PROVINCIAL GOLF.

Auckland Star, Volume LXII, Issue 81, 7 April 1931, Page 5

PROVINCIAL GOLF.

KEENLY-CONTESTED SEMI-

FINALS.

MENZIES AND GEORGE WIN.

PLAY IN WINDY WEATHER,

A gusty wind made conditions more difficult in the Auckland provincial golf championship, which was continued at Middlemore this morning. Keen play was witnessed in- the semi-finals, and interest was maintained until the last hole.

The semi-finals saw B. H. Menzies beat H. B. Lusk, 2 up, and R. M. George defeat J. L. Black by the same margin. The final between Menzies -and George is being played this afternoon. In the words of his opponent, Lusk played the better golf, and was rather unlucky to lose his match with Menzies. The veteran found the bunker with his second shot at the first hole, and Menzies was one up. Lusk squared the game at the second, and took the lead at the third. Menzies squared it again at the fourth, but Lusk, who was playing good golf, took the honours at the fifth. The pair were square at the turn, but Lusk won the tenth. The eleventh was halved and it was not until the fifteenth that Menzies squared the match. The next two holes were halved, Lusk being stymied at the seventeenth, but at the last hole Menzies played a great second shot, which put his ball within 10ft of the pin, and Lusk eventually conceded his opponent the hole, Menzies winning two up. Both drove well, but Lusk failed to produce his best form on the greens.

In his game against George, Black ■ won the first hole in four to five and the second and third were halved in .fours. A four at the fourth allowed George t.o square the game, but Black came with a fine four at the next, to regain the lead. The sixth was. halved in fours, the seventh in threes and the eighth in four's. A win to George at the ninth made the pair equare at the turn, Black taking three shots on the green. Both missed putts at the tenth, which was halved in fours. Honours were again even at the eleventh, but George won the twelfth in four to five and the thirteenth in three to four. Black played much the better tee shot at the fourteenth, and won the hole in thrge, George getting into a bunker. At the fifteenth Black put in a fine second shot, but lost a golden opportunity of squaring the game by taking three putte. George went through the green to f he rough beyond and the hole was eventually halved in fives. A stymie allowed Black to even the match at the sixteenth, but he lost the seventeenth, where George holed an excellent putt. George played a poor second at the final hole, but Black took three putts and lost the hole and the. match, two down. In the semi-finals of the provincial handicap R. McCrystall beat H. F. Buckley at the twentieth, and T. Simpson beat R. Edmonds " three up and two. The game between McCrystall and Buckley was an exciting affair. At the nineteenth McCrystall drove out of bounds, but recovered well and a long putt allowed him to halve the hole in fours. At the twentieth Buckley drove two balls out of bounds, and his opponent took the game. The tournament is proceeding.