GOLF "PROS."

Auckland Star, Volume LXVI, Issue 298, 17 December 1935, Page 9

GOLF "PROS."

SIX TRAVEL TO AMERICA,

AN AUSTRALIAN TEAM,

En route to America to play in some of the big competitions of the American winter season, and also to contest an international match there, a party of six Australian golf professionals are passengers on the Monterey, which arrived from Sydney this morning. Tne team are going' to America at the invitation of the Professional Golf Association there, and the tour is a sequel to the visit to Australia at the end of last year of the professional team from the United States.

The six players, who are in charge of Mr. H. Campbell, an amateur, as captain and manager, are: L. Kelly, W. Bolger, E. and G. Xaismith (cousins), V. S. Richardson and J. Cohen. They have been in the forefront of Australian golf fo/a number of years, though they are a comparatively young team, their ages ranging from 23 to 2(J. It was Gene Sarazen who started the ball rolling for an Australian team to visit the States, for after playing in the Australian championships he was so impressed with the play of Bolger and Spence that he donated £50 to a fund. The golfing fraternity took up the idea, and sufficient funds were raised to send a team away this year.

They will go to San Francisco and play in a number of "open tournaments in which the prize-money ranges from 1000 dollars to 5000 dollars; then in March they will meet an American representative professional team. This will be the second international contest, the strong team which came over from America for tire Melbourne Centenary having beaten the Australians last November.

In the Melbourne Centenary Open E. Xaismith finished in third place, tieing with Sarazen, a performance which gave him £100 prize-money. The pair, with a total of 290, were one stroke behind Leo Deigel and seven behind the winner, J. Thomson, both of America. Xaismith wanted two fours to tie with Deigel for second prize-money in the final round, and when he was trapped in the bunker at the 17th the error cost him £250.

The team went straight from the boat to the Maungakiekie links, where they will play local professionals this afternoon.