The Washington herald., 1922-02-05
some Master shot Players.

Golfers around the country al
ways seem deeply interested in dis
cussing the finest shots Of the inner
they are better than others and who
the leaders are.
There is. of course. no man who
excels with every club, although l
suppose Harry Vardon came closer
to this point than any other. But
even Vardon has been a bad putter.
off and on, and no one could say
that he is a finer mashie player
than Taylor or better with the
spoon than George Duncan or
Harold Hilton.
American Amateurs.
In this article l am going to re-
strict my comment to the play OF
leading American amateurs.
In my opinion the finest wooden
club OF the lot with driver, brassie
and spoon IL Bobby Jones.
Jones not only gets both distance
and direction in a fauitless way.
but he gets both without apparent
effort
And ms form is so correct that
he can rarely wander into faults
The chief feature of his wooden
club play is the perfect control he
has over head and body.
The body. firm but never rigid,
comes in exactly at the right place
back OF the swing.
There Is no body effort in this
swing where the weight is perfect
ly distributed. So he can keep a
long ball straight.
Jones also has discovered the
value of the spoon, a club he uses
with telling effect.
II he has any fault with q wooden
club / should say IL was the matter
of sometimes hitting too quickly
through an overkeenness. which is
only natural in a boy of nineteen or
twenty.
Iron Players.
Day in and day out 1 should say
that Chick Evans is the surest
iron player we have among the
amateurs.
Francis Ouimet and Bobby Jones
will be just as spectacular and most
of the time just as good.
But their average with the
mashie, midiron and driving iron in
getting the ball close to the pin
won't be quite as high.
Evans has almost perfect rhythm,
firmness and crispness without
straining for the stroke.
At St Louis in the last amateur
championship. even when his game
was somewhat off, his iron play
was the best of the field. On his
long iron shots the ball moved
steadily straight for the pin. He
might have been short or over by a
few yards. but his direction was al
most perfect.
Jesse Guilford. although only an
ordinary mashie player, is one of
the best with the longer irons.
Guilford has the physical power
to hit an iron shot 4 long way with
out effort. His powerful wrists and
hands. just as in the case Of Walter
Hagen. are a big advantage here.
He doesn't have to kill the ball to
iron.
short Game stars.
There was a time when Francis
'Ouimet looked to be the successor
to Travis and Travers around the
green's.
But at present it begins to look
as IL Guilford had taken this honor
away from him.
Guilford can pay almost any
type of shot around the green. He
is a master of the chip shot just OF
the green's edge, very fine at the
short niblick pitch over q trap and
finer still when il comes to putting.
Few golfers hold their bodies as
firmly as .Guilford does in going
after a putt, his touch is usually
good.
Consistent putting seems to be
the weakness of most amateurs. 1t
is certainly the most erratic part of
the games of Jones and Evans and.
lately, OF Ouimet, who in the last
three amateur championship starts
at the Engineers, Hoylake and st.
Louis putted very poorly, losing.
where he once was strongest No
one could imagine Ouimet, a few
years ago. taking three puts in
the last four greens, as he did
against Johnston a tSt Louis
Bob Gardner is good and bad
around the green. and the same ap-
plies to many others high up in the
list. w. c. Fownes, jr., is probably
the most consistent player among
all amateurs from the edge Of the
green to the cup, as long as he isn't
physically worn down by everyday
in a big tournament -,
- ~
In a thirty-six-hole match there
would be little difference among
Evans, Jones, ouimet and Guilford-
One would be almost as likely TO
win as the others. the first three
being a trifle steadier than Gdil-
ford up to the green, but losing
their advantage around the pin. l
believe these are now the four best
amateur golfers in the United
States, II not in the wfrld. Gull