The Topeka state journal., 1922-09-12

substituted to disp-ace the tine hon
ored hickory shaft, in golf cubs, have
| since seen several substitutes placed
on the market. and while majority of
| the new things will as was to be ex-
! pected, be found wanting and in con-
: sequence bound to die a natural death
/ it is not surprising that something
/ worth VIII lie has been di covered. The
/ steel shaft, at first looked on askance
| by the Doubling Thomases, is taken
| seriously enough now.
Had it not been for the pointing out
! OF the actual difference between wood
| OF uncertain quality and steel, me-
| chanically perfect, it l. doubtful if the
| latter would even now be recognized.
| even in a semi-offic:al way. In the
paSt, the breaking of n shaft, taken
| more or less as inevitable and part
of the game, meant little in the life
! OF an average golfer, but not so nova
days.
If he is not at all conversant with
! the situation. he knows first. that
! breaking shafts are no longer an un-
| aVoidable evil, and secondly, that they
| are hard to replace. When using steel
! shafts the breaking menace is reduced
to minimum. but when a duplication
; is required it can be had scientific ex-
i actness.
! Apropos of repairs, one well known
! golfer IS of the opinion that this year
will see a serious shortage in golf ma
teriaI, unless the old equipment is
used. With tho reduction in manu-
facture, it behooves every player 10
make what he has last just as long as
possible. 81
Just before Harry Vardon won the
| last of the pre-wGr championships iii
| England. the sixth to his credit he
was driving SO badly that he scarcely
| knew what to do to remedy theBde-
! feet. The entire stock of his clubs fer
| sale failed to provide one in which he
had confidence. So he searched in a
| cupboard and brought out an old
| driver he had set aside years previous
! ly, because then it had seemed to be
to light and toylilke.
He played with this thruout the
| championship. and it is said tri-
umphed more by reason of the length
and straightness of his driving than
for any other cause. He was never
off the line and some of his tee shots
numbered close to 800 yards.
| Vardon has a ''mongref' iron club
which is his favorite. and which he
coEfcsses proudly is like nothing else
on earth. He picked it up in London
one day; 1t had no makers name on
it. but it was known to have come
! from America.
| To Vardon there is no club like It..
1t is nearly straightfaced; has a small
| narrow, almost delicate looking heS.,
and the face widens out until at e..e
nose it is deeper than a driving iron.
| He uses it for every kind of iron shot
in which he needs inspiration. No
one has ever been able to copy the
! club successfully, and Vardon has
been heard to say that his only regret
is that the weapon is not made of
some indestructible material, such as
steel.
Par golf is always expected from a
| Oh 0rY1y Ion %1xy foil
and in many cases even "super-par'
as the moving picture people would
| call it, is looked for. A champion has
| been heard to say that If there is one
| thing worse than not winning a ma
! ionaI title, it is winning it, as alibis
help out in the first instance, but are
of little avail in the second.
| When a golfer, man or woman, wins
| a big event thereafter he or she is ex-
pected to capture chief honors wher-
ever they play. Take for instance,
the case of Walter Hagen. the British
| tournament Walter competes in, If he
| does not lead the procession many of
his admirers are disappointed. In that
| recent exhibition match between Ha-
gen and Abe Mitchell. probably the
| best of the foreign players, nothing
could have been more childlike than
the assumption of most of the gallery
that Hagen must win from his OPP
| ponent, because of the fact that the
American was the British champion.
That Mitchell, despite the fact that he
does not hold a title, is in Hagen s
| own class when 1t comes to playing,
was not taken into consideration. The
| only thought that the spectators had
was that the champion would win, and
altho for a time 1t looked as tho Ha-
gen would prove disappointing-for
instance, when at the twenty-seventh
hole of the match he stood down to
Mitchell-still the "old fighting face
came to the front and Hagen won, 2
up and l to play.
In some cases a golfer who has a
| reputation is given a wide berth by
the medium players; or If the last
named class does try conclusions. the
/ champion has them beaten before they
| start. For instance, a few years ago
II was curious to watch Walter Travis
opponents in tournaments at the coun-
try club of Atlantic City. He had al
ways been partial to seaside events
and generally played fine golf there,
as the course seemed to suit his par
ticular style of play. There was a ma
chine-like way in which he went about
winning his matches that terror
lied his opponents As matter of
fact. eighty or even ninety per cent
of them were beaten before they left
the first tee.
The organist of one of London's
best known churches is a boy Of thir-