Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-01-07
EXPERTS GIVE TIPS .
ON VITAL STROKES
Wizards of Drive, Approach
and Putt Tell How They
and Others Do It.
BY WALTER TRUMBULI.

T HIS Is an introduction to a series
of articles written by some of
the select few who can keep their
Il heads down and follow through
the big leaguerS of golf. Their
names are respectfully uttered wherever
the smooth skin of fairways is marred
by pits.
The first group of stories will deal
with the execution and tradition of the
shot dearest to the heart Of the dub
the big punch, the heavy sock, the
distance wallop, the drive. Some of
the mightiest thumpers will tell of the
tee shot, how they make 1t, how others
make it, the best drives they have seen
and what made them best.
The next group Of stories will concern
the second shot and the approach. The
third group will deal with the putt,
lacking which the duffer plays the same
old useless game. Stop Dragging and
iron and the wood. The masters are
about to speak.
What is great drive? Just how far,
under tape measurement, can the
siege gun Of golf propel a ball?
Moose Knowles Great Feat.
Ala Atl11Atd tAlCy CclI JOU 1IUN MUUSC
Knowles was hole-high with his second
shot on the 560-yard uphill finishing
hole at Brookhaven, or how that NAM
moth warrior, Cyril Tolley, carried the
second ditch on No. at Druid Hills
with IS yards to spare. That ditch is
275 full yards from the tee.
In Muskegon strong men still speak
in aWe-struck voices of the feat of Clar-
ence Gambler, when he reached the
green with his second on a 611-yard
hole and scored 8 where par is 6. In
Asheville they still show you where Abe
Mitchell, with that short finish cleared
the trap on the sixteenth-275 yards
away.
Such shots are beyond the compre-
hension of the average golfer. He makes
them only in his dreams, or in the
locker room. And 275 yards in the
locker room rarely measures 1e9 yards
on the course. r.,
Even among fine hitters, drives of
tremendous length usually are due to
an elevated tee, a favoring wind or a
lightning fast fairway. Frequent driv-
ing contests held in the United States,
Canada and abroad have proved that
the man who can average a carry Of ESQ
yards on three shots is an almost GER
tain winner.
A clear test was made at the national
links in Southampton, Long Island,
where a tournament was held with an
entry list restricted to 20 of the best
known professionals in the United
States.
MacdOnald's Freak Bet.
On the third, seventh, eighth, tenth
and eighteenth holes, where the fair
ways are level, yellow fiagsswere planted
240 yards from the tee. These players
proved that none of the stars carried
much more than 225 yards against the
wind or more than 245 yards with its
help.
Still, If conditions are right and the
proper roll can be gotten, there's no
limit to length. Charles B. Macdonald,
who designed the national links. once
bet that he could drive a golf ball a
mile with a putting cleek If he was
allowed to wait until conditions suited
him.
He waited until Lake Michigan froze
over and there was a veritable gale.
Then he Smacked his ball out over the
ice and it rolled considerably more
than mile.
Well, there's driving and drivingl
You'll hear lot about this in the next
10 stories. Then we shall leave the tee
and proceed to the fairway and the
green. Follow around with us. You'll
have some fun and you may learn
something useful.
(Copyright, 1929
(Wednesday-WiIlie Macfarlane on
driving.)