The Washington herald., 1922-07-18

Some days ago we put this query
up to Walter Hagen, holder oil
almost every golf title at one time
or another ever invented-'Isn't it
true that the grearest uinerence be-
TWEEN a star and an average golfer,
in a scoring way, is the compare
tive difficulty each has in getting
out of trouble? Where you would
waste only one stroke, or no stroke
at all. from the sand or the rough,
the duffer might easily lose two or
three"
That Is true in a way" Hagen
said. But only in a way. In the
first place, when We are OFF line we
have geenrally carried the first
bunkers, and so are penalized by
the rough. Take hole from $50 TO
400 yards in length. If l hook or
slice to the rough, l am generally
240 yards or so on my way. From
this place I can get home with
mashie niblick, ordinarily. This
means I can get home without any
penalty, as II is no great trick to
get out of the rough with this club.
But take the average player
when he gets in the rough he is
usually a long way from the green.
He doesn't want to lose a stroke,
so he tries too hard to make up
the distance. usually taking the
wrong club. And the chances are
he will still be in the rough, be-
cause he has either lifted his head
or has overswung.
Getting Out of Trouble
Most golfers go at the business
of getting out of trouble in the
wrong mental attitude. They are
pressing. mentally. before they even
get to the ball. They have an idea
some extra physical effort is need
ed and that they must swing with
everything tIey have. They grip
the club so tightly there is no snap
left to the wrists.
What they should do is to grip
the club even lighter than usual.
They are now facing a shot where
the wrists are badly needed for the
flick or snap. They should make
up their minds not to try to tear up
all the heavy grass in sight, for the
big idea here is not to kill the ball,
to slog 1t out. but to catch is as
cleanly as possible-a stroke call
ing more for delicacy than anything
else. This means that the body
must not be swayed. the head must
be held still, and, more than all, the
body must not be thrown in ahead
of the stroke, one of the most COM
mon of all mistakes in getting out
of truble.
Out of Bunkers.
The same is true of a bunker
shot - Haran continued ,oo f,
idea here among so many seems to
be that the club must be gripped
with all you've got, to be followed
by wild swing in the general di-
rection of the sand around the ball.
Now, bunker shot must be hit
at just the right place beck of the
ball. 1t Is another delicate opera
ton. So when one gets into
bunker the first thing he should do
Is to see that his feet are firmly
planted and are not going to give
way in the sand during the swing
he should then grip the club light
~, 10 allow the wrists full play.
The next point is to aim for a spot
Just back OF the ball, and then to
MT firmly, but not too hard. with
the body kept fairly still. II the
BODY gets into this stroke, or the
shoulder dips after the club head,
there Is sure to be a miss. In other
words. don't try too hard. You are
not supposed to empty out all the
sand In one stroke. II the blade of
the niblick Is flicked in or snapped
at the right place. the ball is COM
ing out.
L. frrRr
that idea of over-effort in getting
out of trouble-the feeling that you
must hit extra hard or must do
something beyond the ordinary
Watch a frst-class golfer playing
from trap and see how simple and
compact his stroke is. how little