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GOLF'S NO MYSTERY! A book for golfers and beginners By R. A. WHITCOMBE Open Champion With a Foreword by Peter Lawless Illustrated with thirty photographs LONDON J. M. DENT AND SONS LTD
All rights reserved Made in Great Britain at The Temple Press Letchworth for J. M. Dent & Sons Ltd Aldine House Bedford 5t London First Publlsbed 1938 Reprinted 1938 (twice)
FOREWORD 7 NOTE BY AUTHOR 13 I. BREATHE YOUR WAY TO SCRATCH 15 II. THE TIGERS STRETCH THEMSELVES 24 III. HIGHLY CONTROVERSIAL 28 IV. SHOPPING UNDER EXPERT DIRECTION 31 V. HANDS-FOUNDA nons-and HANDS 34 VI. OF VITAL IMPORTANCE-GRIP 39 VII. OFF AT LAST! 48 VIII. THE 'BREAD-AND-BUTTER' STROKE 53 IX. THAT LEFT ARM! 57 X. MORE LEFT ARM 62 XI. THOSE THEORIES AND CATCH-PHRASES! 65 XII. EXAMINATION AND REVELATION 69 XIII. NOW FOR THE WOODEN CLUBS. 74 XIV. 'WELL, I HAD A MOST AWKWARD STANCE. 82 xv. 'THEN I WENT FROM BUNKER TO ROUGH AD.' 89 XVI. THE MAGIC CIRCLE 97 5
6 CONTENTS CHAP. PAGE XVII. ROLLING 'EM IN-'IF I COULD ONLY HAVE PUTTED 10 7 XVIII. 'NONSENSE! I LIKE WIND' 114 XIX. DON'T SNATCH! lib xx. TIGERS AND RABBITS 121 XXI. BACK TO BREAD-AND-BUTTER 126
F THE IDEAL HITTING POSITION
IT is an old saying of the game that a man who can putt is a match for any man. My own view is that the man who can get down in two from anywhere just off the green is a far more dangerous player than the man who is a good putter only. If you can get consistently near the flag with your shots you are giving yourself much better chances than he who only holes long putts. If you can play your approach shots well enough you won't have any long putts to hole! That is why I urge you to devote more time to practice round the green than to any other part of the game. Whenever you go out for that odd half an hour in the evening, take your No.6, your putter, and half a dozen balls, and try and get them down in two strokes, starting from just off the green and gradually working further and further back, and playing your No.6 shots as you would long putts. To imagine the flag as being the centre of a circle and make up your mind.to get the ball into the circle is quite a good G 97
method to adopt, and as your confidence grows with success so can you decrease the size of the circle. You will find that the short game is the part in which you are likely to fail when first you start playing matches. You may find that your long shots are as good as those of much lower handicap players than yourself but that somehow or other those players always seem to get down in one less than you do. That is because of all golf the short game takes longer to become proficient in than any other, and it is the first part to go wrong when you do not play for a week or two or-though I hardly like to mention it-when you have had a few late nights! You can come back after an absence from the game, or play when you are not feeling at your best, and hit your long shots as well as ever. It is the short shots that will find out your weakness. You have got to have perfect control of yourself and your club to play these shots which demand great accuracy. If you go out to playa few shots before playing a round, I recommend that you start off with short ones. They will make you concentrate and steady you down far more than slogging wooden club shots will do. But it is worth remembering that few practice greens bear any resemblance in pace or texture to the greens on the course, so
don't get into the way of always practising on them.. Incidentally I would remind you that if you play any shot up to or on a green on the course prior to taking part in a stroke competition you are disqualified. This does not apply in match play. The three shots to be learned are the pitch, the pitch-and-run, and the run-up. The little tiddley ones, the perfect playing of which is of the greatest value in golf to every player, are generally referred to as 'chips.' If you are to be a successful player it is essential that you have all three shots at your command. Obviously the easiest one to play is the pitchand-run, in which, as the name explains, the ball runs on after it has pitched-just the ordinary shot that anyone would try to play who knew nothing about the game at all. But circumstances do not always permit the simple, straightforward shot; there may be a bunker or rough in the way, and then you have to pitch over the obstruction on to the green. And the nearer the flag is to the obstruction, and the wider the obstruction, the more difficult the pitch becomes. The run-up is a highly artistic shot, and of value in wind. With it the ball is kept close to the ground, and most of its progress is actually along
the turf. In ordinary circumstances the best club to play it with is a NO.5. The first thing to do when an approach shot becomes necessary is to go forward and study the ground between the ball and the flag. A bit of unnoticed soft ground may pull up dead even the perfectly executed shot and there are all sorts of little humps and hollows which may turn the ball off its course or make it shoot forward well out of holing distance. Having studied the ground, make up your mind what type of shot you are going to play, and having made up your mind form a very clear mental picture of what the shot will look likehow high it is to go, where it is to pitch, and how much run it will have. Make quite sure about the place it will land, for every foot out that you are in your plan, or in your playing of the shot, will mean that the ball will be a yard further away from the flag than you hoped. The general rule-of-thumb idea is, wherever possible, to pitchjust on the edge of the green and let the ball run the rest. Until you are much advanced and have very definite ideas of your own about clubs I recommend you to play all your short game with a No. 6 iron. I do myself, and am quite certain that by sticking to the one club I 'm far better off
than trying to employ a variety of clubs. There are some very good' chippers' on the market, but they all mean more clubs in your bag and more clubs to learn to play with. Now as to the shots and the method of playing them. More than ever now I want you to realize that the right hand is the complete master. In fact, it is not at all a bad plan to practise quite a lot with the right hand only. The next thing to appreciate is that the ball has got to be hit absolutely truly and sweetly. Look at the back of the ball, really and truly look at it with your eyes wide open, and be certain you know exactly where you are going to hit. So make sure that you are looking at it-and not only conscious that it is there-a good plan is to study the marking on it. The chip is the first one to play. Here you stand with the feet close together, the stance a little open with the feet pointing towards the hole and the body turned more than three quarters towards it. The ball is opposite the right foot. The shot is played entirely with the wrists. To some people the stroke presents little difficulty. Those are the lucky ones with a delicate sense of touch. Others will have to work really hard to achieve the delicacy which is necessary:
There are one or two highly important points to be observed. The first of these is that the club face is kept 'closed,' which, as you have by now become familiar with the terms, means that the club face is kept turned towards the target all the way on the back-swing, by the simple expedient of not letting the forearms turn outwards away from the line of flight. The next thing is that the club follows through straight on the line to the target and still with the face towards it. Finally, and this is probably as important as anything, the club must not be snatched up towards the sky. It should be taken back quite slowly and kept as parallel with the ground as the natural bend of the right wrist allows. If this is done the club face strikes the ball, following a very slightly descending path so that it just grazes the turf as it follows through on thefar side of where the ball was. The margin between the good shot and the bad, as you will see, is a question of a minute fraction of an inch. Don't then in this, or in any other shot for that matter, but in this one above all, let that heavy head of yours bob or jerk up. If you do, sure as eggs are eggs, you will stab the club into the ground behind the ball. And if there is a more
THE MAGIC CIRCLE 103 infuriating method of throwing away a stroke I have yet to find it! Now, because I have given you special directions for playing this shot, do not at once make of them hard and fast rules; you may have some queer stances to play from or the ball may be on a slope. Adopt the general principles of the shot: wrists only providing the action, the club face square to the target throughout the shot. Study the loft of the club in conjunction with what it is supposed to do. Get a clear picture of the shot you want it to play. If everything is right in your mind and the shot doesn't come off, that's your fault and not the club's. Practise the shot the next time you go out, and remember exactly what you were doing when you got it perfect. As you get further and further away from the hole the more does the shot become the' breadand-butter' shot, and, in consequence, inch by inch the feet get further apart and the ball is addressed nearer and nearer the middle of the body. So far it has been all plain sailing. There is nothing in front of you and the flag is in the middle of the green. But that is not always the case or golf would be a very much more simple game. Now you've got to learn to pitch the ball and control it when it lands.
104 GOLF'S NO MYSTERY! I told you in your bunker play how to execute the 'skid' shot. The pitch shot is played in the same way, but unless the ball is lying exceptionally well or exceptionally badly I do not recommend the flat-soled club to play with. You may playa series of shots with it successfully and think it an easy club to use, for its big loft will help you in your endeavour to make the ball stop. But sooner or later it will let you down. Stick to your No.6 and learn everything you can about its powers. To play the pitch shot, take up your stance as though you were going to hit the ball right away far left of the flag. Then put the sole of the club on the ground and turn the shaft in your hands until the face is towards the target you are aiming at. Then swing the club parallel with your feet. Again let me warn you that it is not the least use opening the club face by turning your forearms. It is the club that must be turned. This shot you must practise and practise at every length. The 'bread-and-butter' shot is the basis of golf. Next in importance is the pitch, and until you can play it with complete confidence you will never be a really first-class golfer. Once you have mastered it you have control of the ball after it has pitched. And to make the ball stop near.
THE MAGIC CIRCLE 105 the hole, as you see, is of tremendous importance to you. The run-up is a splendid shot to be able to play. In wind it is invaluable. On courses baked hard by summer sun, and especially those where the greens are not watered, you will find it a true friend. The strongest gale has little effect upon it. The method of playing it differs from the 'bread-and-butter' shot in that the club is not taken back in the natural arc. It is taken back so that it keeps parallel with the ground, or as parallel with the ground as is humanly possible without introducing tension. The ball is addressed opposite the right foot but the hands are held well forward, practically opposite the middle of the body, so that the club face loses its loft. In playing the shot the club face is well opened on the back swing. Then at the moment of contact the forearms are consciously rolled inwards so that the club face is completely closed and the weight is well forward on the left foot. Turning a key in a lock has often been described as the action to be copied by the right hand. The wh<?lestroke must be smooth. Any suggestion of a stab or jab will bring failure. Any.form of descending blow will cause the ball to
rise with back spin, and that is the one thing you are striving to avoid. Properly executed it is one of the most artistic shots in the game and gives great satisfaction. The ball rises little from the ground but runs on and on. As you progress with the shot you may desert your No.6 iron and play it with a NO.5, which is really better suited to the purpose. But you will find that the longer the shaft of a club the more difficult it is to play delicate shots, which, like all golf, is only common sense. In concluding this chapter on the short game I want to impress on you that in any sort of wind it is no use knocking the ball up against the wind and hoping that your ball will fall somewhere near the pin. You may be lucky sometimes but the man. with the shots at his command will always beat you in the long run.
ROLLING 'EM IN-'IF HAVE PUTTED... ' I COULD ONLY I SUPPOSE putting is the part of the game about which more has been written than any other. Theories galore have been produced, and argument after argument goes on about it wherever golf is played. Players get themselves into a variety of positions, many of them totally unsuited to the purpose, and the ball is putted off the left foot, off the right foot, from opposite the middle. Some players endeavour to putt the.ball with the left hand, some with the right, others with both, while I have seen one prominent amateur putt one-handed with a club of which the shaft is only eighteen inches long. A few players turn the stroke into a croquet one, facing the hole and hitting the ball forward from between their feet. Only the wrists are used by some players; wrists and forearms have their devotees. One school bend over with their elbows crooked and make. the putt a definite shoulder movement.!o7
Look, too, at the unending stream of putters which comes on the market. There are steelbladed putters, wooden putters, aluminium putters, hickory shafts and steel shafts, long shafts, short shafts, medium shafts, round shafts, square shafts, oval shafts. All this preparation and special paraphernalia to roll a ball over specially prepared turf into a hole! There is no mechanical method of putting. The ball must be 'worked' into the hole. The line you select is all-important, every little fall or rise must be taken into consideration. The edge of the hole also requires your attention, for it may be that it is not absolutely fiat with the surrounding green; or it sometimes happens that the grass is a little longer just around the edge. r find it extremely difficult to advise you how to putt. It is a part of the game in which if my method does not at once seem to you the natural one you must work out your own salvation. The one thing r can say with certainty is 'Be natural.' Once you start adopting any exaggerated methods you are storing up trouble for yourself. You may be highly successful for a time doing something unusual, but the moment that method breaks down you cannot repair it and, as it was not natural, no one can help you.
FROM awkward stances it is as well to pass on to the bunkers and other difficulties which go to make up a course. It was said of that great player, the late Harry Vardon, that in his prime he played for some years without being off the fairway. To none of us is given that perfection. Troubles come to golfers as the sparks fly upwards. There is a tremendous lot of luck in the game of golf. You may find your ball two inches off the fairway yet in an almost unplayable place. Another time you knock one into a mass of gorse and yet find it lying on a clear patch of good turf. The most perfect drive may finish in a hole made by some other fellow's club. And here I ask you from your very earliest days of play always to do everything you can to clear up after you. If you dig up a piece of turf-a divot-make sure that you pick it up, or make your caddy do it, and put it back where it came from, treading it down firmly after you have done it. In bunkers never fail to smooth out the 89
go GOLF'S NO MYSTERY! sand after you have played your shot. Walk out of the bunker backwards so that you can wipe out all traces of your having been in it. As you go round you will find that many of your fellows have gone on their way leaving their traces behind them, and their carelessness is certain to cost you a stroke or two. There are few more aggravating experiences than to find your ball in a bunker and in the deep hole made by a heavy golf shoe. If you watch any professional golf you will see with what great care we all do our best to give the other fellow his chance. The same applies to our leading amateurs, and I think you may take it that the better the golfer the more pains he takes to clear up after him. The first advice I give you about trouble of any sort is to get out of it as easily as you can. Don't let your imagination run away with you when you picture your recovery shot. Get out of your mind spectacular shots with wooden clubs, long, marvellous shots which reach the green. The temptation is always there to try and do far more than the greatest golfers could possibly hope to bring off with more than a hundred to one chance of success. Get back on to the fairway at all costs, or from a bunker guarding the green get on to some part of the green. Often you will find that the direct route to the flag is a more
'r WENT FROM BUNKER TO ROUGH' 9 r difficult one to follow than the others. Always take the easier route. You may lay the next one dead if you 're out of your trouble, but if you stop where you are at your first attempt it's a clear shot wasted. The first trouble you are likely to meet is the rough lining the fairways. This will be either long grass, heather, or gorse. Grass, of course, may be of any length. On most championship courses it comes well up the shins and does really make a severe hazard. On most members' courses it is kept fairly short. But whatever its quality it will test all your cleverness to get well clear of it. To play out of any rough the ball must be addressed opposite the centre of the body so that, as far as possible, you get the power of the blow to the ball before the grass impedes the club. The next point is the face of the club. This, according to the testing nature of the ground, should be 'opened' -which, as I have explained, is turning it outwards away from the line of flight. You alone can decide what club to take. The stiffer the grass the heavier the club. And the smaller the face of the club the less there is for the trouble to cling to. Above all, take one powerful enough to ensure getting out. Your chances of getting any great distance are small, and to take
92 GOLF'S NO MYSTERY! a NO.2 iron on the off-chance of getting a long way when you know that you really want a NO.7, or a blaster, is simply asking for trouble. Don't slog. Play your' bread-and-butter' shot. Above all avoid stabbing at the ball. Force the club through on the line to the hole. Heather opens a very different proposition. It is powerfully clinging stuff, and in most cases, except where you get a lucky lie, it is wise to turn towards the fairway and play back on to it by the shortest possible route. In heather you must STAB the ball. Make no attempt to follow through. Keep your head, refuse to be flurried. Take a very careful look to be certain where you are going to deliver the blow and get on with your most powerful butchery. It is the most inartistic shot in golf, and the more controlled brute force you can bring to the job the better. But in this shot as in all others: have a clear picture in your mind of the shot you are going to play and then play it. Aimless hacking at the countryside is worse than useless and may upset your calmness. Golf is a leisurely game and must be played as such. Sigh before you hit, I advised you. You will find the advice invaluable in playing out of heather and kindred troubles. Bunkers for the most part are sand bunkers, and.
'I WENT FROM BUNKER TO ROUGH' 93 it is well to realize from your earliest days that when you address your ball you may not put your club on the sand. If you do you are penalized. For playing out of bunkers there is a club generally known as a sand iron. The sole of it, instead of having a sharp cutting edge like the niblick, is broad and flat and slightly lower at the back than the front so that it skids on the sand instead of digging into it. This is a most valuable club and I strongly advise every player to get one at the earliest opportunity. It has not been in general use many years. In fact, when Gene Sarazen, the American, won our Open Championship at Prince's, Sandwich, in 1932 with the record score of 283, he afterwards attributed much of his success to the fact that he was one of the few players in the field to possess a sand iron. The sand iron is a big-headed and very heavy. club. In spite ofthis it is possible to play delicate shots with it as well as blasting out of heather, bracken, and other of the tougher troubles. The shot to play with it from a bunker whenever the ball is not lying embedded in the sand is the' skid shot' -a shot with which the ball is picked up cleanly with the face of the club as the sole skids along it..in taking up the stance to play this shot the
94 GOLF'S NO MYSTERY! club face is made to face the target but the feet are turned well away in an open stance and the hands follow them. But as the hands do so they allow the shaft to remain stationary so that the J CLUB FACE TOWARDS TARGET; HANDS SWING PARALLEL WITH FEET club face is still towards the target. Here I must warn you against opening the face by simply turning the hands outwards. That is no good at all. It is the club which turns, the hands that retain their normal position: illustration J. To ensure that you have got the club held correctly it is always best to take up the grip'
'I WENT FROM BUNKER TO ROUGH' 95- outside the bunker-for you must not touch the sand with the club. Put the club on the ground, adjust your hands, play the shot over once or twice as you mean to when you get to the ball and then step down into the bunker. Once you are down there take up your stance and play the shot without any slamming or banging. It is a delicate shot of firmness and the club is swung parallel with the feet. If you have played it correctly, the ball will get up very quickly and fall almost without any run at all. By swinging the club across the line of flight you have set the ball spinning sideways so that it grips the turf. The loft of the club, too, has caused the ball to spin a little against the line of flight. It is not uncommon to see a ball drop on a damp green and spin back diagonally as much as a foot. This is a shot you have got to make yourself proficient in. In time you will learn how much to open that face to ensure getting the ball up quickly enough to get over the face of the bunker or any other obstruction. Once you have made a true friend of your sand iron you are going tosave many strokes. Play the skid shot whenever it is possible to do so. There are times, however, when the ball is.. not lying well enough to allow you to do so. The:
96 GOLF'S NO MYSTERY! ball may have fallen from a high shot and sunk in the sand, or it may have landed in the footmark of some thoughtless player ahead. Then you must play the explosion shot-that is, hit the.sand behind the ball and let the sand as it is propelled carry the ball out. How far behind the ball to hit you have to decide when you have.studied the lie. Sand varies in quality and all.sand, it is hardly necessary to say, is affected by rain and sun. In playing the shot the same principles apply as in playing the skid shot-open stance, open face, and the club swung parallel with the feet so that the ball is cut up. But whichever form of recovery you play, ensure that you do not top the ball and that you do not check the follow through. And yet again, let me insist that whatever your,troubles, you go about extricating yourself from them unhurried and fully master of yourself. Breathe deep and keep all tension out of your muscles. Brute strength won't make that club-.head move fast.
It is a book full of surprises, and much of it is certain to cause fierce controversy. Many will disagree wholeheartedly with his teaching, for the Open Champion is the iconoclast amongst the theo~fsts. But to d\sagree with an Open Champion~ and one who is a member of a great golfing family, and then pr9ve him wrong, is no easy matter.