The Washington times., 1922-04-23
GOOD GOLFERS
WELCOME BACK
STYMIE SHOT
Hutchison Says He Can Teach
Any Player in Five Minutes
to Make Ball Jump.
BY JOCK HUTCHINSON.

thought welcomed the elimination
of the stymie ass move to lessen
the element of pure luck, deeper
students realized that 1t would
wipe out one of the best and most
spectacular features of the game
The latter class of golfers are
aware that, as matter Of fact,
the stymie is not all luck.
Golf, of course, is a game full OF
luck, good and bad. There are more
good and bad breaks in the game
than In any other sport unless, per-
haps, 1t is baseball.
There are times when 1t would
seem unfair to have an opponent play
his ball TO a position that blocked
your path TO the hole, but these cases
are few and far between compared
TO the number of opportunities that
a player, by some bad shot, paves
the way for a styrnie or stymies him
self.
II one is always up to the hole,
as every good putt should be, there
In little chance. II any, OF being
stymied. When one falls short Of the
cup or runs over he leaves an open
ing for his opponents ball to come in
between his ball and the hole. Few
golfers ever think of this rs their
own fault.
The Stymie Jump Shot.
In most cases what appears to be
q stymie is really no stymie at all.
In these days of undulating greens
the path to the hole is not always
straight, and even though 1t should
be. the skillful golfer, with a slight
hook or a slics, can run around the
other ball even though the latter lies
on the very lip of the cup.
There are three distinct ways Of
playing the stymie shot, and any
player with a little practice can be-
come proficient in playing any one
OF the three.
The most difficult OF all would ap-
pear to be the jump shot, but this
is really the easiest of all. can
teach this shot to any golfer In five
minutes, and I will guarantee that
II he will follow the simple directions
that i will lay down that he can
play the shot 4 dozen times in sue
cession without once failing to jump
the other ball
The stymie Jump shot is made with
a mashie and the shot Is made much
in the manner that one would MAXI
a scientific putt. The club Is brought
back in a straight line and then sent
through after the ball, picking 1t up
with the loft OF the club and throw
ing II over the other ball.
There is one great thing to be con-
sidered in playing this shot and that
is that the club must go on through
after the ball is hit. Any attempt
TO raise the ball with the club Will
meet with failure. The club should
be permitted to run along the ground
at least five or six inches after the
ball has left the face Of II.
Learn What Loft Means
The beginner should know what
the loft on a golf club means. When
one takes the midiron the club Is
lofted so that the ball will fly fairly
high out of all trouble. II he wants
a higher shot and a shorter one the
mashie is used, and still a shorter
one requires a mashie-niblick. IL
IL the loft Of the club that deter
mines the height and not the effort
Of the player to raise the ball.
Most golfers fail in playing a
Taashie pitch over water or a deep
trap because they make an effort to
hit the ball up instead Of permit
ting the club to follow along the
contour of the ground.
Try This One.
Take the mashie and a couple Of
balls and try this shot at home on
the carpet. When you permit the
club to run along the carpet and
thereby throw the ball into the air
YOU have mastered one of the best
shots in the game of golf, and are
on a fair way of learning how to
play all iron clubs.
There are few puts made on any
green that are not hooked or sliced
a wee bit. This is more noticeable
on sand green's such as they have
in the South than on the regular
grass green.
To make ball go perfectly
straight is a great art mastered by
Jew. II a golfer will study his put
ting he win find that he is missing
the CUP to the right or left, as the
case may be. because of a slight
hook or a wee bit OF a slice.
II is not a difficult matter to learn
20 make these slices or hooks with
the puttec, SO, therefore, 1t is quite
manner that II will run around any
obstruction. and an object so small
as a golf, ball should not block the
way to the cup.
No golfer would deliberately lay
another a stymie because II he were
skilIful enough to do that he would
be skillful enough to put the ball
into the hole every time from almost
any distance.
Lifting the ball on the green Of
fers too much temptation to the
players to improve their line of clean.
ing the mud off the ball when the
rules do not permit of changing
balls. don't mean to say anyone
would cheat. say II offers this
1copyright, 1s31. by Bell Syndicate, Incl
Hs-I~x~-s