The Washington times., 1922-08-04

IN tue tirst place, these'pros point
out, the galleries do affect the play
ers' game. Regardless Of how con.
vinoed q player may be that he Is
obliyious to MISUNDERSTANDING
10 the crowds because Of experience
with them-he only deceives himself,
since great crowds on the course
during championship play divert the
players mind either consciously. as
often happens, or unconsciously.
When the galleries become tre-
mendous, as they were at Skokie,
the fairways are narrowed by a hu-
man. colorful wall on either side
which the fiagmen are unable to
hold In check and back to tho lines
that should be maintained for the
lining the narrow margin in which
the driven ball must fall puts the
player to a greater and greater test
Of accuracy. and constitutes an addI-
tional mental hazard, TO say the
least.
banked up with gallery crowds SO
that the players Judgment of dis
tance Is upset. Instead Of shoot
ing his ball at the green. he In In
the position Of necessarily driving
IL directly into the faces OF several
hundred men and women. Once
on the green he comes within hear
ing range Of the REMARKS Of the
gallery crowds, which become so
large that golf etiquette In In some
degree lost sight Of.
I know full well that many a time
I have putted when ! was distinctly
conscious Of talking and movements
Of people In the gallery at the edge
Of the green. I. have tried TO make
myself immune to such disturbances,
but II simply cannot be done. The
eyes will see and the ears refuse to
be deaf at will.
The factor which the pros point
out with greatest emphasis. how
ever. Ia that the galleries flock to a
few OF the better known players,
leaving all the rest undisturbed. II
10 . fiction that star golfers enjoy
attracting galleries. The expert
player usually plays his top game
when he 10 alone on the course, ex-
cept for his opponent.
Take the playing Of Jock Hutchin-
son at the Skokie tournament. Jock
shot seventy-two holes of the diff
cult course In 1855 while a handful OF
people looked on. Immediately the
news Of this spread, so that when
he teed off In the championship
flights, II looked almost as IL the
population Of Chicago turned out to
watch his playing. Under this added
strain. Jocks game blew up. Jock
doesn't say 80 himself. but others
with experience suspect how much
the gallery following had to do with
his high scores later In the week.
Then observe the last nine holes
OF Bobby Josses' play In tho cham
pionship anywhere up to the six
teenth eyeen Bobby faced an ua-
precedentsd crowd lining both
sides Of the seventeenth fairway
when he stepped 10 the seven
tecnth tee.
Moreover, he had heard remarks
about the scores that were in ahead
Of him. He had been forced TO listen
to things that should by all means
have been kept from his ears--re-
marks about what he had TO do to
tie and what he had TO shoot TO win.
Bobby was playing the quality Of
golf that wins championships when
such remarks were forced into his
ears.
The fact Is, he didn't have" to
do anything at all. since . par score
would have tied him and one under
par would have won. He is capable
of playing par golf any time. and he
win clip one off par any time he can
do II, regardless of whether he has"
to DO II.
Jones In as good q driver as there
is In the solf world today. thanks to
Stewart Maiden's rssuitful teaching.
Bobby hits them far and straight.
But when he faced this seventeenth
fairway he pulled his drive into some
trees-and away went his champion.
ship possibilities for this year.
Several pros have cited this as a
factor that was distinctly unfair to
the great Southern player, and they
say the only remedy is the champion
ship without galleries. Personally,
feel that the galleries lend a certain
something to a match which Is de-
sirable.
copyright John r. Ollie Coz