polite
to critcise an iempioyer who may be
thinking o. giving q tip. An opponent
or partner. be he the most generous
hersted soul In the world. ought in the
oonmon interests TO draw attention to
any breach committed by the player.
but often II happens that he does not
know an infringement when he sees
one. and % both sides 90 on breaking
the rules till the end Of the round.
Particularly " this the case In re-
gard to the decree which says that. on
the putting green. any loose impedi::
Clause. gives perm,:.io a N for 'S SSns.
wormcssts. snow. and Ice to be scraped
pisyers-in britain. at any rate0do not
bother to dinerentiate. They scrape
nsreu fnyshof tn. ; .% ~ sna NOR r.
golfers. and not Of prominent players
who. in most cases, have learnt In a
school OF bard experience.
The conclusion that arises under this
head gives rise to all sorts Of arsu-
a ~ la NJ l1h AZ
be quoted an incident which occurred
when Braid and Taylor were playing a
foursome for 200 pounds against Dun
can and Mayo at burhill. near London.
a few years ago. On one green Taylor
with his putter-tne proper thing to do.
"stop" shouted the referee. They're
dry. 80 you must lift them He was
a maV WHO was supposed to know, and
really did know. a great deal about the
this 1t would be hard to imagine. How
ever. as he was referee. he had to be
obeyed. I think ne realized his mis-
take afterward, for when a little later
q similar situation presented itself, and
Or dry wormcss.s"' he looked very en-
barrassed.
One Rule 10 Better.
It would be much better to have one
rule on the subject. stating that loose
impediments could only be scraped aside
with q club. Certainly 1t u a good
thing that the old law. allowing the
line Of putt to be brushed with the
hand. has been abolished. for many
players used to brush SO diligently that.
In the end. they had the blades OF grass
lying all one way and something In the
nature Of gully leading to the hole.
In the early days OF the game. when
putting green's w were Tough rough. the golfer
no uncommon sight TO see a man ener-
geticslly beating the ground with q
club so as to remove irregularities In
the turf that stood In the line OF his
putt.
As the art OF greenkeeping developed
II was considered sufficient to give him
with his hand. But. in the course Of
time. many a player came to believe
that he had a perfect right to make
the putt. brushing every inch Of IT
with the nrmness and method Of q
clothes repairer engaged In cleaning
and pressing a suit. SO II was decided
that some loose impe6iments should be
picked up and others scraped aside with
sufficient considering the excellent con-
dition in which the average green y
maintained nowadays. 1t Is. indeed.
becoming the general mode Of pro-
cedure. although while the rule stands
As at present. II ought to be honored.
On the vexed question OF the stymie.
I feel as strongly as most people. The
person who plays a putt % badly as to
finish short Of the opposing ball. with
that article obstructing his line. deserves
to nave to tackle the stymie. But in
most cases II Is laid by the rival. and
then. think. the Intervening ball
ought to be lifted. II Is a sound prin-
c1ple OF the game that skill should be
pitted against skin. ana ! do not see
lowed to interfere with that Of another
any more than the individual himself
10 permitted to put his foot on the line
OF the opponents putt In order to create
an unfair difficulty. OF course, IL the
opponent likes to put his own foot there
Is his own business.
Bad Putt Is Cause.
In most cases. II is only a bad putt
by the rival that produces a styn,ie,
and It Is absurd that he should pron'
rrcm his m stake. II is sometimes ~
that TIE playing OF the stymie Is such
a beautiful shot that 1t is worth retain
Ing, even against the dictates OF logic,
Dut tHcTe 10 90 HiuSi
luck as anything In It. Some stymies
close to the hole are virtually unpl9y'
able. and II one succeeds in screwfnH
round or lofting over the intervening
ball, one always feels that one is doing
trick rather than playing a golf shot
When am stymied ten or twelve yards
from the hole. and the other ball 1,
near to 1t, ! generally try to hit the
obstructive bah. There Is not much
danger OF knocking II into the tin from
that distance. and the number of times
one steals past II ana holes out by fol-
lowing this plan is surprising. In any
case. by determining to hit the opposing
ball one does not often suffer the worst
fate Of all in such a situation-nnishing
short.
A rule which stands in need OF
amendment is that concerning out OF
bounds II is absurd that the penalty
be only loss OF distance when, for losing
a ball on the course the player has 10
give up the hole In match or sacrifice
penalty stroke as well as distance In
a medal round. The out-or-bounds area
Ia. el.t a. nd In, "a n