The New York herald., 1922-04-17
LIVELY GOLF BALL
UPSETS PAR TABLE
Beating perfect Play Becomes
Easier to Stars as Length
of Hole Increases.
ny KERR N. PETRIE.

In spite OF all the occular proof there
still are golfers who maintain that the
present day golf ball has added not
more than q very few yards to the av-
erage drive and that the added length
obtained by the rubber core over the old
gutta percha solid Is not more than
forty yards. Those who do feel that
what they see all around them in the
shape Of reconstructed golf courses
might with profit compare the old Calk-
line par table with that now In use by
the national and the metropolitan as
sociations. BY doing so they will find
that as long ago as 1919 the u. S. G. A.
found 1t necessary to overhaul the table
and to add twenty-five yards to the
par length sending the distance for-
ward from 225 to $50 yards
When the u. s. c.. A. resumed cham
pionship play in 1919. after lapse of
two years. there was a noticeable i'm
provement in the ball In any event
II was seen that in the year book the
distance constituting a par hole had
been changed from 225 to ESQ yards
And this change was made prior to the
which all readily admit travels much
farther than the one the u. S. @. A..
and the Royal and Ancient were trying
to restrict in fight. This 2J0 yard
standard for par . hole has also been
accepted by the Metropolitan Golf AS
sociation, as Is shown by the year book
of that organization. which Is now
making its appearance for the first time
In several years.
Na- IL t-se Il.
from 251 yards to AS. Formerly it
was from 226 TO 425. Par runs from
t46 to 500 instead of from 426 to 600
Holes over that length are as formerly
par 6. There is food for reflection in
this. These figures are not arbitrary
because the conhguration OF the ground
is not the same in every case, and II Is
easy to see that while one hole runs up
hill another OF the same vardage may
head downward. This woul,i @Nange the
par. OF course. But all things being
equal It is evident to the average player
that the par 6 hole must be the easiest
on the course, for IL one is supposed TO
drive 250 yards to the green so that
he can get down in two puts for n par
1t must be comparatively simple to
cover the remaining distance OF $50
yards in three more shots.
Considering lcr~th alone. this rar
business seems 10 become easier az the
distance increases. Take the par 4
limit. AS yards. a 250 ward drive
would leave 1875 yard brasrlc. Thcr
another such would put the player on
the green OF a go yard hole and leave
him two puts for his birdie >. Nova
days, of course. l95 yards IL a sweet
half iron. No wonder that the experts
are tearing par to ribbons almost every
time they start.
Hitting $50 yard shot must be moth
ing unusual or tho VI. 8. G.. a. and M.
q. A. would not require such a distance
as the foundation for the par hole.
And easy II is for such players as
Barnes. Hutchinson. Hagen. Evans. Gard
ner. Guilford and such. Give the stars
another good lie on the fairway and they
arc within easy mashie distancc OF par
5 hole on their third. Only when they
miss shot or get bunkered or miss n
putt do they get as high as par. They
have TO miss two strokes or get badly
bunkcred 20 soar above par.
But when they arc hitting them $50
yards each time down the falrway 60 a
hole not far beyond tho minimum dis
tame required for \ par 8, they have
little TO do TO get a birdie but put the
ball on the green with a simple mashie
shot They may take an extra putt and
get n horrible par. On the other hand
there is the possibility that the ball
will go down with the first touch for
an eagle.
All OF which seems TO prove that TO
the players OF the front rank. beating
par becomes an easier operation as the
distance lengthens. On tho other hand.
the hardest hole on the course TO get
at face value would seem TO be the par
3. and only because OF the fact that the
margin for mistakes is smaller. AS
often has been remarked par does not
mean much nowadays. There is room
for a thorough overhauing of the table.