Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-08-28
SAME STICK USED
FOR VARIED SHOTS
Dangerous for One Player
to Follow Selection of
Another.
BY WALTER R. McCALLUM.l

~ YHAT club did you
Wv was it No. 2 or a
No. iron, or was it a
midiron or a maShie iron?"
You've all heard these inquiries
many times, as some golfing gent
in a quandary as to what club to
use to propel a golf ball a given
distance wonders just what he
will play the shot with. 1t all re-
minds Monro Hunter of the yarn
about the old caddie at st. An
drews, bewhiSkered and gray, who
picked up a golf bag dourly and
Stalked around the course behind
the long hitting American, who
clouted them a. mile from the tee
and then forgot what to do with
the ball afterward. We'll" the
Yankee said, that looks like a
fnidiron shot to me-"
You'll no use your midiron," the
elderly caddie replied. And the Ameri-
can asked why not Hadn't he been
knocking midiron shots all over the
landscape and hadn't he hit one on the
last hole as far as the present shot
called for? Il think I can get there
with a midiron, If 1 hit it we'll" the
American asserted.
But you'll no hit it we'll" the caddie
answered, ano as st. Andrews caddies
usually are, he was right.
Which all leads up to one of Fred
McLeod's main peeves about modern
golf. Not a peeYe, exactly, but rather
a commentary on the modern method
of smuggling away at ball with club
whose extreme length is needed to get
home. when a longer club would do
the work quite as effectively and with
less chance of miss.
Courses Have Changed.
Freddie realizes that golf courses of
today are not trapped as they were in
the old days when he was winning big
championships, and that there is no
such thing as rough any more, and,
therefore, no real reason for worrying
about getting off the line. But still he
advocates the use of q club 20 yards
longer than may be needed for a given
shot, and an easy swing instead of
playing the extreme length of club
with a wild swipe that is as likely as
not to land the ball in the next county.
Il used to play good deal with Gil
Nichols" Fred says. and in those
days 1 had a favorite club which
called my light iron. With the bigger
and lighter ball the club had better
grip on the ball, and could play long
shots or short shots with that light
iron. Well, was playing with Gil one
day and ON 190-yard hole Gil said.
Freddie, what did you ise?' told
him I had used my light iron. And we
came to 160-yard hole and used the
same club. Gil asked me the same
question and gave him the same an
swer. Finally, after two or three Of
these questions and answers, he blurted
out For the love of Mike, Freddie,
haven't you got any other club than
that light iron?'"
But Freddie asserted that the extreme
length of that Light iron" was 200
yards and that by playing q i90-yard
shot with it he believed he was stretch
ing the capacity of the club little bit.
But when he came TO 160-yard hole
he simply took a shorter grip and q
shorter back stroke and, therefore, had
more control. And no man who saw
him play 10 or is years ago will deny
that Freddie Mcleod lacked knowledge
Of the light iron" shot. Nor does he
today, although he does not practice
as much as formerly and therefore,
he has not the old-time mastery Of
the shot.
''Take these modern numbered clubs"
Freddie says. They are all right, in q
way, for they serve in a manner OF
speaking to tell the player the approxi-
mate distance he has to play the club.
But I've seen some funny things hap
pen with these numbered clubs. Just
the other day I was playing with an
amateur at Columbia, and on the four
teenth hole played shot to the green.
Freddie Old Master.
What did you use, Freddie?" he
said.
II told him I had used No. 4 iron.
30 he took No. 4. And he might have
stood there all afternoon and never got
that ball on the putting green with his
No. 4. You know, the blade of q golf
club can be twisted around and 1t can
be played of either foot to give the ball
elevation or low fight with run. These
numbers are all right, but they mean
little enough TO the man who can hit
golf ball any way he wants. But, then,
most of the men play with have got
ten over the habit of watching me play
q shot and then playing 1t with the
same club"
Freddie Is one of the old masters.
Any man will admit that who knows
the little Scot and his game. He can
z