The Washington times., 1929-04-09
RULE.
To HURT
SMITH
BY Davis J. Walsh

BY Davis j. Walsh
NEW YORK, April 81
Horton Smith may be the man
of the hour IN competitive golf,
but it is altogether possible
that he will be just another
Smith in the city directory
after they bring in the final
returns from the British open
championship, if you care for
a dispassionate diagnosis fur
nished by feHow-members of
the Ryder Cup team today.
He has the shots, they concede,
But it seems that he may not nave
the clubs. Smith. they say, is some
thing less than extraordinary When
he uses the hickory shafts demanded
by British convention-and maybe
mean, prejudice.
His implied lack of efficiency with
hickory, / suspect, is largely a mat
ter of orientation. Give a golfer IKE
Smith plenty of time and no doubt
he will play you a very nice shot
with an umbrella handle. 1t just
happens that he has less time right
now than man en- route down an
elevator shaft without the elevator.
The team sails for England to-
morrow, and taey tell me that
Smith has played only once with
aIl-hickOry clubs. That once, it
appears, was away too often. He
finished in desperate fight for
fifteenth place at Belleair, and
thereupOn decided that the next
time he played with hickory
would be when he had to.
During an otherwise miraculous
winter season, this was the only tour
nament in which Smith looked like
any other Smith. He is a confirmed
addict of steel shafts, and the at
tempted transition to hickory appar-
entity played pranks with his timing.
The difference between the feel of
hickory and steel and even the differ
ence between hickory and the conbi-
nation hickory and bamboo, of which
American wood shafts are made. can
best be illustrated by saying that one
cannot sense" the head of the club
so we'll when all-hickory is in use.
Johnny Farrell. the National
Open champion, had an indifferent
winter season and he is said to at
tribute his showing to the fact
that he was using all'hickory in
preparation for. the British event
and couldn't seem to get. the feel
of his clubs.
II it took Farrell all winter
to get nowhere with hickory, it
would appear to be possible for
Horton Saith to arrive apprOXi-
mately at the same place in the
few weeks at his disposal.
OF course, when one is in Rome,
as they say. one is under obligation
to follow traffic and naturally Eng
lands golf code is its own to do
with as it will. At the same time,
it is only fair to point out that
an Englishman can bring his clubs
to our championships without find
ing it necessary either to undergo
the blindfold test, or to furnish a
letter of recommendation from his
pastor. But, then, we seem to need
no. technical aid in preserving our
prestige in golf.
Whereas England not only gets
most technical but also a very
average tPouncing nearly every time
out. The result is that it begins to
look as though it will run out OF
championships before it runs out
of reprisals. The first Of these was
instituted years ago. Walter Travis
Dit Ss1a en-
they up and barred the Schenectady
putter. Everything was just lovely
for a while but Jock Hutchinson had
to spoil 1t all by winning the British
open, Which left them no alterna-
tive. They had to put the bowser on
the slotted iron.
The next to go was the steel shaft.
1t didn't mean a thing to anybody
in particular; many of the pros cont
use this type of club, anyhow. But
the British were taking no chances.
Not unlike the stray pin that so
many people find irresistible, 1t was
thing that might come in handy
some day.
I won't go so far as to say
that this looks like the day and
tnat Horton smith looks Ike
the candidate. But he ought to
be allowed to use any legitimate
club that he fancies and, speak
ing on legitimacy. il there was
an unnatural advantage coming
to the user of steel shafts,
Smith is just the fellow who
wouldn't be using them.
AS a matter of fact. there are a
lot of people VIII, couldn't hit a
basl1 ball with one of the things.
The whole matter narrows down to
the fact that Smith happens , like
this type of shaft f-r his wood clubs
and the British are determined lat
everybody shall like their kind or
go play with somebody 5e's chill
| dren.
However, there is one factor
which fortunately no rule book can
suppress. This is the fact that 1t is
American golfers, and not technicah-
ties. that have been winning so
| many Of fha I fish championships.