The Washington times., 1923-01-28
SARAZEN TELLS
OF WORKOUTS
FOR JOURNEYS
Practiced on HiIly Layout in
Preparing for Title Play at
.Skokle.
by GENE SARAzEN,
(W0rldss Champion Golferg

+ took up my new duties with
enthusiasm. During the month O
April I spent most of my time il
the shop and in preparing for tn,
club season. But all the time
could not help thinking over tn,
southern tournaments from which
/ had recently come. My victor,
Orleans particularly was satisfying
and acted as q great boon to m.
game.
For, I kept thinking. IL 1 car
beat such q field as that for sucf
q large purse-first prize had beer
S1,0o0--I ought to be able to ds
the same thing in the Nationa
Open. The field, excepting FOL
numbers would be virtually tbs
same 90 far as quality was con
cerned.
eoon a. good weather set in, which
was in the early part of May. ]
first had my clubs fixed over, the
heads tightened, the shafts OILED
and those that were worn out
discarded. Before you can win any
kind OF competition you must have
q good set OF cfuba--a kit in which
you have every confidence and one
(which win contain all Of the clubs
you need for the shots you will
have TO play.
pRACTICED ON HILLY LAYOUT.
i did my first practicing last
year over my home course, the
Highland Country Club in Pitts
bur8h. This Is q very billy lay
out hut It afforded me q wonderful
opportunity for the right kind Of
practice. Playing there every day
= 4. - 4
accustomed to hitting the ball from
al kinds Of lies, good, had, side
hin, heavy. soft, sl0ping, uphill, etc.
When got onto Skokie-which
go quite dat-the shots seemed easy
tn comparison.
also spent considerable time at
oAkmOnt, one OF the finest tests
Of golf ] know OF w. C. Fownes,
r., was very kind In allowing me
the privilege Of this course as often
a. wished. / cannot thank him
to- much fer fayors. incidentally
might say that the professional
golfer has q wonderful friend in
this man.
During my practice rounds was
having trouble with my masl1ie
shot. I had played this shot well
In the Southern tournaments. In
fact, at New Orleans It was easily
my best. But during these practice
sessions I seemed to have lost the
touch. I could not bring the shot
OF the way wanted.
That trouble is common with
golfers. good or bad. Ask any Of
the stars about the matter. They
win al ten you that often they
lose their best shots and have the
- - ta<1fSf
proceeded to study my weak
mess with the mashie. knew /
had been playing 1t right in the
South and I thought that / had
grooved the swing properly. So
and practiced for nearly two hours
on this one shot. When / came
hack ] had recovered the stroke.
had found that had been playing
the shot with my arms too far
away from my body. The mashie
shot must be always compact and
firm. had been playing it loosely
and err0tically.
Corrected Weakness.
About q month before the tour.
nament took trip to Skokie to
play over the course and to find
out what kind Of shots the various
holes called Tor. Two rounds gave
me q capital idea Of what had to
DO and / went back to Pittsburgh
tor more practice.
figured that the shot one
needed most at Skolie was the
smash to the pin of about lao
yards. The spade-mashie was the
club for that shot and / worked
like q Trojan during the next few
weeks. In my practice round at
Skofio had also found consider
able use for my mashfe iron. So ]
put in long hours OF practice with
that club. BY the way, Jock
Hutehison showed well enough
what one could do with d spade
mashie at Skol1ie in those two re-
mArkable qualifying scores OF his.
"a and SO.
Since I won the title many people
have asked me IL really thought
ft helped q golfer to play over a
OF course 1t does. Yet 1t doesn't
DO much good II you play over a
championship course just previous
20 the meeting. For then you have
no opportunity to work out these
shots that are needed.
I believe In visiting the links
where the championship il to b..
played-if 1t IL possible-at least
q month in advance. A champion
fighter always watches his op-
ponent in the ring IL he can be.
fore he meets the challenger. Foot.
ball coaches scout one another's
teams all with the idea Of getting
an idea of the character of the
opponent. A golfers opponent in
medal play 10 the course. He
should study that particuly link
before the encounter IL he can.
MY preparations for SkoAie was
quite complete by the end Of June.
Not quite however went to
Chicago q few days before the
championship and again played
over Skokie. On this trip though
played the course entirely diff.
ferent from the way had played
u In June. l made # a point to get
into az much trouble as possible.
was going to get into these places
during the championship and !
wanted to know how to get out
OF them. I knew I wasn't going
TO have very much trouble scorinp
II my ball was on the fairway ali
the time.
This record stuff before a tourna.
ment 10 ell right for those who
like It. But I never heard OF anv
body doing very well In a tourna
: ment who had been breaking
records the day before. In the firsi
place the Psychology of a goo6
score IL bound to react against