The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1916-1920, 1919-08-24
Reason q Mental One.


The answer is not an easy one, but
we are inclined to believe that II is
wholly a mental reason, and that memo
ries OF past failures count heavily in
the score against the man who is ex-
pected to secure place in the coveted
We have wrung the confession out 4
Of not few golfers this past week
that they were thinking of the score
they should make on the hole following
the one they were playing, figuring out
what club they ought to play, whether
they would escape the trap to the right,
which on the last trip caught their
drive. and SO on. until they failed to
have sufficient concentration on the
stroke being played. with resultant fail
ure.
Some golfers confessed TO the "5s''
disease, which Is that a string of IS
somehow cannot be broken. II the ball
Is on the green in two strokes then
three puts are taken ana the golfer
begins to think OF a 80 score and count
his score when he manages to break
through at short hole by 80 many |
over or under IS instead Of the usual |
Is, which always makes a great DIFF |
ference in the windup count
This so-called five" disease Is as
disastrous to a players peace of mind
as It Is to his score. and it was fatal
to many a golfer who started of with |
a string of 5s and kept looking ahead
to the point where he could break
through the count, often times with little
success,
Bad Starts Hurt.
Then there was present the golfer
who let carelessness creep into his play, |
who gave up the thought of Qualifying
after a few bad strokes
One chap in particular we have In
mind who has been a State champion
and who was paired with g PLAYER OF +!
grester reputation and skill. In the
qualifying round the big chap slipped |
up on several puts which seemed easy
for others to make, and from the fifth |
hole on he lost all hope of ever get |
ting down In 2 and Just snapped at |
the ball with the putter. expecting to !
take puts and taking them every
time, too, until at the ninth. hole he |
found that he had a score just under SO. !
He was told that he could do better |
II he tried. but his confidence had van
ished into the misty air and all he said !
was:
IT can't go down IN two puts on |
these greens and that's all there is to !
It"
"All right" was the answer, but you
are putting or your partner and making |
him play moro carelessly than Is his |
won't" |
Got Mind or Self.
This statement hit the mark and the |
golfer with his mind on something other |
than his putt-the desire to be of as
sistance to his partner-bucked up in |
the qualifying round and came home in !
80. hauling his friend along at almost |
the same gait 1t was a mental matter |
with him entirely. for he had the ability |
Nerves get many of the players In |,
these qualifying rounds, even the best |
Travers when he stepped 'ut on the tee !
In the preliminary round said:
Il feel as nervous as a kitten about |
this qualifying"
Think OF the lion hearted Jerry |
Travers. five times an American cham
pion, speaking of nerves at time when |
all he had to do was to get into the
first sixty-four.
But Travers has nerves. Here Is
what Harold Hilton has to say about |
that:
what Hilton Says.
III had not been at the amatesr
OF 1914 I should have included among
the controlled and phlegmalic golfers
Mr.. Jerome Travers, and I still look
upon him as o. man who has wonderful
control over his feelings. But at this
particular meeting he was very human.
Never in the history OF the game OF golf
has there been a more dramatic break
down than in the match between Jerome
Trayers and the veteran Charles Pal
mer.
what happened at Sandwich? Well. !
he lost to an elderly sick man, simply |
for the reason that he completely lost |
control of his nerves and, peculiar to
say. nobody appeared to notice the rea-
son for his lamentable failure, not even
his closest friends who had seen him
play for years.
Il had not gone out with the match |
as, considering that Palmer had lum-
bago. / thought II would be a mere cake
walk for the youngster. Eventually I |
strolled out to the ninth hole and was
told that the old. sick man was making
a great fight OF II and was only one
down and that Travers was putting
badly.
Something Wrong.
'I could not help but think he was
toying with the veteran and not even
exerting himself. but at the fourteenth