ON THE LINKS.

Auckland Star, Volume LXIV, Issue 259, 2 November 1933, Page 21

ON THE LINKS.

WEEK-END EVENTS.

CLUB CHAMPIONSHIP FINALS

PLTJMLEY GETS AUCKLAND HONOURS.

(By RUBBEROORE.)

The morning showers of Saturday had a beneficial effect on local courses, and scoring was, on the whole, good. Especially was this the case at Maungakiekie, where the scratch score for the course was rather severely dealt with. The position was, however, accentuated by the fact that with many of the tees the discs were forward, an aspect that in the case of short courses, club committees might well pay attention to. For a time the S3—l4 —69 'by V. C. Keys looked likely to lead the field, but following the 90— 2.'5—67 by L. F. Rudd, N. C. Laud set the issue at rest with an excellent card of Si—lS —6li. The club president, J. M. Ellill'e, was also in the offing, as was Erie Tonks, who, though better known in the tennis world, is equally keen on the links. A. L. Morpeth had a good round of 78 to win the bogey, and needs only to concentrate on his short game to merit a much lower mark. At North Shore. At North B. E. Goldwater and A. W. Short out-distanced the opposition to tie with scores of 2 up for the bogey, while a triple tie characterised the playoff for the gold medal. L. Harrison's 70—6—'70 was a game bid, as the lowest handicapped of the three, and it is perhaps an unsatisfactory solution that the trophy should be bestowed as a result of a count back. Still it is becoming increasingly difficult to find means of satisfactory deciding ties, and R. Ash must not bo begrudged his luck in his win. Two who have performed well in club events for the greater part of the season in R- Horrocks and R. A. Spinley met in the Rainger Cup final, -but _ Horrocks quickly opened up a gap on his rival to win rather comfortably.

Auckland Club Title. Of recent years the fortunes have changed rather rapidly at Middlemore, and another new champion has arisen in H. Plumley. In the semi-finals E. L. Bartleet outplayed B. G. Thompson, while Plumley won rat'her sensationally _ from W. S. Ralph, who had been considered likely to repeat his win of two years ago. In the match between Plumley and Ralph the pressure really began to be applied at the thirteenth, where Ralph got down a long putt for the half in 3- At the fourteenth "Plum" played one of his famous curly spoon shots into the_ wind to finish some six yards from the pin, while Ralph responded with a grand iron to within about ten feet of the hole. With Ralph already one up the position looked serious for Plumley, but the latter holed his three, whereas Ralph missed, and the game had become square. A very fine chip «hot gave Plumley the fifteenth in four. Ralph having been short with his second, arid narrowly missed his putt for the half. Fortunes fluctuated at the sixteenth, Ralph's second having found the pot bunkers, while Plumley hit his second into the left guarding bunker. Plumley recovered cleverly to within four feet of the rpin, and in being one up had the position exactly reversed as was the case at the fourteenth green. It was Ralph's turn, however, to effect the 6ave, and he got dov-i a great putt for the four. The seventeenth was Ralph's all the way, and when he had reached the edge oif. the eighteenth green in two, as against two miss-hit shots on the part of Plumley, the match appeared over. Fighting grimly Plumley played a heroic third shot, which ho capped by holing a five-yard putt for a 4. Ralph, meanwhile, had approached to within about five feet of the hole, but Plumley's shock tactics proved too much. His putt slid past the hole, and the match was over. As events subsequently proved, it could be said that in that putt the championship was lost and won. The Finalists. There is not much, to be written of the final as Bartleet was so out of touch as for the match to have proved one-sided. Plumley's lead of 7 holes at lunch and his subsequent win is now history. Plumley's get-out against Ralph is typical of his play, and one must always be prepared for hira coming from the blue as it were. It is not ungenerous to say that he is unorthodox in style. He is liable to'be just as unorthodox in winning when in a tight corner. I a,m able to pay him no higher compliment than to add that he has unearthed more threes at critical last holes than almost any player I can call to mind. It is noticeable that his golf at the New Zealand championships has been of benefit to him, as he is not swaying his body as he did earlier in the season. _ One has pleasure on congratulating him on an immensely popular win. Bartleet's defeat should in no way be allowed to cloud the merit of his pla.y. m reaching the final. He has, moreover, been indulging in the doubtful practice of mixing tennis with golf, for at the week-end he will be appearing against the visiting tennis champions. It is to be remembered that each season Bartleet commences his golf only after Easter, and that by October his mind is again centred in tennis. Yet in the past couple of seasons he has defeated favoured candidates for his club championship; has won the Hislop Cup championship; arid reached the final for liis club title in two out of three years. The merit of these performances stands out more sharply when one reflects on the number of low-markers in Middlemore s championship. My view is that he has done splendidly.

Titirangl Tussles. At Titirangi, Gus Brinsden gave his supporters another heartache in just stalling off A. J. Good at the nineteenth hole to qualify for the final. The part that is not to be overlooked, however, is that Good was out in 37 and stood 2 up, and that on the homeward journey Brinsden had to unearth some good match play to square the match. The nineteenth was almost an anti-climax, as" Brinsden had a life with his tee shot, hit a second of doubtiul quality, and then brilliantly holed a long putt for the three. The happening was too much for Good, who promptly missed the putt for the half. Young and McCrystal had_ a fine match in the other semi-final, and if all that one hears is correct, Young had the edge of the luck on the day. McCrystal certainly was unfortunate that his second to the tenth should have received such bad treatment and kicked over into trouble. At the twelfth also fortune failed to smile on him, for a perfectly hit second into the mouth of the green broke abruptly into the righthand bunker. Young, who had miss-hit his second, and was fortunate enough to see his hall run through the fairway hunker, then played a superb approach and holed his putt for the win in four. At "The Wrecker" Young recovered grandly from a bad lie in the fairway, but on the green committed his one lapse for the day, having taken three putts. The seal was put oh the game at the short fourteenth, where, following a pulled tee shot, Young recovered with a splendidly judged mashie approach. McCrystal, whose first I '' y handy! to the pin,; made an overbold putt and missed the return, and so Young hecame 2 up again. The lad _ made no mistakes from this point, and m holing a chip shot at -the. eighteenth recorded a round of 72 for 4 up in the bogey. The feature of'his round on Saturday was ability to get down in two from 50 yards out. Otherwise he was perhaps not so accurate as usual with his second shots. It is perhaps something of a compliment to his abilities that one is found picking holes in a round of 72. Mitftfrcmore Juniors. The other main item of interest over the week-end was the final of Middlemore s junior championship in which C. Richmond showed himself a player of distinct promise. When it is realised that his tally for the morning round was only just over

BQ, the lot of C. F. Jones, who opposed him, can be the better appreciated. Looking back it seems difficult to realise that two decades have sped since Jones joined our small coterie at Maungakiekie in prewar days. The final of Middlemore's intermediate championship should be a good match, as by defeating K. Lusk at the seventeenth R. G-. Rainger has qualified to meet S. S. Wilson in the final. One now realises the import of the "horsey" talk between the two inseparables at Akarana at the week-end. Evidently it was a case of being put through a final preparation, which, in view of the day, was a rather drastic one.

THE PENNANT FINAL. TITIRANGI MEETS AUCKLAND. The final of the pennant golf competition between the Auckland and-Titirangi Clubs will be played at the Akarana Club's links during the week-end. The match was to have been played last week-end, but it was postponed on account of the rain. AUCKLAND LADIES' CLUB. Draw for monthly medal competition to be played nest Tuesday by members of the Auckland Ladies' Golf Club:—Miss E. Wilson v. Miss It. Roberton, Miss H. Cutfield v. Miss N. Noakes, Mrs. Henderson v. Miss MacCormick, Miss Macfarlane v. Miss Cooper, Mrs. Kissiing v. Miss Culling, Miss White v. Mrs. Wright, Mrs. Abbott v. Mrs. Buttle, Miss Marion Macfarlane v. Mrs. Towle, Mrs. Craven v. Miss L. Roberton, Miss Hamlin v. Miss G. Buddie, Miss E. Mahoney v. Mrs. Rainger, Mrs. E. B. Brown V. Mrs. Murphy, Miss L. Cutfield v. Mrs. Robertson, Mrs. Hay v. Miss Boddington, Mrs. Greer v. Mrs. Ralph, Mrs. Ferguson v. Mrs. J. Wilson, Mrs. Grant v. Mrs. Noakes, Miss Graham v. Mrs. Barstow, Miss Ballantyne v. Mrs. Rutherford, Mrs. Mathieson v. Mrs. Gorrie, Miss P. Buddie v. Mrs. King, Mrs. Barrowclough v. Miss Waller, Mrs. Buddie v. Mrs. Knight, Mrs. Trousdale v. Miss K. Fouhy, Mrs. Ring v. Miss Russell, Miss Kingston v. Miss S. Mahoney, Miss Wells v. Miss Rainger, Mrs. Ludbrook v. Mrs. Kirker, Miss Lever v. Mrs. H. W. Wilson, Mrs. Campbell v. Miss Upton, Miss George v. Mrs. Macky, Mrs. Carr v. Miss M. Fouhy, Miss McGovern v. Mrs. Foster, Mrs. W. N. Abbott v. Mrs. Frater, Mrs. E. Friedlander v. Miss Kelly, Mrs. Miller v. Miss Henderson, Mrs. Busing v. Miss Reid, Mrs. A. M. Smith v. Mrs. Moody, Mrs. Davis v. Mrs. Johns, Mrs. A. Friedlander v. Miss Gregory, Mrs. B. B. Wilson v. Mrs. Martin, Mrs. Jefferson v. Mrs. Hutchison, Miss Sonter v. Bliss Ruddock, Mrs. Watson v. another.

NORTH SHORE CLUB. The official closing of the North Shore Golf Club will be held on Saturday next, wlien a mixed foursomes will be played, players to choose partners and opponents. The presentation of prizes won during the season will be held at the clubhouse at 5.30 o'clock in the evening. AKARANA CLUB. The Akarana Golf Club will close its winter season on Saturday with a mixed foursomes match. Partners and opponents may be chosen. MANUKAU CLUB. The first event of the summer Reason at the Manukau Golf Club's links will be a medal round. The draw will be made for both women and men players at the clubhouse at 1.30 p.m.