Evening star., 1933-11-12
SHORT PUTT HOLDS
TERRORS FOR PROS
Dangerous Shot Commands
Full Respect of Games
=. Star Players.
BY w. r. McCALLUM.
4 S THE third National Capt.

~ tai open golf champion
1 n ship draws to a close to-
day over the course of Ken
wood Golf and Country Club, it
has become increasingly evident
to even the most casual observer
that the most important stroke
in the game of golf, as played
by the finest professionals in the
land, is that stroke which knocks
the ball into the hole.
There are literally hundreds of pro-
feSSional golfers who can belt q golf
ball far and straight. Some OF them.
such as hkable Jimmy Hines of Tim
Der Point, Long Island, or smiling Hor-
ton Smith Of the Chicago Smiths, can
wallop the pill few yards further than
their compartiots in the crime of bust
ing par wide open.
But tournaments are not won on long
hitting or even by accurate hitting
alone. They are won within 10 feet Of
the cup.
The shot which propels the ball into
winning shot in the game, whether it
be q 2.foOt putt or q hOled chip shot.
From Horton Smith, last years win
dred men who play much he same type
OF game from tee to green, who can
punch a golf ball $50 yards and knock
an iron shot onto distant green. But
how do they putt? All, there Is the
final gesture that makes tournament
winners. In flrst-class amateur golf it
Is almost automatic that the man who
misses two 4-foot puts in q single
round of 18 holes Is out of the tourna-
ment. And in professional golf, even
holes OF medal play, the same thing
holds good.
T$HAT is why, out there at Kenwood
today, the gallery will see the
pros hit their tee shots and their
shots through the fairway with what
appears to be undue haste and needless
abandon. But if they observe carefully
they will also note that as they get close
to the hole the professionals slow down
their play, approaching the playing of
all their chip shots and puts with ex-
treme care and caution.
They realize as only men do whose
livelihood depends on how well they
play, the importance OF saving strokes
around the cup.
Take Ralph Guldahl, the tall st.
Louis youth who blew a 4-footer to tie
Johnny Goodman for the national open
at Chicago last June. That 4-foot putt
may have cost Guldahl lot Of heart
aches, but it surely has made him a
better golfer.
He realizes now, more than he ever
did before that day in Chicago, how
important is the stroke which holes the
ball.
Watch Horton Smith. Tall Horton
steps up to his tee shots in different
fashion and lashes into the ball with all
he has. But as he approaches the hole
he acts like a cat walking on eggs.
Care, and only extreme care and skill
around the cup, will win tournaments
for him and line the well filled Smith
purse with the dough that goes to the
winner.
there at Kenwood today who can't
reach the twelfth green In two shots
land the twelfth Is par 5 hole). But
there also isn't one of the long hitters
who wouldn't be willing to top 10 yards
of his tee shot to guarantee that he
wouldn't miss 4-foot putt once In q
while.
They all realize that the winning
stroke in golf is the shot that holes
the ball, and that the winning of
tournaments comes not from sizzling
tee shots, but by holing those innocent
looking, deadly short puts.
TONY SYLVESTER, rotund Ban
nockburn pro. packs around with
him famous rabbits foot. Back
in 1Q16 uhaY1 pnhhu TOy1ae
Armour were at Sarasota together play
ing golf every day Bobby was having
lot Of trouble beating Tommy. So
he got colored boy to go out in the
dark Of the moon and get him q rab-
bits foot. He later gave 1t to Tony
Sylvester. who made many of the clubs
which Bobby used to win major cham
pionships, among them the pair of
wooden clubs which hang in the grill
room at Congressional today. Tony
carries that rabbit foot around with
him nowadays. token of the luck he
hopes for-and usually gets.
Golf teams Of the Army Navy Coun-
try Club and the Washington Golf and
Country Club are to play today at
washington for the "championship" of
Northern Virginia near the National
Capital The winner expects to chal-
lenge the team Of the Chevy Chase
Club, Maryland State team titleholders,
for the championship" of Washington.
Al Houghton, Kenwood pro, Is gain.
ing quite a name for himself as q trap
player Of parts. The Kenwood kleagle
surely knows how to use the big, blunt
headed weapon with which he knocks
the ball out of the sand. The other
day Al was in three traps during a
round Of 81 and after he had played
out Of the three he used only q total
of two puts. He holed one trap shot
and twice laid the ball so close he was
able to hole with a single putt.
He plays the shot as well as Freddie
Mcleod, the old master of the trap
shot, but uses a different club and
different method Freddie Skins along
the top of the sand and brings the ball
up with terrific back-spin. Houghton
takes a small divot of sand and gets
much the same back-spin. They are
just about as fine pair of trap-shot
players as you could find In q DAYS
trek anywhere along the bunkered land
scape.