The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1916-05-22
~ JOHN e..

The recent four bali exhibition match
between four prominent amateurs at
Hackcnsack. in which II was claimed
that the poor showing Of n was due
to overgolhng. brings up tho question
as to the proper amoun Of play which
Is necessary for a golfer II he will find
himself at his top notch In his most i'm
portant matches. It is a question which
has been touched upon at random by
various writer's from time to time. but
the difference of temperament Of the
various golfers, "a we'll as the difference
In strength and environment, make 1t an
almost impossible task to treat cor
rectly.
To say that one Is ~overgolfed may
have two meanings. to my way Of Think
ing. II may be that the playing Of the
different shots day after day and week
after week. particularly IL success mas
crowned The efforts of the player. be-
comes such a matter Of routine that the
pleasure OF the play Is taken out OF the
game. which inevitably suffers. Few peo-
pie indeed there are who are poor play
crs or even medium In golflng calibre
who would admit to being overgolfed /:
this condition IL invariably attributed to
a crack golfer. when. after a series Of
victories. he finds himself unable to COM
pete with brilliance.
Then there Is the golfer who cannot
deliver the shots which brought him
former trophies, because OF physical In
ability. After a trying series Of matches
when tho golfer Is keyed up 10 a nervous
tension and tho muscles are made to
respond freely there comes the relaxa-
ton due to physical and mental mo-
mentary weakness. and II Is TO he ex-
pected naturally that ones game Will
sufer. Yet there are many golfers We
know. who. when they are IN the crest
Of their play. do not realize that from
that point they must for a time at le asst
60 down In their standard of play. More
often than not they believe that they ar"
OH a crest Of the golfing wave which will
carry them to further victories and more
brilliant scores.
better 10 ne COMING Forward.
II Is true. and always has been. here.
abroad and everywhere. that the golfer
who is coming on to his game with \
three. four or five day match contest
ahead OF him. stands a far better chance
Of winning than the golfer VINO is At the
zenith Of hts power IN the qualifying
stage. Very few titles have been won
In the various championships by the
winner Of the low gross score.
What Nre the symptoms which develop
when a player gets near that sage
which is reckoned as overgolfed? One
surely Is the interest which the golfer
takes in the game. One who is over
golfcd mo have the same zest or get
tho same plc asurc out OF a round over
the links as one who has not played SO
frequently. More often than not when
a golfers game begins to lag II is be-
cause "A too severe strain has been put
upon his eyes. Particularly 10 IL trr.
that a golfer gets in this "overdonc
state" when he has taken part in a
series of tournaments. and HAS had his
mettle tested severely. I speak of his
because 1t Is sometimes brought up that
professionals do not get overgolfed. d.
though they may play day after day.
There are "A number Of reasons for
this. ! might say at the start. how
ever. that one reason why professionals
do not Get overgolfed. as do the over
golfed amateurs. Is because they do not
play with as much frequency as these
amateurs. Probably eight out T every
ten professionals now IN this country de-
vote five. six and seven hour a day
{, teaching. and get in only an occa-
sional round. I doubt II there was one
professional in the open championship
At Baltusrol last summer who felt in
the least oveSolfed. Each man on the
way out to the inks and in the club
house was r~ccounting not the splendid
scores which he had made over some
curse. but rather I'll" Number Of les
Sons which \" had given per day for
the former weeks and months.