Evening star., 1933-01-21
ACCURACY IS VITAL !.
| ON BUMPY GREENS
harroW-BIaded, Wooden.
Shafted Stick Part of Ken
wood Pros Secret.
BY w. r. McCALLUM.

IF there is one thing that is
important for low scoring
/ these Midwinter days, 1t Is
accurate putting. You have
to be far more accurate on the
bumpy, rough green's of Winter
than on the smooth green's Of
Summer to score well, according
to AL Houghton, top-liner of the
local pros so far as scoring Is con-
cerned and man who is destined
to carve niche for himself in
national golf if he moves forward
as fast in the next half-dozen
years as he has gone since he
turned professional four years
back.
For several years Al thought himself
an Indifferent putter. Watching the
smooth stroking Of George Voigt and
Miller Stevinson, two Of the finest put
ters who ever lived, Houghton, as an
| amateur, was usually shaded around the
cup by these two masters of the putting
stroke.
But Al has broken out in a rash of
fine putting over the last year and to-
| day he is as good stroker Of short
puts as you could find In a days travel.
From an ordinary putter who had days
Of missing 'em as well as holding 'em
Houghton, by dint of careful study and
attention to details, has converted him.
self into stroker of short puts far
better than your ordinary professional.
Part OF his secret, he says, Is his use
OF a narrow-bladed, wooden-shafted
putter, which, by the way, is the same;
implement which helped Tommy
Armour win the 1881 British Open
championship. +
WINTER putting greens with their
w stubby grass and their uneven
surfaces demand far more ac.'
curate Stroklng than the greens of Sum-
mer, when the grass is clipped at uni
form length and green's have been
rolled until they are as smooth as your
grandmother'S cake-Houghton finds
that even the slightest cut or pull on
a putt Is fatal in the Winter, for the
rough grass and the bumps over which
the ball must travel tend to exaggerate
the lnaccuracy of the putt. You will
usually ind the edge of the cup broken
DOWN In Winter, too," Houghton saws.
While you may wobble in a few from
the edges, you will find that the bail
can Jump over the back edge of these
Dro6en-oown cups. So it pays to hit
the ball right into the middle of the
anything but your own accuracy and
It's tough these days to achieve that
accuracy. The ball bobs around, the
greens are not of anywhere near uni.
form speed and. all in all, putting III
Mlow1nter Is almost a game in ITSELF
SOF course, fine putters like, Char
~ ley Betschler, Glenn Spencer and
-, lew OF the pros, and amateurs
nKe Miller STEVENSON and Clyde Asher,
nave no trouble in the Winter, but for
most golfers Winter putting is plenty
hard. The main reason, Of course, L.
that they do not stroke the ball accu-
rately. which means In itself that the
putter blade does not go through the
Dali on direct line with the hole or
the line of putt If slope must be
negotiated. I try these DAYS in par.
tlcular to keep that blade moving
through the ball in direct line with the
mole, or with the correct line of putt.
and moving from the inside out, too.
Ior that will help you to- prevent cut
| sA4AS I44C PQII.
II noticed the other day that INV
Trend Dave Thomson of Washington.
who IS usually very fine putter. was
missing the short ones, blowing puts
that he never would miss. I noticed.
TOO, that Davie was stopping the blade
OF ms putter as it went through the
oali; and that his puts curled away
TO the right at the hole. He missed a
couple in round that Davie of a
year ago never would have missed.
thought at the time that he WASN'T
the hole" "-'iA
One of Houghton's main theories re-
garding putting is that the BODY must
De Kept absolutely still. So he braces
himself carefully with the bulk of ths
weight on his left leg, to prevent anv
noay sway or swerve and rolls 'em in.
,.t ,prevent body sway, concentrate on
keeping that blade moving in line with
the hole. get the ball as far as the
mole, and you'll find your putting i'm
pfovea pft says the kenwood pro. Keep
eye coming back"