The New York herald., 1921-07-31
Golf Stars often Found
to Be Ignorant of Rules
At National Open Championship Many Players Ran
Their Putters Over the Line, and One Of These
Offenders Even Finished in Prize List
By JOHN G. ANDERSON.

ANDERSON.
I group. The facts that letters are given
to members OF championship teams.
that the game has been made major
sport have induced this condition.
In the play at Greenwich recently
the high spots were hit in golfing abil-
l,ty. The course is we'll trapped for in
different shots. has good long and short
holes. and possesses the finest OF put
ting greens. which aid In the making
OF low figures. Uneven strength on the
greens will send the scores kiting.
while confid ence is the portion Of all
golfers when each putting surface Is
the same in texture.
! Looking over the hong list OF tour
neys which have been OF prominence In
the last three or four years. there is
none which approaches the high excel
| lence of golf as exhibited at Green
wich. Two golfers had scores under
the 70 mark and four others making
par look feeble, running over a stretch
of from six to nine holes. Dean and
Walker, in particular. did not show up
the course. but they did show up the
excellence OF their own game. college
golf and the wonderful possibilities
Sweetser. Ward and Mckee had
stretches of lower than par golf. There
were a dozen cracking good golfers who
equalled or surpassed any Of the old
time intercollegiate champions with the
exception Of II. Chandler Egan.
This is very refreshing sign. There
was a time when college golfers cared
about nothing but a long drive. How
they did ply that wooden club round
their necks and break their backs to
get back Of the swing To-day it is all
| different. There is little or no over
swinging. The lively ball of course has
changed that to great extent. None
of the golfers to-day has quite such long
back swings as when the ball was less
active.
| To secure the maximum Of straight
ness, theory and practice insist that
complete control Of the clubhead be had,
and this is best accomplished by a swing
which does not go beyond the horizontal.
Many golfer to-day is using less with
expert results and no loss Of distance
due to new found timing which carries
the weight into the ball at the correct
moment.
Does Not Permit of Slugging.
The ball. therefore, does not permit of
that wild slugging which was once the
collegian's pride. 1t scurries to trouble
too easily and quickly. The care for
| straightness has brought about more at
tention to the minor details and the re-
suit has been rise In collegiate excel
lence.
1t is a fortunate thing for American
golf that this Is so. OF the great num-
Der Of stars developed rsse past few sea-
sons not 10 per cent. have been non-col-
lege golfers. Knepper. Mckee. Lowell.
Fuller. McMahon. Ward, Sweetser, Dean,
to say nothing of Bobby Jones and Pres
colt and a host of others who have be-
come prominent both locally and nation
ally, are lined up against non-college
stars such as Wright Harmon and few
others. The continued disinclination Of
clubs around the large centres of popu-
lation, except Boston, to permit the
young chaps to play golf at times con-
venient for them has brought about the
present status. College golf as We look
on 1t to-day is the hope Of the country
for championship timber.
In the New York section very little at
tention Is paid to the boys under II or
18. AS a result we find the Westchester
County Golf Association with an entry
OF less than score in it's junior cham
pionship with New Jersey, having room
for many more entrants But in Boston,
where the clubs in many instances per-
NIT the boys to use the links even when
their fathers are not members of the golf
club. there was a turnout well over
hundred. One boy had 72 and others
showed games well down In the seven
ties
This system has been in vogue in the
Boston district for number Of years.
and the stars. such as Raymond Outmet,
Freddy Wright Eddie Lowery and
others. who have been developed prove
that it pays Without this privilege
Fred Wright never would have devel-
oped to such an excellence that he would
have been the champion Of Massachu-
sets and later a sixth round player In
the British amateur.
Penn State Has n "Pro."
The hiring of an instructor by colleges
is only the matter Of few years. IL
that Penn State already has a resident
pro" with other institutions Of learning
about to adopt the same policy. A
parent sends a boy to college and the
latter takes up golf with an eye to the
future. In all other branches Of sport
the college furnishes an expert to ad-
wise or train the students. why not in
golf?" say not only the young men but
the parents.
We venture to predict therefore that
within FIVE years time there will be
nrty colleges and universities wnlcn VIII
not only make arrangements for the
play of the students at some nearby
courses IL the college has not a golf
course OF its own. but will furnish paid
instructors to initiate the newcomers into
the mysteries of the game. Then indeed
we shall see golf advance in perfection
How can 1t be made better? BY more
rigid adherence to style. by using
sounder judgment, by the early lessons
Of experience. by the higher standards
made each year. which became the
marks for attainment. and in divers
other ways which only teaching can
bring about. To minimize the pres
ence of faults will be the great service
to be performed by the coach. And the
standard Of American golf will advance
to the greatest heights.
Not until this year could that
prophecy be made. The international
flavor helped nightly to give tone and
standard. Competition Is the ladder to
excellence and the interest now manifest
in three hundred seats OF learning In
this country In the matter OF golf cur
riculum is good to see.