1939-01-18 — Page 23

THE CHINA MAIL, JANUARY 18, 1989.

Norman Von Nida For England

1939 Home Golf Season Will See Galaxy Of International Stars In The Major Events

"THE COLOSSUS OF CLOUT" WILL ALSO BE COMING

WI

(By OUR SPECIAL REPRESENTATIVE) ·

(By AIR MAIL)

ITH 1939 already a few days in play, my first duty, gladly is to extend to golf and golfers by best wishes for the annual round which has now begun. May the royal and ancient game continue to flourish and give its own special pleasure to more and more devotees; may be never forget to play it in its true spirit, and may the ball in life as on the links kick for us oftener out of These are sentiments to which I am sure we all subscribe, and though they could be expressed with equal sincerity at Easter or August Bank holiday, they do come with a seasonable inspiration and an accentuated force at the changes-over from the old year to the new, and the urge of a fresh start.

trouble than into it.

the young Atlantan, is returning to de- fend the title he won nt Troon. A popular personality, Yates owed not a little to that luck that proverbially goes with championship - success, "for, as you may remember, he began at Troon by beating Johnny Fischer the nineteenth with a stymie, and got into the final by doing a 3 at the nine- teenth aftor Hector Thomson seemed

at

and their praises by way of valedicto have him beaten with one hole to tory to Hagen. But the player him- play. But Yates, to do him justice, self has since declared that he will delivered the goods in the champion- be at the Open at St. Andrews, and ship. if he tees up there and means busi- ness, he will, even at 45,. be well worth watching. Even if he had no chance he would still be one of the colourful personalities of

any big event.

Has Hagen a real chance? It is an interesting speculation, and the past two or three seasons indicate a nega- tive answers. But in this connection I came across the other day these lines written of Hagen by Tommy Armour: "He will stay up later than anyone in the room. He will sleep later than anyone in the room too. He concen- trates on whatever he really wants to

From these first days of the дем year it is, of course, a long-range men- tal picture we can see of Yates, Thom- in son, Locke, and Hagen in action their different coming events, but at the same time competitive golf is by no means so far away as that.

Cricket

(Continued from Page 22)

do. That's why he has been the mas- ter marvel of golf-and may again de- monstrate it, because Walter's far from through if he happens to get stir- It did not worry I. R. C. very red up to conquest again." It is wear- much, however, Nazarin and Arculli ing on for four years since Armour said that. Can it, I wonder, be applied took part in a nice stand for the to the Open at St. Andrews in this first wicket and M. el Arculli made year of grace?

27 later on. With five wickets to GALAXY OF STARS

Bobby Locke will again be among spare, the deed was done!

Maybe it is an illusion we in-him. To them he is "The Colossus of dulge that the New Year pro-

Clout." The clubhead of his 14% vides us with a clean cut, and the ounces driver connects with the ball at terrific speed, and he hits for maximum chilling realist may remind us flight and little run.

our visitors, and one of his big ambi- that, after all, time is continuous

The Navy-Civil Service match at HAGEN WILL BE BACK tions is a money match with Cotton. King's Park was all Paxton! Navy whatever the calendar may say,

It looks, after all, as if we might Whether Cotton will undertake the re- but in the hustling, worried world with some show of authority it was the near future looks at the moment nedy-right on the top of his form see the incomparable Hagen again too. cently talked of tour in the States in batted first and scored 101 (Ken- of to-day we are none the worse reported some time ago that "the little doubtful. "Barkis is will-in,” —58). for an illusion or two. So here's to Haig" was finished with Championship but only on guaranteed terms. Cotton 1939, and the gift of golf optim- golf, and the American had something is dictating the conditions on the "take fairly simple for the Civil Servants ism it brings us, and may it gen-the full-length eulogies after reports promises wants matters fixed up on the they had Paxton to reckon with.

like the experience of a man who reads it or leave it" basis, and instead of despite the size of the ground but erally prove a good, praceful, and of his death have been "greatly exag-dotted line. prosperous year.

Amateur golf in this country has The Press chorused their regrets welcomed the news that Charles Yates,

P.G.A.'S BIGGEST TASK The golfer may readily be forgiven if under the Ne'erday spell and senti- ment he believes that that "improved game" he has been waiting for is just round the corner. For some, I dare say, "round the corner" has in the past been as vague and elusive as where the rainbow ends, but whatever, attractive fancics a new year may create in us about our golf, the hope that it brings is real enough, and that and a belief in the future are no bad companions with which to open another twelve months round.

a

Whatever resolutions we may frame for our own assistance (and I know. a certain A who wants to exercise socketing fit, and to recover a former deadliness in the short running ap- proaches; and a determined B who in- sists that the infernal snatch with his irons must go), there is a national one which, no doubt, the P.G.A. have in mind-the beating of the United States for the Ryder Cup. That is the biggest British task of the year, and since our professionals have won this trophy in this country, and our ama- teurs have at last achieved the equiva- lent Walker Cup success, it is to be hoped that our P.G.A. team will now extend the international push by win- ning on an American course. ----

"THE COLOSSUS OF CLOUT" With the new year we are to see new personalities. One of these is Norman von Nida, now Australia's professional hope, who beat Bobby Locke in a match last year, and is said to be coming over for the Open Championship at St. Andrews. As there is a sufficient gap between the dates of that event and the United States Open we may possi- bly see also one or two new faces from American golf.

Though not, strictly speaking, a new personality, Jimmy Thomson, North Berwick in origin and nephew of Jack White, has stated his intention of an- swering Jimmy Alexander's first tee call on the Old Course in July. Thom- son was in the Open at Muirfield nine years ago, but as a youngster then of 19 he was rather a holiday competitor than a serious contender.

But he did not escape notice.

His long hitting was one of the topics of the that week, and when he drove eleventh green and hit the ball to sun-' dry other abnormal lengths that is not surprising. In effect he will now come. over as a new personality in the sense that he has meantime played himself into the front line, and will be among the short odds candidates for the title. Thomson is believed to be the longest hitter in the world. The Greeks would have had a word for him, but the Americans at any rate have a name for

gerated."

Improving One's Swing

By BEST BALL

When one enters a golf competi- tion too early in the formative stage of his game he handicaps himself. By competition in the sense employed above I mean those friendly rounds in which greater attention is given the number of strokes than in manner they are made. More can be accomplished by practice at this time than by actual play, in fact this practice can be had in the privacy of your boudoir, so to speak, All you need is a golf club, a full length mirror

GRAPHIC GOLE

PRACTICE. SWINGING BEFORE A Mirror

X MARKS SPOT

DEVELOPS

WHERE HEAD SHOULD BE

STROKE

RHYTHM AND TIMING

KEPT

DURING

STROKE

GAL

3.17

and the urge to improve, Pose be- fore the mirror in your natural stance and mark an X on the glass where your head is reflected. The purpose of this X is to remind you to keep your head still during the stroke which you are about to make.

Like

The player's objective now is to follow the prescribed mechanics of the stroke and at the same time gain rhythm and correct timing. Many golfers have found humming or whistling some tune and strok- ing to this tempo a help. the swing music of to-day, you can improvise your own tune, but it is better not to improvise as far as the swing itself is concerned. Make the club pass over some cer- tain spot on the carpet which cor- responds to

make the ball and

sure the backswing is full and the finish correct. Once the mus- cles have been memory trained to the task you will have a better chance on the fairway.

(Copyright 1938, The Bell Syndicate, Inc.) Friday-Importance of Left Arm In Golf

This should have been

£

The wicket was described to me as being perfectly true and it cer- tainly did not play any tricks but the left-hander quickly struck length and was virtually unplayable. He was unfortunate at one stage to miss the "hat trick" as he took two wickets in successive balls, had a catch dropped off the next, only to clean bowl the same batsman with his next delivery. Civil Ser- vice were bundled out for 44 ind Colledge, who was run out, was the only man whom Paxton did not 'dismiss!

GOLFERS

"BOBBY” JONES CLUBS

INCORPORATE MANY FUNDAMENTAL AIDS

TO BETTER GOLF

1. "CUSHION-NECK”—Shock is reduced to a minimum

vibration is dampened.

lessened.

finger-fatigue is

2. GRIP The famous Jones "Formgrip" promotes freer

grip with better control.

Perfect balance ensuring absolute confidence in strokes.'

COMPLETE SETS OF WOODS & IRONS

On Sale at:---.

LANE, CRAWFORD, LTD., Hong Kong

MAMAK & CO., Kowloon.