Evening star., 1926-03-26

This Is fault common to a very
large percentage Of players. including
many real good ones. The ball is
hooked or sliced to the rough, or finds
a trap somewhat off the intended line
Of play. The player comes up to ii in
a spirit of selfreproach for his short
comings on the stroke that landed II
there. and with a tendency TO feel that
he must do something daring and he
roic to make up for the other poor eff
fort. He attempts something almost
impossible. and, 90 times out of 100,
not only throws away one stroke, but
finds himself confronted with possibly
even worse conditions for the next
stroke. Hoping for a miracle when
your hall lies badly is mighty poor
strategy on the golf course.
Driving Cause Of Comment.
NV driving At Buffalo had caused
quite a lot of comment. ! was hitting
the hall as far as anybody in the field
and good deal further than most "f
them. For instance. on the ninth mole.
which Is long three shooter. ! reach
cd the green in two shots. couple
of wears ago ! played over the course
again in an exhibition match. and
some Of the club members still remem
hered those two strokes in the 1872
] would do 1t again. AS A matter of
fact. I got Just TO the edge this time
with my second, and ] suspect that
the hall was using may have helped
me little by comparison with the
enc used more than 10 years before.
Experts agree that the present-da y
hall Yields several yards more length
than the ball of 10 or - years back.
But checking back over those four
rounds. hole by hole. | was struck ny
tho fact that on several holes where ]
had tackled an extra stroke or more
onto my card the trouble was trace
able to a drive that left me off the
fairwav. And the more ! studied these
facts. the stronger beca the ronvic-
tion that. so far as shaping long
game for future use was concerned.
what I needed to do was to cOnren-
trate on acquiring accuracy in direc-
ton Icould get all the distance need
ed and maybe more, but the real trlck
was To become accurate with II. ohVl-
ouslv I could really afford TO sacrifice
something in distance 10 he SIRE that
| could keep the ball straight.
Accuracy Outranks Distance.
While on this subject there are
few other observations 10 he made.
The theory of the importance of sr-
ruracy, even at the expense of some
thing In distance. is not new one by
any means. Almost every golfer of
any experience will grant ii right off.
But at the same time long driving
amounts practically to an ohseSsion
with a great many players. especially
among the younger ONES. Ability to
hit the ball for reasonably good dis
tance Is a requisite of winning golf in
these days. with courses that run aE
most 1000 yards in length. and all of
the players who have won important
championships in the last 10 years or
more have been good. long hitters.
They have had to he.
But il may he surprise TO some to
he told that distance may he and fire.
quently is a handicap to certain play
ers. even where the ball is kept
straight in the fairway.
| could mention more than a few
nationally known players who at
times hit the hall farther than is good
for them. even though they keep il
straight. The reason is plain. There
are certain players whose weakness is
playing approaches from * 10 1875
wards from the green. Put them $50
wards away and they stick the hall up
close consistently. But at the shorter
distances mentioned they are uncer-
tain and unsteady. On q hole maaSur-
ing. say. $50 Yards they would he bet
ter off playing their second shots from
A 200 To 220 yard drive than from one
that travelled $50 to 215 yards. That
may sound like rather doubtful
proposition. hut it is true. just the
same,