WRIGHT WINS.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVI, Issue 243, 14 October 1933, Page 10

WRIGHT WINS.

AMATEUR GOLF TITLE.

H. A. BLACK OVERWHELMED.

TEN UP IN MORNING ROUND,

With the remarkable margin of 13 up and 11 to play, B. V. Wright (Otago) this afternoon won the New Zealand amateur golf championship.

His opponent in the final to-day, H. Black (Miramar), was not a semblance of the Black who won a memorable "battle against J. H. Young in the semi-final yesterday. He was outplayed from start to finish in the first half of the match of 30 holes, and seldom gave a glimpse of the resourcefulness in adversity which, in the past, has characterised his game.

Wright, on the other hand, maintained the brilliant form which he has displayed throughout tile tourney, and this is indicated by the fact that his round this morning was equivalent to a 73. Had he not taken three putts on three greens, two of them not more than 2ft, he would have been three strokes better—five under the scratch score of the course, 75. Black on only one hole of the 18, the long fifth, where his third shot to within 12ft of the pin was his only fle.sli of brilliance. He missed an opportunity at the eighth, where his opponent was in the rough with his tee shot and bunkered witli his second, but could only secure a half in five. On three other occasions on the homeward round fortune favoured him in getting a half. First Four on End. A sequence of wins over the first four holes gave Wright a very useful lead. Black was astray with his drive at the first two holes, and this fact really accounted for Wright winning them. The Miramar player's first tee shot was dangerously near the out-of-bounds fence on the right and kicked into the ditch, and he took three to reach the green. Wright drove to the edge of- the green, and although he took three putts to get down, he won the hole in 4 to 5. Slicing his tee shot, Black kicked down into the gully at the second hole, and in recovering went through the green; Wright was on in two, and got another win in 4 to 5. Trouble pursued Black at the next hole, his second being too strong, going through into the ditch at the back of the green. He played a provisional ball, but after locating his original one he elected to play it from a hazardous position. He did not extricate himself, and picked up, to give Wright his third successive hole. Wright played the better mashie to the short fourth, and, obtaining the three, was thus early 4 up. Black Wins His First. The Otago player experienced difficulty with his tee shots at the fifth and sixth holes, finding the fairway bunker on each occasion. Though he recovered at the fifth and was in position for his third shot to'the green at the 500 yards hole. Black's brilliantly judged third decided the hole against Wright. Capping off his effort with a 12-foot putt, Black [won his first hole. This recovery was short-lived, however, for after the sixth had been halved in five Black found the bunker at the seventh, the second oneshotter on the first part of the course. Wright took this hole in the orthodox three and went to the eighth 4 up again. Black Misses Opportunity. When Wright hooked his tee shot into the rough at the eighth and found the bunker with his second. Black had a chance of retrieving a hole. However, he was too strong with his second, and when he left himself a 6ft putt for a four ho was stymied, a half in five resulting. A brilliant three by Wright at the ninth increased his lead to five up, and at the next hole Black experienced further trouble. He sliccd his second into the bunker and lost the hole to Wright's accurate four. When Wright had played a mashie to just stay above the bunker on the edge of the raised green at the eleventh, Black for some unaccountable reason played a spoon, with a following wind. The obvious happened, for lie was 50vds through the green. Ifis chip back ran past the pin into the bunker below the green, but lie recovered to lay on the green seven yards from the pin.

Wright had an awkward stance in the bunker, and his approach was Oft short of the pin. He was.left with his putt to hole for. A.win when his opponent splendidly ran il< wji his long one for a four. Wright, however, was equal to the occasion, and increased his lead to seven up. . Another win seemed assured for Wright when he reached the twelfth green with a number 4 iron after outdriving his opponent by 70 yards. Black topped his brassie shot to the green, but chipped on accurately. Both were about eight yards from the pin, and when Black, who'putted first, lay two feet from the cup, Wright had only to get down in two for a win. However, he overran the hole by a .yard, and missed the return putt, a. half in five resulting. Wright had a "life" with his tee shot at "The Wrecker," just clearing the valley, but tho ball ran down the incline a little ahead of Black's drive. Both hit their seconds, brassie shots, accurately, but Wright's chip to the sloping green left him a putt of a foot for a four, which he obtained, and increased his lead to eight up. Black was lucky to scrape out of the short fourteenth with a half, for his masliie shot found the bunker well short, and he took four for the hole. Wright, who seemed assured of a three, slipped his opportunity by dramatically missing an 18-inch putt. A similar mistake at the next hole robbed him of another win, a half in five resulting. Play in the Rain. The beautiful weather which had been experienced throughout the tournament broke at this stage, and for the remainder of the day consistent rain fell. Wright retrieved his poor putting at the sixteenth, where he had to hole a sevenfooter for a half in 4. At the seventeenth the Otago player outdrove his opponent and was pin-liigh with an iron, while Black played a wood to reach the green, but still a considerable distance from the pin. Wright made no mistake with his putting and took the hole in 4 to be 9 up. Fortune favoured Wright at the last hole of the morning round, for after hooking his drive he liacl to play his second over the guarding bunkers. He approached too strongly, and his ball would probably have gone out of bounds had it not been arrested by a heap of soil which was " ground under repair."

Consequently, Wright was able to lift off this, and approached dead for his 4. Black had opened up the green better with his tee shot, only to hook fcffc mashie into the bunker, and this cost him 5 for the hole and saw his margin increased to 10 down.

The Afternoon Round, Only seven more liolee were reqiiirpj to decide the issue. Black did not re gain a hole from his opponent, and w a j able to halve only the nineteenth, twenty-first, twenty-second and twenty! fourth. Wright won the twentieth' twenty-third and twenty-fifth, thus in' creasing his lead from ten in the morn ing round to 13. Wright was dormie 12.when they went to the twenty-flfu hole (the short seventh, in front of ths clubhouse). Though both were gW with their tee shots, they chipped within range of a three. Black putted first and just missed, and lay a couple of inches at the back of the hole. WriVht ran a four-footer downhill into the cud and the game was over. " Despite the rain, there was a gallery of over 1000, which then awaited the play-off over IS holes (stroke) between E. J. Moss and E. S. Douglas, who had tied for the open championship an aggregate of 300. Amateur Championship, B. V. Wright (Otago) beat H. A Black (Miramar), 13 up and 11 to play'