Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-05-31

w Y1TH the returns from the
NA/ outlying precincts dis
v Y closing symptoms ot :
revolt against the new
order of things, feeling against
the new golf ball has reached an
amusing point around Washing
ton and nearby cities. OF course
the new balloon" ball is not new.
It has been in Observation-Disclosures
five months now, and every are
has. had fair shot at trying II
out.
The net reaction on the lips of most
of the middle class of golfers is just
this: How long is this farce going on?
How long will it be before the golf pow
ers that be listen to our pleas and
bring back ball that will perform Is
the old ball did?"
Now, that reaction Is not personal,
for we like the new ball quite as well IS
the old ball. To be sure, 1t takes nicer
hitting in a wind and 1t takes finer
putting, but, on the whole, we have
not noticed any difference, either IN
distance from the tee or in the scoring
capabilities of the new sphere. The
scores made by the leading golfers are
just as low with the new bali Is they
were with the old.
It does sit up a little cleaner on the
fairway and it does sit down on the
green little better from the iron clubs.
It does not have the run that the old
ball did. which means that fewer shots
will find q bunker at the end Of the
run.
DUT on the whole the new ball does
- not please that vast mass Of
golfers who used to play between
85 and 100 and now find their scoring
set back by three or four strokes
around because a putt or two hangs On
the lip of the cup or they cannot make
the carries with the new lemon" they
used TO make with the old sphere. In
recent weeks we have talked with many
golfers around Washington. in Rich.
mond and in Baltimore. Everywhere
along the bunkered front we hear the
same sad plea, When are they going
to bring back the old bail?"
Now it means something to o man
to rob him of the pleasure he enjoyed
with the old ball. Take holes like the
third at Washington, the eleventh at
Columbia, the fourteenth at Chevy
Chase, the fourth at Burning Tree, the
seventh at Congressional and a number
Of holes around 400 yards which might
occasionally have been reached In two
shots by even the poorer players with
the old bail. Nowadays, with the new
sphere they cannot hope TO plant o
second shot on the putting green ct
these holes, even II they hit two right
on the nose. It means that instead
of an occasional par made in the
right way, they are struggling now for
with the absolute certainty when
they leave the tee that they cannot
reach the green in orthodox figures
The new ball is under indictment
and severe indictment t is when
rather than play the ncT ball SOM
golfers have given up the game entirely,
hoping for a return to the old sphere.
THE new ball, you may have noticed.
i has an alarming habit of hitting
the edge of the cup, running around
and perchlng. with grin of amuse-
ment. on the near SIDE OF the cup.
Probably the old ball would have
dropped, but the new bah must be hit
squarely into the back of the cup or
it will not drop. And how many times
have you watched truly hit putt run
right up to the lip of the cup and
then hang there, an inch away from
the edge of the tin? The new ball
dies quickly at the end of its run on
the putting green.
Now Just what causes It we do not
know, but it is a fact that there Is an
LIVESTOCK OF the Olu DallS AROUND IN
the warehouses Of sport goods stores and
there are lots of folks who are buying
them and playing them whenever they
can get them. The professionals do
not carry them, for they are hard to
move inasmuch as most golfers are
meek souls and take what is handed
to them without protest. But the tip
of is that in New York there are sport
goods stores which are selling the old
ball in the old size and weight at So
a dozen and the reports have 1t they
are going like hot cakes.
Summer temperatures have reached
Washington and with the coming Of
warm weather the new ball Is supposed
to gain distance, but still the golfers
are mumbling and muttering about the
way the new sphere acts. Perhaps.
something will be done about 1t, but
personally We do not think 90. The
new bail is here to stay, even though
- ss,r1, "a to ~ rSAf