Evening star., 1932-07-16
CARRIES FARTHER
THAN NBALL9ONP PILL
Experts Find It Puts Well.
23O Yards on the Fly
Is Big WaIIop.
BY W. r. McCALLUM.

JUST how far can the modern
golf ball be driven on the
~ carry? Is it a longer ball
than either of the golf balls
legally in use during the last two
seasons, or is 1t, as some of the
boys claimed after the recent
National Open championship, the
greatest scoring ball ever manu-
featured?
1t is as certain as death and taxes
that the boys who played at Fresh
Meadow were knocking that ball fairly
far, much fayther than they could have
knocked the balloon" ball OF last year.
And they were putting better with 1t,
too. The very fact that Sarazen scored
286 with the ball ever a tough course
and that two others broke 200 is proof
enough that the present l.62xl .68 pill
is Just about what the doctor ordered
for your better golfer.
DUT the carry remains about the
ID same as 1t did back in the old ante
dated days of the rabbit ball. the
62xl so OF memory beloved by millions
of buffers A carry Of 230 yards without
a following wind from the clubs of even
the longest hitters still is a big wallcp.
and don't let any one kid you about
these long carries. A golf ball just ism
being carried much farther than that
unless wind conditions and the height
from which 1t is driven make for
greater distance.
The eighteenth hole at Congressional
is a good spot to watch the carry of the
modern golf ball From the back tee
to the edge of the putting green is just
about $50 yards. The tee, if anything,
is slightly lower than the edge OF the
green, possibly 10 or II feet, We
watched lot of good professionals play
that hole few days ago and only one
for deuce That man was Ralph Beach
the Maryland open champion from
Baltimore And only two others hit the
ball far enough to carry to the edge of
the green. even though they were off
the direct line to the pin. Al Houghton,
the former amateur who now holds
down the professional berth at Ken
wood, was one Of them.
HOUGHTON hit weighty wallop
i i that carried just off the edge of
the green at the right and bounced
and ran past the pin. His ball, with
carry and roll, travelled about 280 yards
but the carry itself was not much more
than 245 Yards. And the wind was
slightly behind him That day the boys
were hitting them SO far some of them
got home at the par eighth with
a drive and mashie. And some of them
got home on the 500-yard twelfth with
a drive and iron, with the wind at their
backs. But all these conditions were
unusual. On level ground, without a
following wind, a carry of 230 yards is
unusual OF course, a golf ball hit with
hook will run somewhere around rs
or 80 yards. and 1t may run 100 II the
ground is hard and the grass burned
down That's where most of these 300
yard tee shots come in. The carry itself
is not tremendous. but when you add rs
yards to carry of 230 yards you've got
quite a lengthy poke.
The true fact about the improved
scores with the present ball is its ease
Of handling around the green. 1t is
better to chip and pitch with, and it is
better to putt with than last years ball
The pros proved that at Fresh Meadow.
for the scores over that tough layout
were lower than they have been in
many, many years.
IN past years any score around 291
i or 292 was good enough to win the
open. but this year when Phil Per-
kins finished with 289 every one con-
ceded him win. Yet Cruickshank tied
him and Sarazen beat him. 1t may not
have been the ball. But it is not rea-
sonable to assume that the quality of
golf has improved so much since the
Jones era, and all the boys admitted
that Fresh Meadow was as tough lay
out as any over which the champion
ship has been played in recent years.
Yet that golf ball wasn't being driven
enormous distances. Any tee shot that
travelled $50 yards was a fine shot. It