Evening star., 1919-09-25
GoIfing Temperament.

In golf the proper mental attitude
means everything. We frequently
hear of some noted player being
gifted with golfing temperament. Un-
doubtedly some players are endowed
by nature with qualities of mind that
gives them this temperament. But
certainly there is no BEGINNER who
cannot improve in this respect, and
few, If any. players who cannot acquire
a, golfing temperament. il they will.
BY goldng temperament we mean
principally concentration--the ability
to blot out of the mind any stage
fright" because Of the gallery, any
fear that the shot will be fooled be-
cause of it's Importance, any lack of
nervous control which is certainly
fatal to good golf play.
Ouimet Undisturbed.
Francis Ouimet is very often re-
ferred to as great player having an
ideal golf1ng temperament. Nothing
that happens in the course Of a match,
no matter how important. seems to
f1uster Francis in the least. When he
won the open championship against
Vardon and Ray it is an interesting
fact that his great achievement started
Off comparatively poorly, but he Gre
tainly finished it brilliantly. Francis
had to make the last four holes in the
match in fourteen strokes to tie Var
don and Ray.
In fact. he had to play the four
holes in one under par, and that in
the face of heavy rain which had
slowed up the course considerably.
view of the circumstances he faced
a real nerve test. Through his power
of self-control and concentration he
played the hole as though nothing in
particular depended on it, and holed
a one-yard putt which tied him with
Vardon and Ray. In the play-off
which followed this triple-tie Francis
came home in seventy-two, five to the
good over Vardon and six to the good
over Ray. This remarkable perform
ance topped OF feat which will long
be remembered in golf circles-name-
ly, the sinking of the twelve-yard putt
1t was Ouimet's mastery Of himself,
his mental attitude, that made this
record possible.
A golfer who misses a putt or slices
or pulls a drive and then Immediately
goes into the air will never become a
good player until he overcomes this
fault. The thing to do is to forget the
bad shot and center all the attention
upon the next play.
xOu iluSC cultivate commence In
yourself. You must believe that you
are going to make the shot, no mat
ter how difficult, successful. and this
alone will carry you a long way to-
ward doing it. Golfing temperament
depends too largely upon good
physical condition. When your mus
cles are in good trim they coordinate
readily and give confidence and pow
er of concentration which are so nee
essary.
Alec Smith an Example.
Alec Smith has several times
splendidly illustrated in his matches
the Importance of developing this
emotional control called golfing tenn
perament. Several years ago he came
to the last hole with a chance of win
ming the American open champion
ship. All he had to do was to hole a
putt of less than three feet. He
missed it. Surely that must have been
a very keen disappointment to him.
but IL 1t was he never showed 1t in
any way. because he had acquired a
splendid golfing temperament.
This missed putt resulted in another
triple tie. Entirely undfsturbed by
his failure. he went into the triple tie
and won 1t by a very comfortable
margin. To man less able to control
himself the loss of this last putt