USGA JOURNAL COMBINING TIMELY TURF TOPICS FIRST OPEN CHAMPION AND PRESENT DEFENDER First USGA Open Champion was Horace Rawlins, who won at Newport in 1895. Open Championship trophy, dupli­ cate of original destroyed in 1946. Defending Open Cham- pion is Lew Worsham. Courtesy St. Louis Post-Dispatch Courtesy o[ H. B. Martin COMPARISON Year.................. 1895 . . . . Entries............. 11 First Prize .... $150 . . Scores ............. 137f . . 1947 1,356 $2,000* 282$ * Excludes $500 playoff prize. t 36 holes. $ 72 holes. Won playoff with 69. ®U 8 G A JOURNAL TIMELY TURF TOPICS COMBINING PUBLISHED BY THE UNITED STATES GOLF ASSOCIATION Permission to reprint articles herein is freely granted provided credit is given to the USGA Journal, VOL. 1, NO. 2 JUNE, 1948 Through the Green................................................................... 1 How the Open is Prepared: George E. Armstrong.............. 4 80s Could Win in the 90s.......................................................... 6 Hints on Playing: Robert H. (Skee) Riegel and Mrs. Julius A. Page, Jr....................................................... 9 An Elder Statesman’s Warning: John Arthur Brown.. 10 Women’s Handicapping: Miss Frances E. Stebbins.... 11 The USGA Family Grows........................................................ 12 Timely Turf Topics: Fred V. Grau....................................... 13 Tournaments for Your Club.................................................. 19 A Single Code of Rules.............................................................. 21 Pam Barton. Day: Miss Margaret Curtis............................. 22 The Referee : Rules of Golf Decisions................................... 23 It’s Your Honor: Letters........................................................ 26 Subscriptions: $2 per year; seven issues per year: Spring, June, July, August, September, Autumn, Winter. Single copies—30 cents. Subscriptions, articles, photographs, and correspondence (except pertaining to Green Section matters) should be addressed to: 73 East 57th Street UNITED STATES GOLF ASSOCIATION New York 22, N. Y. Correspondence pertaining to Green Section matters should be addressed to: Plant Industry Station Beltsville, Md. USGA GREEN SECTION Room 307, South Building printed IN U.S.A. USGA COMPETITIONS Invitations for 1950 Invitations are welcomed from USGA Regular Member Clubs to entertain USGA competitions in 1950 and thereafter. Invitations for 1950 should reach the USGA office as soon as possible. Schedule for 1948 (Dates entries close in the schedule below mean the last dates for applica­ tions to reach the USGA office, except in the case of the Amateur Public Links Championship. For possible exceptions in dates of Sec­ tional Qualifying Rounds, see entry application forms. Championship Open Entries Close Closed Sectional Qualifying Rounds June 1 Championship Dates June 10-11-12 Amateur Public Links *June 16 Junior Amateur July 8 Amateur Women’s Amateur August 2 August 23 Team: July 17 Indiv: July 19-24 August 11-14 **June 27 to July 5 **July 19 to 30 Aug. 18 August 30- September 4 September 13-18 — V enue Riviera C. C. Los Angeles, Cal. North Fulton Park G. C. Atlanta, Ga. Univ, of Michigan G. C. Ann Arbor, Mich. Memphis C. C. Memphis, Tenn. Pebble Beach Course Del Monte, Cal. * Entries close with Sectional Qualifying Chairmen. ** Exact date in each Section to be fixed by Sectional Qualifying Chairmen. USGA Journal: June, 1948 1 THROUGH THE GREEN Polonius Played from Scratch The late Alfred Sutro, of San Francisco, was a student of Shakespeare and a golfer. For the edifica­ tion of dinner guests at the Presidio Golf Club in 1920, he delved deeply into early Shakespearean quartos—more deeply than anyone else had ever delved, it is said—and came up with an entirely new version of Polonius' golden precepts to his son, Laertes, in "Hamlet." It had always been understood that Polonius delivered his advice as Laertes was leaving for Paris. Mr. Sutro's discovery— which will go unchallenged by the USGA JOURNAL—indicates that Laertes probably was leaving to play golf. 'With the kind permission of John A. Sutro, we give below the super-early version, which his father vowed he discovered on an old galley proof of the original Shakespearean quarto: ^\nd these few precepts in thy memory Look thou character. Keep thine eye on the ball, And no ill-timed shot do execute; Be thou free, easy, but by no means jerky. Those shots thou hast and their adoption fried, Grapple them to thy game with hoops of steel; And do not spoil thy score with entertainment Of each new untried stroke. Beware Of entrance to a bunker; but, being in, Strike the ball that it may swiftly rise. Give every man thy hootch—have none thyself. Take each man's coaching; but reserve thy advice. Gay thy sweater as thy purse can buy, But not expressed in fancy—rich, not gaudy; For, the apparel oft proclaims the dub. Those amongst us who play really best, Wear mental raiments of hope and zest. Neither a boaster nor a crabber be; If thou crabbest, thou hast lost thy game, And boasting dulls the edge of fame. This above all: Raise not thy anxious head; Let the movement of thy rigid left arm coordinate with the dip of thy bended right knee, And it must follow as the night the day— That a great golfer thou shalt be: Enough—my blessing season this in thee. Michigan PGA and Amateurism The Michigan Section of the Profes­ sional Golfers’ Association not only has adopted a policy of adhering fully to USGA rules, but has taken steps to protect the status of amateurs in its amateur-pro tournaments. Among actions taken were a warning that any professional found guilty of giv­ ing money to any amateur would be sus­ pended from Michigan PGA tournaments, and a stipulation in accordance with USGA Rules of Amateur Status that amateurs may only receive prizes with a retail value of not more than $100. President of the Michigan PGA is Joe Devany, Grosse He Golf and Country Club. 2 USGA Journal: June, 1948 The Open is for the Players First Intercollegiate Match To the outward eye, the USGA Open Championship may seem to be just a show. The spectators, the marshals, the intense interest of press and radio representatives give it some of the aura of an exhibition. But Fielding Wallace, USGA president, points out in an article in the 1948 Cham­ pionship program that it remains one of the few sports events conducted primarily for the players. “In many sports today, more emphasis seems to be placed on side issues than on sport,” Mr. Wallace writes. “Thus, the modern measure of success is how many spectators there are, or how spectacular are the trappings of the contest, or how much money is bet, or similar secondary features. In other words, sport in many cases has become simply an excuse for something else. The tail wags the dog. “But to the players and to us of the United States Golf Association, the object is the play of the game—the end in view is the determination of a Champion. “It is a players’ tournament. It would still be a players’ tournament even if there were nobody around but the players, Riv­ iera’s members and the USGA ‘Badgers’ (as one wag whimsically calls us wearers of badges).” ! USGA Chairmen The following are Chairmen of USGA committees for 1948 as appointed by Field­ ing Wallace, President: Rules of Golf—Isaac B. Grainger. Championship—Richard S. Tufts. Implements and Ball—John D. Ames. Amateur Status and Conduct—Edward B. Leisenring. Membership—Daniel A. Freeman, Jr. Green Section—James D. Standish, Jr. Women's—Miss Frances E. Stebbins. Public Links—Totton P. Heffelfinger. Sectional Affairs—Totton P. Heffelfinger. Handicap—William O. Blaney. International Relations—Charles W. Little­ field. Museum—C. Pardee Erdman. Among the many tidbits of golf history uncovered in newspaper clippings presented to the USGA Musuem by Frank W. Crane (see “80s Could Win in the 90s” in this issue) is information regarding the first intercollegiate golf match in the United States. Mr. Crane, as golf writer for the New York Times, covered the contest, be­ tween Yale and Columbia, at the Ardsley Casino, near Dobbs Ferry, N. Y., on No­ vember 7, 1896. The original invitation extended by the Ardsley club included Pennsylvania and Princeton, but Pennsylvania was not able to get a team together and Princeton’s players were carried away by their en­ thusiasm for the imminent Harvard- Princeton football game and failed to ap­ pear. Therefore, the competition became a match between two teams, and Yale won by 35 holes. As was customary in those days, the match was scored by having each pair play out the bye holes and adding the totals. Roderick Terry, Jr., of Yale, was the low scorer with an 88. The Intercol­ legiate Golf Association was formed the following winter, and Yale won its first championship at Ardsley in 1897. The 51st collegiate championship, now sponsored by the National Collegiate Ath­ letic Association, will be played in June at Stanford University, in Palo Alto, Cal. Caddie Scholarships Fred Brand, Jr., Secretary, reports that the Western Pennsylvania Golf Associa­ tion now has six former caddies attending the University of Pittsburgh on scholar­ ships provided by the Association. Birdies and Dragons St. George’s Golf and Country Club, Stony Brook, N. Y., has an insigne repre­ senting St. George slaying the proverbial dragon with a golf club. Injury to Caddie The New Jersey Supreme Court has ruled that a caddie injured during a caddie tournament is not entitled to workmen’s compensation. USGA Journal: June, 1948 3 Trees and 3s SPORTSMAN’S CORNER The USGA Executive Committee was having a three-day Spring, business meet­ ing at the Pine Valley Golf Club, Clemen­ ton, N. J. John Arthur Brown, Club presi­ dent, was telling how par of 70 over the beautiful, world-renowned course had been equalled only once by any amateur in stroke play competition and never broken—how the late George Rotan in 1922 stood on the 18th hole one under par but finished one over for the hole and had an even 70, the amateur course record. Mr. Brown was telling how, for several years, Pine Valley has had a pro-amateur tournament, inviting about 20 pros for 72 holes of stroke play—how, in more than 1,000 rounds of professional play, par has been broken only twice—Ed Dudley with a 68 and Craig Wood with a 69. As Mr. Brown casually mentioned a 69 he had in a friendly game last August, there was heard in the showers the ghost of the voice of Charles Yates. The voice was singing a paraphrase of Joyce Kil­ mer’s lovely poem “Trees” which Charley concocted when playing in the 1936 Walker Cup Match at Pine Valley; it goes like this: I think that I shall never see A golf course tough as Pine Vall-ee, With trees and sand traps everywhere And divots flying through the air; A course laid out for fools like me, Where only God can make a 3. Never a Dull Moment Minnesota golfers apparently have found effective methods for placating golf widows and operating businesses by remote con­ trol. The Minnesota Golf Association, in any case, has gone ahead and published a schedule of 178 tournaments between April 26 and September 26, including USGA, PGA and WGA championships. A study of the list discloses that 28 days have been left free for putting on screens, mowing lawns, calling on relatives and visiting the office. X Courtesy of Cleveland News Lloyd Mangrum In the 1948 Masters Tournament, Lloyd Mangrum led the field through the first round with a 69 and continued his good play through seven holes of the second round. The eighth is a long, uphill par 5. After a good drive, Mangrum hooked his second shot into the woods. As he was taking his stance, with branches surrounding him, he stepped on a twig which extended from his foot to the ball. Before he could prevent it, the ball turned over. The minor movement of the ball might have gone unnoticed, but Mangrum played his shot, walked quickly out to the fairway and announced to his playing companion, Byron Nelson, that he had incurred a pen­ alty stroke. He went on to take a 7 on the hole and a 73 for the round, losing the lead and eventually the tournament. (The USGA Journal will welcome nominations for the Sportsman’s Corner in future issues. The calibre of the player does not matter.) Championship Broadcasts The National Broadcasting Company has been granted exclusive right to make radio broadcasts, both aural and visual, from the clubs where USGA Championships will be played during the next five years. 4 USGA Journal: June, 1948 How the Open is Prepared By GEORGE E. ARMSTRONG Chairman, Riviera C. C. Executive Committee for 1948 Open Championship When we estimated the time required for planning, preparation and conduct of the 1948 USGA Open Championship at the Riviera Country Club in Los Angeles, I was amazed to find that more than 10,000 man-hours will be spent. This is exclusive of work by the USGA and sectional asso­ ciations in conducting Sectional Qualify­ ing and Championship play. Fortunately, Riviera has had the in­ valuable cooperation of the Los Angeles Junior Chamber of Commerce. That or­ ganization is composed of about 1,000 ac­ tive young businessmen who are interested in sports and other community activities. At least 100 of them each will have de­ voted an average of 75 hours to the Cham­ pionship. The Los Angeles Junior Chamber of Commerce has the accumulated experience of 22 years in conducting the Los Angeles Open Tournaments, and has built an or­ ganization experienced in all phases of such an endeavor. As a result, the work has been widely distributed, with a large number of sub-committees each assigned to particular duties. Another favorable factor is that the Los Angeles Open has been held at Riviera eight times in the last 19 years—four times in the last four years. In 1925 the late Mr. Frank Garbutt, president of Los Angeles Athletic Club, which owns Riviera, and Mr. William May Garland conceived the idea of building what they visualized would be one of the finest golfing layouts in the world. They determined upon a site about 17 miles west of the main business district of Los An­ geles. They purchased extensive acreage, including a wide branch of Santa Monica Canyon. Mr. George C. Thomas, Jr., was em­ ployed as the golf architect. He had as his assistant Mr. William P. Bell. The terrain required extensive grading and filling. Thousands of cubic yards of fine soil were hauled in. Locations for various greens were built up as much as 26 feet above original grade. George E. Armstrong Lansing Brown Photo Riviera perhaps was the first golf course completely piped for irrigation without use of hoses. Several thousand trees were planted to mark off fairways. In many places the fairways are rather narrow, and these, to­ gether with the 7,020-yard length and dozens of sand traps, make the course a real championship test. As soon as the USGA formally awarded the Open to Riviera, an executive com­ mittee of nine was formed. Mr. Thomas Marr was appointed chairman of all the activities under the Junior Chamber. That work in turn was subdivided among about 27 sub-committees. Committeemen of the Junior Cham­ ber distributed pre-season tickets to golf clubs, driving ranges, business clubs and other outlets. Through the Industrial sub­ committee, several hundred industrial plants, motion picture studios, etc., were given opportunity to buy blocks of tickets. Publicity was given by various means, in- USGA Journal: June, 1948 5 Ready for the Open Lathrop-Silvera Studio Willie Hunter, professional at the Riviera Country Club, Los Angeles, stands at the first tee as if to welcome contestants to the course for the 48th USGA Open Championship. He was British Amateur Champion in 1921. eluding the Speakers’ Bureau. they provide ample parking. Riviera members will make a great con­ tribution to the Championship through the exacting work of marshalling. Innumerable other details were connected with the planning, such as arranging and setting up scoreboards, communications from the course to report scores, telephone and telegraph wires, roping and marking the course, hotel accommodations, trans­ portation, designing and securing tickets and badges, traffic and parking. The park­ ing problem is simple because Riviera’s builders arranged three full-sized polo grounds adjacent to the golf course, and The very important work of scoring for the competitors is being handled by Mrs. George Midgley and her corps of women. Mr. Willie Hunter, Riviera professional, supervised the work of putting the course in tip-top condition for the Championship, in accordance with USGA suggestions and specifications. The USGA has contributed greatly in making our work easy and pleasant, par­ ticularly through advance visits by officers and through its Golf Championship Man­ ual, which sets forth the experience gained in 54 years of conducting championships. 6 USGA Journal: June, 1948 80s Could Win in the 90s The first golf reporter in the United States is believed to be Frank W. Crane, who joined the New York Times late in 1894 and covered all tournaments in the New York area until World War I. Re­ cently, while browsing through his effects, Mr. Crane discovered a book of clippings he had preserved for reference during the earliest years of the USGA. Thinking they might be “of some interest” today, he presented the book to the USGA Museum through Mr. Charles C. Auchin- closs of the Museum Committee. When Mr. Crane, who is now 81, said the book might be “of some interest,” he understated the case. The clippings were taken not only from his own writings in the Times but also from the Herald, World, Sun, Tribune, Philadelphia Times, Utica Observer, Chicago Trib­ une and Harper’s Weekly. The earliest is dated October 19, 1894, and describes the victory of Lawrence B. Stoddard over Charles Blair Macdonald in the “Amateur Championship of the United States” at the St. Andrew’s Golf Club, Yonkers, N. Y. This was one of two such events held that year, the other having been at the Newport Golf Club in September. The existence of two “champions” in the same year led to formation of the USGA, and Mr. Crane’s clippings cover all aspects of the game in those days, in­ cluding the birth of the USGA and its first two years of championships in 1895 and 1896. Almost every report is lengthy and de­ tailed. It would be difficult to imagine a more valuable contribution to source ma­ terial on the early history of American golf. Even for those who are not his­ torically minded, the descriptions are good for many a quiet chuckle. Many golfers know, of course, that King James II persuaded his Parliament to make the playing of golf unlawful in Scotland in 1457. But it is not so com­ monly known that early American clubs were waited upon by the law for violating the Sabbath by playing golf. In 1896, the Greenwich (Conn.) Citi­ zens Association became “scandalized by prominent and wealthy men dressed in red coats, white trousers and red hats going to the golf club grounds through public streets while the church bells are ringing,” and petitioned the club to close on Sundays without requiring the Association to resort to the law. A 20-Foot Drive In the same year, the New Jersey Vice and Immorality Act was called down on the heads of Englewood Golf Club mem­ bers, and Edgar Jewett was haled into court for having violated the Sabbath laws by playing golf. The chief of police testified that he had seen the defendant “hit at a little ball with a shinny stick.” He added that it went about 20 feet, at which the assembled golfers laughed uproariously. The judge, a non-golfer, was unim­ pressed. After pointing out that, if the obsolete statute were enforced, nobody could sing to the baby, give praise to God by means of organ music, or walk in the streets on Sunday, he praised golf for its ethics, freedom from boisterousness and its salutary effect on businessmen of seden­ tary habits. He found that the playing of golf on private grounds on Sunday did not per se constitute the offense charged. A year before, in 1895, a story in the Sun stated that “golf is swinging upward” and claimed 15,000 players in the United States. “The St. Andrew’s club was formally organized on Nov. 14, 1888,” the report states. “The first links consisted of six holes on the pasture behind H. O. Tall­ madge’s residence on Palisades Avenue in Yonkers. . . . “The advance guard was not long left alone . . . August Belmont is building a 12-hole course on his property at Babylon; Bayard Cutting has links at Islip, John Jacob Astor at Rhinecliff. . . . On the Hudson, too, are the links of Stattsburgh Golf Club, with Ogden D. Mills, Archibald Rogers and William Brown Dinsmore, Jr., as the ruling spirits, and at Poughkeepsie there are links on the grounds of E. N. Howells. . . . The game is also played at the Country Club of Westchester. USGA Journal: June, 1948 7 First Known Golf Picture Made in the United States Courtesy of H. B. Martin This photograph was made in 1888 at the first green of the original St. Andrew’s Golf Club, Yonkers, N. Y. The players were Harry Holbrook, Alexander P. W. Kinnan, John B. Upham and John Reid. Mr. Reid was the club president, Mr. Upham the secretary and Mr. Holbrook a governor of the first permanent golf club established in this country. The caddies were Warren and Fred Holbrook, sons of the player. The photo was made by S. Hedding Fitch. “In the New York group, too, are the links of the Meadow Brook Club, the Rock­ away Hunting Club and the Richmond County Country Club. The Tuxedo links are also in this group . . . and two more, each having the distinction of having been first projected by women, the Orange Mountain Golf Club and the Morris County Golf Club. . . . “Three more New Jersey clubs may claim a place—at Paterson, Hohokus and Glen Ridge, and there are junior golf clubs, a healthy sign, at both Summit and Mor­ ristown. Lakewood and Asbury Park have flourishing clubs. “The Boston group, in prominence and numbers, is next to New York, with the game well established at The Country Club of Brookline, the Essex County Club, Lowell Country Club, Myopia Hunt Club and about fifty other points. The game is well founded near Washington, Chicago, St. Louis, Cleveland, Pittsburgh and Phila­ delphia, in the latter group being the Phila­ delphia Country Club, the Bryn Mawr Col­ lege links, Devon Golf Club, Merion Cricket Club and the Germantown Cricket Club. "Then, by their importance and loca­ tion, sufficiently prominent to mention indi­ vidually are the Newport Golf Club, the Kebo Valley Golf Club, the Bridgeport Golf Club and the Shinnecock Hills Golf Club. There is a club at Denver, Col., and at Colorado Springs, while California has the game at San Francisco and San Mateo. . . . "Winter golfing was tried under unique conditions by the members of the Hohokus Golf Club, who played in January on the crust of the ice, using red balls and having excellent sport. (Winter golf also was played at Baltusrol and Lakewood). . . . “At Newport last year the championship muddle began that was one of the causes leading to the formation of the United States Golf Association . . . Newport’s championships were held in September, and the winner was W. Lawrence of the New­ port club, who defeated C. B. Macdonald of the Chicago Golf Club by a stroke. Later in the season, an amateur champion­ 8 USGA Journal: June, 1948 ship was held at St. Andrew’s, which was won by L. B. Stoddard, and again C. B. Macdonald was second. Arrangements for Messrs. Lawrence and Stoddard to play a decisive match fell through owing to the lateness of the season. . . . “An equal uncertainty marked the stand­ ing of the professionals at the end of the season. Willie Dunn and Willie Campbell had beaten each other in turn. . . . This season the advent of Willie Park, Jr., has upset all calculations, and Joe Lloyd, an­ other high class player from abroad, is also a factor. . . . Start of the USGA “The United States Golf Association, which has made the Newport champion­ ships next fall possible and which is to regulate the sport generally, was formed on Dec. 22, 1894, at a meeting in the Calu­ met Club attended by Theodore A. Have- meyer and Winthrop Rutherfurd of the Newport Golf Club; Thomas H. Barber and Samuel L. Parrish of the Shinnecock Hills Golf Club; Laurence B. Curtis and P. S. Sears of The Country Club of Brook­ line; John Reid and H. O. Tallmadge of the St. Andrew’s club; and Charles B. Macdonald and J. A. Ryerson of the Chicago Golf Club. The officers elected were Theodore A. Havemeyer, president; Laurence Curtis, vice-president; Charles B. Macdonald, vice-president; Henry O. Tallmadge, secretary, and Samuel L. Par­ rish, treasurer. “At present the associate members are the Chicago Golf Club, Country Club of Brookline, Newport Golf Club, St. An­ drew’s Golf Club, Shinnecock Hills Golf Club, the Essex County Club of Man­ chester, Mass., and the Philadelphia Coun­ try Club. . . . The playing rules of the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St. An­ drew’s, Scotland, have been adopted with a few local changes.” The story of the first USGA Amateur Championship final at Newport in October, 1895, ran about a half-column in the Times and describes a one-sided contest to an expected result, Charles Blair Mac­ donald of Chicago defeating Charles E. Sands of St. Andrew’s, 12 up and 11 to play. “Sands opened nervously, foozling his drives for the first and second holes,” it was reported. “Macdonald was by all- around good play 5 up at the end of the morning’s two rounds. After lunch the play for the second eighteen holes was in order, but it was entirely without feature, except that the Chicagoan won seven straight holes.” The nine-hole scores were : Macdonald, 44-44-44—132; Sands, 54-47- 60—161. In an editorial comment, Mr. Crane re­ ported: “Both men had professionals fol­ low them over the course to coach them and to advise, a questionable proceeding in what should be strictly amateur in every respect. Dunn and Tucker advised Sands, and Foulis coached Macdonald.” The first USGA Open championship was played on the same course the next day, when “the wind blew half a gale over the links . . . and fine play was impossible. . . . The champion proved to be a dark­ horse—Horace Rawlins of the Newport club, whom Davis brought over last Janu­ ary. He is a mere lad of 19, who was born on the Isle of Wight, but put up a great game of golf, especially in his two rounds this afternoon, each of which he made in 41.” Rawlins scored 91-82—173 and received $200, $50 of which was expended for a gold medal. Willie Dunn of Shinnecock Hills was second with 175 and won $100. “All that is latest and chic in golfing- attire was seen in the costumes of the players” in the first USGA Women’s Championship at Meadow Brook in No­ vember, 1895, the Sun reported. “Tweed skirts, cut plain and close and falling to the boot tops were generally worn, with silk shirtwaists, stiff linen collars and black silk ties formed into bows. . . .” Mrs. Charles S. Brown, of New York, who learned her golf at Shinnecock Hills, was the winner. The twelve entrants played nine holes- in the morning and nine in the afternoon. “Mrs. Brown’s score was 69-63—132, making the women’s record for the links,” the Sun reported. “It was said that the 132 strokes of Mrs. Brown was the best score for 18 holes that any American woman has yet made,” the Herald ex­ panded. Editor’s Note: Another article on the infancy of American golf, based on Mr. Crane’s scrapbook, will appear in an early issue. USGA Journal: June, 1948 9 HINTS ON PLAYING APPROACHING THE BALL PATIENCE AND PRACTICE By ROBERT H. (SKEE) RIEGEL USGA Amateur Champion 1947 Member of USGA Walker Cup Team 1947 By MRS. JULIUS A. PAGE, JR. USGA Women’s Amateur Champion 1937 Member of USGA Curtis Cup Team 1938-48 Volumes have been written on how to swing a club but very little about the best method of approaching the ball preparatory to striking it. Your manner of walking to your ball should be casual. Whether your drive was good or bad, your pace should be the same, your mind relaxed. Don’t sap your energy by worrying about your shots. When you reach your ball, study your lie. Judge the distance to the green, taking contour and wind into consideration. De­ cide whether your shot should be a fade or draw, high or low. If there is a cross­ wind, select a point to left or right of the pin at which to aim. After you reach these decisions, select your club. The rhythm and pace of your swing are interdependent with your speed of walk­ ing and, more important, with the few steps you take, club in hand, preparatory to taking your stance. Those steps and the “waggle” are an integral part of the swing—they affect the pace of the swing. The immediate approach to the ball be­ gins by taking an approximate grip on the club. Place the right foot first if you are right-handed. Before bringing the left foot into position, sole your club, mak­ ing sure it is lined properly, and look up at your objective. Then bring the left foot into position. As your left foot touches the ground, glance at the ball, waggle the club, look up at your objective and back at the ball, meanwhile adjusting your feet and grip to get the right feel. Then start your swing. The waggle—long, short; low, high; in­ side, outside—has a bearing on how you take the club back. Establish a definite pattern of thought and mechanics preparatory to hitting the ball, just as you try to groove your swing. I learned golf in a manner quite differ­ ent from that of most of my golfing friends. I never had a lesson from a professional— not that I do not have faith in our pros, but after I had started alone and de­ veloped beyond the beginner stage, Dad took me to several pros, and they advised that I was a “natural swinger.” However one may learn to swing, there are two words which describe the develop­ ment of every champion: Patience and Practice. You must have patience with yourself, first. Do not expect perfection in a day. If a pro is teaching you, be patient with him. He cannot teach you in one lesson. And do not force yourself until you are physically exhausted. The saying “practice makes perfect” has real meaning for a golfer. But the practice must be intelligent. Five minutes of thoughtful practice is worth hours of plain ball-hitting. Take a correct stance, use a firm grip, especially with your left hand, visualize the flight of the ball in relation to your stance so you know you are aiming at your objective and, above all, swing. Do not stop. Carry through and finish each practice shot. Another important quality is relaxation. This can be acquired. In addressing the ball, the feet should be flat, knees slightly flexed to release tension through the legs, and the waist bent to relax the abdominal muscles. The arms hang. The muscles of the fingers and hands grasping the club are the only muscles under contraction. The backswing moves into action the muscles of the right side by shifting the weight to the right leg. The left side re­ mains relaxed. On the downswing, this order is reversed. Thus the swing can be explained in terms of relaxation. 10 USGA Journal: June, 1948 An Elder Statesman’s Warning By JOHN ARTHUR BROWN President, United States Seniors’ Golf Association Late in June, about 400 golfers ranging in age from 55 to the 90s will gather again at the Apawamis Club, Rye, N. Y., for four days of serious play and not a little light­ hearted by-play. The occasion will be the 44th annual Championship of the United States Seniors’ Golf Association, which was started in 1905 and now provides an outlet for the golfing enthusiasm of 850 members from every State in the Union. Except as an ally in guarding the best interests of golf, the United States Seniors’ Golf Association is not connected with the USGA. Its members enjoy their own an­ nual reunion and crown their own cham­ pion. In their role as an ally, however, the Seniors take active interest in everything that pertains to the good of the game as they have known it for nearly half a cen­ tury. And, in this connection, there are three matters on which I should like to voice opinions. First, I think there must be a firm stand on the question of proper amateur status. There has been criticism in recent years about the amateur qualification of some players who have taken part in Walker Cup Matches and in amateur tournaments. You can’t temporize with a violation of the letter or the spirit of the amateur rule. The sooner this is recognized by our ama­ teurs, the better it will be for all. A break­ down of enforcement would be fatal to the game, and I am sure the USGA is in full accord with this. The second matter to which I wish to refer is the professional circuit tourna­ ments. The small group of professionals who take part have disregarded the rules of the game, both in the manner of play and the type of clubs used. I am glad to see that the Professional Golfers’ Associa­ tion has recently indicated an intention of following the Rules of Golf as laid down by the USGA. In my judgment, some of the wanderers have failed to realize that their livelihood is dependent on the good A. Chase Holmes Photo John Arthur Brown will of the golf clubs of America, who are represented by the USGA. Without the golf clubs, there would be no professionals. The last matter is the Calcutta pool. I realize this is beyond the USGA’s and the Seniors’ jurisdiction, but both organiza­ tions should do everything possible among their members to eliminate' this evil. A pool of $180,000, for illustration, is a bad thing for the game. We all know why, so let’s do our best to stop it. It is foolish to condone something which is harmful to the game. Let me emphasize that the USGA is the ultimate authority in the conduct of golf in America. All other associations, amateur and professional, are subject to its final jurisdiction. This is as it should be. If the USGA exercises firm control over the game, meets squarely the difficult questions which are bound to arise, and retains the spirit of the game, we will all benefit. The USGA has the whole-hearted sup­ port of the United States Seniors’ Golf As­ sociation in doing this. USGA Journal: June, 1948 11 Women’s Handicapping By MISS FRANCES E. STEBBINS Chairman, USGA Women’s Committee Since the USGA’s adoption of a new Golf Handicap System last December, the Women’s Committee has received numerous inquiries as to whether it applies to women. At present the system applies to men only. We are, however, now forming a spe­ cial committee to determine whether a separate course rating procedure for women could be established feasibly and if it would make handicaps more equitable. Our present handicap system for women is based on women’s par. In computing women’s par, the yardage figures recom­ mended are not arbitrary, because some al­ lowance should be made for the configura­ tion of the ground and any other difficult or unusual conditions. Further, the severity of the hazards should be considered, es­ pecially on a hole where the par is doubt­ ful. These provisions have made it possible to add a -full stroke to par on an unusually difficult hole. However, under the men’s new system, which is based on the playing ability of a theoretical scratch golfer, each hole is rated on a fractional basis. The rating is the average score the golfer should make for every ten times he plays the hole. Rat­ ings are made in tenths of a stroke. This part of the system appeals to me inasmuch as it gives flexibility to course rating. For the sake of discussion, let us take a 185-yard hole with a small green, severely trapped, and with a prevailing crosswind. Under our present women’s system we would have to call it either a par 3 or a par 4. Par 3 probably would be too low and par 4 too high. But under the prin­ ciples of the men’s new system, we could rate it 3.5. Using this procedure for the entire 18 holes, we would arrive at, I feel, a more accurate course rating. After determining the course rating, we would then take a player’s ten best scores over a year or a full season and apply the total of them to a special table for stroke play handicaps designed for use only with such a system of course rating. Under the Miss Frances E. Stebbins Bachrach men’s system, the ten best scores should be selected from a period of play covering at least 50 rounds. Using a player’s ten best scores, instead of five as under our present women’s sys­ tem, also appeals to me as it would seem to give a better picture of the player’s ability. As we handicap players for the purpose of establishing a fair basis of competition when players of different abilities compete, I would heartily endorse any system that would bring us closer to that objective. However, much study should be given the subject, and we propose to examine it thoroughly this season, meanwhile con­ tinuing our present women’s system. If we are to change later, we must be sure of full cooperation from all women’s golf as­ sociations. Without this, it would be most difficult to introduce a new system success­ fully. 12 USGA Journal: June, 1948 The USGA Family Grows When delegates to the 1948 annual meet­ ing amended the USGA Constitution, they made it possible for all clubs and courses to be members. Since then, the USGA family has grown to the verge of exceeding the all-time record of 1,154 members estab­ lished in 1934. The significance of this is not growth for growth’s sake. What really matters is a wider distribution of the Association’s services and increasing ability to improve them. Recently Fielding Wallace. USGA Pres­ ident, wrote the presidents of non-member clubs and courses and said in part: “To serve golf is the USGA’s sole aim. The USGA is a non-profit Association. Our officers and committees contribute their work just because they love the game— without pay or expenses. . . . Do you want a national authority for golf?” Most of the new members are Regular Member Clubs, composed of individual members who manage their own affairs through officers and committees whom they select. Most of them own or control their own courses; some are regularly or­ ganized clubs whose members play