Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1926-08-02

make the game worth while, but onl
the ball"
Some times when l get up to drive
off the first tee l am so nervous that
I want to lie down and die" said the
woman champion. II feel as though
couldn't possibly hit the ball.
think What price glory?' and Why
suffer ell this for a game of golf?' and
then do hit the ball. better than ever,
and get a real thrill out of it, and
everything is all right, and 1 know
why play golf.
Gives Four Reasons.
But aside from this personal feel.
thinking golf is the best sport for
women:
First. it doesn't mean sacrifices
that a girl would not like to make,
said Miss Collett. who swims. drives
a car, rides, dances. enjoys bridge and
the theater and owns a host Of friends
off the links as well as on them.
Second, golf is a sport In which
one plays ones own game, regardless
of partner or opponent, man Or WON
an. and this is important for the ath'
letic woman, since she is thus relying
on her own strength. standing on her
own feet and feeling the joy of indie
pendent achievement.
Third. golf is a game as we'll as a
sport. and as such it teaches women
q wonderful lesson IN broad-minded-
ness. 1t cannot help making women
more sportsmanlike. 1t is like an
honor system in school. 1t develops
the best side of girls character,
teaching her implicit honesty with
herself, generosity to an opponent,
fair-mindedness and self-control.
Last, which l might have put first
golf is splendid exercise for a woman.
It keeps her out in the open air. in
the sun and the wind, makes her walk
many miles q day. and In its drives
and other strokes develops body mus.
cles tending to strengthen and make
more graceful her whole body"
Backs Her Four Points.
Her face. neck and arms tanned a
smooth olive, her bobbed curly brown
hair sunburned a little more golden
over her forehead. her slender figure
1.-THE and easy of movement, Miss Col
lett is an unconscious poster of her
four points. Unconscious is a word
essential in any description of her,
for a more modest. unassuming star"
1t would be hard to find.
She doesn't look or dress the part
of a champion. In her simple sport
clothes-a white shantung silk dress,
white and gray and tan Navajo
sweater to which she has become at
tached as sort of superstition, thin
gray wool stockings and white and
black saddle strap shoes-Miss Collett
looks the college girl rather than the
honor graduate of the golf school she
has chosen. Her sport has neither
hardened her. nor made her "indiffer-
ent" or exaggerated. Her story of
how she learned the game is full of
human signs of struggle. of defeat. of
disappointments and enthusiasms.
THE first time l ever held club
in my hands / had a lesson" she said.
starting her story where she thinks
every one should start. John Ander-
son. the professional of the Metacomet
Golf Club, in Providence, started me
off. / was IA.
Poor Player to Start.
WAS 1 promising? Heavens, no.
could drive a long ball. but that's all
l could do-a long ball, but a crooked
one! At that time played tennis and
swan a great deal, and though l
liked golf and played it fairly often.
IL was my worst sport. and I PLAYED
II terribly. My short game was ap-
palling.
Still, that first year, encouraged by
John Anderson. | played in my first
tournament. 1t was a mixed four.
some. held on Thanksgiving, and /
won turkey. | was delighted. I
suppose from then on I paved Is
holes FIVE or six times a week-more
than l play now. My game just nat
urally improved, but It was two years
before broke a 100
Five years after the first tourna.
n1ent in 1922. at the Greenbrier Club
at White Sulphur Springs. w. Va,
won the qualifying medal and then
the national championship. defeating
Edith Cummings in the semi-finals
and Mrs. William A. Gavin in the
finals, and 4. | remember I PLAYED
Awfully hard and under a great ten.
sion. because Mrs. Gavin was an Eng.
fish woman and didn't want our title
TO go to England / felt i was up.
holding national honor.
Learns Boys Drive.
I'm those Ave intervening years, !
learned my boys drive was nowhere
so important as the skill of other
players approach. / had been beaten
many times. I had compared myself
with other players. had practiced
dIu pidCllCCu dl edu!c, ui1tlli
although the drive remained my most
thrilling shot, light mashie, hardest
club for me to master. had become
my favorite club. and the plea sure
got from driving was nearly equalled
by the pleasure of nashie shots.
love to see the ball go up and drop
by the pin.
''I had learned to play before a gal
lery, finding the experience the first
time in Pinehurst in 1918 more sur
prising than bothering. and had form
ulated my ideas as to the way l, and
perhaps other women. could most
successfully play the game. with the
muscles and with the mind"
How She Uses Clubs.
Miss Collett was asked to describe
in as much detail as possible her
grip, stance and her swing, her tech
nique constituting for women golfers
what Bobby Jones style would be for
man:
II use the overlapping grip. hold
ing the club with my left hand on top.
the right little finger and fourth rid
ing in between the second and third
Of the left hand, which grips the
shaft tightly" she said.
"For putting, l change my grip to
just the opposite hold. putting mostly
with my right hand, with the left
frat finger overlapping the little
finger of the right hand.
MY stance is open, with the right