Sport: Tips from Hogan

Can a novice learn to play golf from a book? The pros are always the quickest to say no. They are also the first to write the books. Last week one of the best of them all, grim little (137 Ibs.) Ben Hogan, published one of the best books of golf dos & don'ts. Some tips from Ben Hogan's Power Golf (A. S. Barnes; $3):

¶ The sand wedge is the club most novices neglect. Even when a duffer does buy one, he usually gets the wrong kind. He should choose one with a wide flange on the sole of the club. It makes one of golf's toughest shots (coming out of traps and bunkers) easy. It also helps make pitch shots simple.

¶ How to begin a backswing: address the ball with a little forward movement, or waggle, and let the backswing be a natural recoil from it.

¶ A way to hook a ball deliberately (e.g., to get past a tree): turn both hands toward the right when gripping the club. To slice, turn the hands the other way over the shaft.

¶ How to read greens: "If you can see a shine on the green ... it means that you are putting down the grain of the green. The ball is going to travel very fast . . . When I see a shine on the grass on the right side in lining up a putt, I play to the right even if I don't see a break in the green in that direction ... I know the grain is running from right to left." CJ "When playing mountain courses, remember that putts will always break away from the mountains. That is true, even if in 'reading the greens' it doesn't look that way to you." On courses near the seas, the greens break seaward. Reason: drainage.

¶ On wet days, throw away your brassie and one-iron.