When Frederick was a little lad
He practised the pianner,
And practised it, we need not add,
In ladhood’s usual manner.
His progress was more slow than snail’s,
Of skill came no increase;
But Frederick would not practise scales—
He wished to “play a piece.”
At golf Fred cannot use his hands,
He has no sense of rhythm;
And yet he thinks he understands—
You cannot argue with’m.
Dub will remain his middle name
Till death shall him release.
He doesn’t care to LEARN the game—
He wants to “play a piece.”
* * * * *
When the Preacher observed that there was no new thing under the sun,
he articulated a mouthful, as a contemporary slangily remarked of
Demosthenes. A Denver man relates in the _Golfer’s Magazine_ that he
keeps his eye off the ball, instead of on it, from the drive to the putt.
Unlike the feat which we recently noticed on an oratorio programme, “Rest
in the Ford,” this can be done. Several years ago we demonstrated to
our own content that it was possible to use a mashie accurately while
scrutinizing the flag, and during one season we putted while glaring
at the hole; but in the longer shots we preferred more freedom of the
neck—ours not being of the giraffe type—and so maintained an “eyes
front” attitude. About that time Mr. Charles Clarke, professional to
the Rothersham Club at York, published his “Common Sense Golf,” which
contained this admonition:
“And most important of all, for putts of six feet and under, _look at the
hole and not at the ball_. I know it is a very unorthodox thing to say,
and it will require no little courage at first to get used to the method.
But the difficulty exists only in the imagination; the lie of your ball
is as nearly as possible perfect, and all the preliminary adjustments
have been made. A back-swing of a few inches, and a short, firm tap is
all that is required. Personally I have improved my holing out enormously
since adopting this method, and there are days when I can scarcely miss a
two-yard putt.”
Our hypothesis, which we arrived at independently of the Rothersham pro
(as Adams located the planet Neptune “unbeknownst” to Leverrier) was
challenged by Grantland Rice and Jerome Travers; and so we arranged a
test with Mr. Rice. But a heavy shower interposed, and we agreed to try
the thing on a new dog—Mr. Ring Lardner, who up to that time had not
trifled with a golfing implement. He was required to putt eighteen holes
while looking at the hole, and to repeat while looking at the ball.
The result was slightly in favor of the latter method, but this was
fairly attributable to increased familiarity with the putter. Personally
(_sic_), we can putt as well one way as the other, and all that we ever
maintained for the eye-on-hole style was that it would improve the work
of one who putted badly. If a man putts well by any method, let him keep
the even tenor of his way, nor heed the rumble of a distant drum.
* * * * *
Golf is advised for training camps by the War department, to counteract
the tension of intensive training. The beneficial effect lies in the
mental rest during the swing; from the moment the ball is addressed until
it is struck the mind is an absolute blank. The poorer the player, the
more strokes he takes, and the greater the mental rest.