The Washington times., 1926-02-24

The hero Of this short succlnctiy
told, sarcastically touched narrative
was, I am sorry to say, the writer
OF this article. He Il was who end.
ed 4 season or successful, more Or
,iess. private play In an ingiorioui
publicity. and II he could tell the
actual cause 81 this golf tragedy
he would feel that he held within
his hands the key to the solution.
Of great golf problems. and how
gladly would he describe the con-
tents Of that hidden chamber, foi
his experience is not a single case
IT has happened to others In q
lesser degree, and alas. 1t Is 10 b
feared IT viii always happen. What
is the psycholOgy Of II? How can
i analyze II In a manner that will
help other players2
During the last two years my
practice and preparation for cham
pionsllips have been about the
same AZ In the years when / won,
and while i have not been very
we'll. feel sure that Il was not
the physical side Of my game
whiclp caused that 81.
1 believe that my practice and
PRESERVATION brought me to a
nOfnt of ability that would pro
duce fine scores af any time if
this queer psychology thing did
not appear. OF course, may not
have properly timed my peak Of
preparation, but / reached Oak
mont with skill enough to play
al the shots on tIlat difficult
course. We do things III cycles
IL it were, and our subc0nsciOtlA
mind gets used to winning, or
losing, and what b fellow expects
he usually gets.
When along the fifth or sixth
hole a man finds himself playing
badly. hundreds Of irrelevant
thoughts rush in and attack the
perfect concentration which is so
essential to good golf. Most OF
these thougI1ts have to do with d
creeping fear that you may not
qualify, and that fear begins to
slow up the tempo OF the stroke,
and its rhythm II destroyed.
think that the only remedy il I'd
play more quickly and to take d
longer time just before playing.
But before putting every burden
upon the purely psychological side,
IT Is just as well to consider the
change in rules and other concrete
things. In the first place. Tor the
first time in the history OF the
event but is could qualify That
one rule. cutting the field in half
turned the leading amateur tourna.
n1ent into medal play event This
novelty created a feeling OF ap.
prehension in the minds OF the
players. The effect of the unusual
The chance Of really getting into the
game was too little.
But even the lack of knowledge
OF the course does not excuse my
81. Something behind itsorne
mental quirk or other was the
cause.
There have been many things to
destroy my confidence in my game
In the past few years. and this
year | had been too DESTROYS of
making good showing. That is
bad; Ii makes you take reverses
too hardly. You look back on your
score and compare your figures
with what you should have made
and what you will have to do q lit
tie farther on, and the whole mental
thing gets worse and worse, and
you go stumbling on and on, trying
desperately to get the Impossible
figures your playing has set you.
The good playing OF the other
golfers disturbs you still more, it
is a standard by which you judge
your own, and all the comments in
the gallery, good. bad, or indif-
fnreTt ~ gets onto ones IleryAa
But why / could not concentrate
at Oakmont and why, three weeks
later at Kansas City, / made "a
holes in 2S3, with Espinosa second
Hagen third, Mehlhorn fourth and
Cruickshank fifth, / do not know.
The secret rests somewhere in The
subconscious mind. Troubles that
had nothing to do with golf were