The Washington times., 1921-08-17

A star performer fighting for
championship glory is seldom carried
away by the idea OF a long drive.
The first thing that enters his mind
is the thought about direction, as the
placing of the drive is more important
on the modern golf course than its
length.
1t quite often happens that length
is really a disadvantage instead of
help, as long drive on the wrong
side of the fairway leaves an awk-
ward approach to the green.
The duffer. even in his widest
dreams, cannot conceive OF a drive
that travels too far, yet long hitters
such as Ted Ray. Abe Mitchell, and
Bob Mcdonald have come to grief
on more than one occasion through
a tee shot that has gone beyond the
safety limit and come TO rest in a
bunker or a trap or passed beyond the
opening to the green, leaving them
stymied behind a tree.
The thrill that attends an excep-
tionally long drive is born in every
American because he has played base
ball in his youth. and upon taking up
the game OF golf he naturally com.
pares the two games. The home run
that sails out far over the fielders'
reach or drops over the fence, insur-
ing free trip around the bases with
out molestation, is the biggest and
most important thing that one can do
in the national pastime.
The player that can consistently
produce these long swats. such as
our friend Babe Ruth specializes in,
Is regarded as the most valuable
man on the team.
Not Like Baseball.
1t Is little wonder that the Ameri.
can boy brought up on baseball is
thrilled by the mighty tee shot that
travels almost twice as far as the
baseball even when propelled by the
bat of the most terrific slugger.
When l was a lad in Scotland
Andrews links. we boys knew moth
Ing of Americas popular pastime.
Golf was our chief amusement and
there was no other game with which
we could compare long hitting. There
was no particular thrill to the drive
because we had become so used to the
distances to be obtained from the tee
that there was no novelty In an extra
long drive. We knew. also, that long
hitting was not of such great i'm
portance, but that 1t was the placed
drive that counted.
The greens at st. Andrews are pc
culiarly constructed. There Is an easy
route left open to the hole in most
cases when one plays his tee shot to
the left. A straight drive, no matter
how long, does not always leave one
In the best position from which to play
the approach. Every one that has
played st. Andrews knows that the
fairways are composed Of mounds that
were formerly sand dunes covered long
ago with grass.
A very long drive will often leave
one with an exceedingly difficult down
hill or uphill lie where anything but
mashie is out of the question. / at
championship partly to this knowl-
edge. and l kept constantly advising
the American invading party-the
pros who went over with me-of this
fact.
1 am not going to place myself on
record as saying that the long drive
Is not important in these days. nor
minimize its usefulness because there
is a great difference what club one
uses for the second shot. The player
who needs only a mashie shot to the
use a brassie has considerable edge In
match play.
An Ideal Combination.
do, however, want to impress on
my reader the disaster that often be.
falls one who presses for distance Just
for the sake OF out-hitting an OPP
ponent. This Is nearly always fatal
unless one IL blessed with rare luck
and escapes the evils that attend such
driving. The extra distance obtained
by pressing II not worth while. especi-
ally whom done at the risk Of topping