ON THE LINKS.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVII, Issue 292, 10 December 1936, Page 24

ON THE LINKS.

THE SEASON'S CLOSURE.

j MIDDLEMORE OPEN TOURNEY

TWO EVENTS TO COME. THE GROWTH OF SUMMER GOLF.. Only two events of importance remain before the curtain falls for this season's golf. These are the professional provincial championship and open day for amateurs, to be held at Middlemore at the "week-end, and the summer open championship tournament at the North Shore course during the Christmas holidays. Due to the weather recently experienced both courses can be expected to Vie at their best for the respective events, and the usual good entries may be anticipated. - Many of the leading amateurs have, of course, forsaken golf for the beaches, but a sufficient number of low markers arc available to make for interesting play. Postponed on account of bad weather, the final of Glendowie's summer cup Stableford bogey was got oft' on Saturday, when conditions were no great improvement on the previous week. WLaxon, winner, had a splendid total for the three rounds and his best card of 38 points was an excellent one. Laxon's successful end of the year spurt is reminisceut of his successes of a couple of sea- *" sons ago, when his handicap was reduced by leaps and bounds. An Old Sore. J. H. Earle (2), winner of Maungakiekie's bogey, had possibly a little the best of things on a summer handicap. Owing to the amount of run and other considerations, summer handicaps have been observed at various courses for some years past. Xow that courses have been more adequately bunkered a reduction to the bogey scale of three-quarters is possibly a little drastic on long markers, as compared with those of really low handicap. A slightly modified scale could easily be evolved, and-would ,invest medal rounds and the like with interest. Summer handicaps are not, of course, wholly necessary. They are, however, desirable if any semblance of interest is to attach to summer competitions. Each season —at the beginning and end, particularly the latter —the farce is witnessed of players on long and middle handicaps returning scores commonly termed impossible. However, it is not the intention to again traverse old ground, as the merits or otherwise of summer handicaps have been fully thrashed out in years gone by. Growing Golf Season. Generally speaking, mid-Xovember can be considered to mark the end of the official golfing season. But the season is a gradually lengthening one. Thirty years ago and more the handful of elderly gentlemen who, attired in knee breeches and club blazer, pioneered the' game here, were content to forego the battle with the spring growth in late August or early September. Yet on reflection not all of those gentlemen could be termed elderly, as it is one's privilege to still meet many of them, if not on the course then at the clubhouse. In the early days the prelude to the spring growth was the appearance of the daisies in their myriads. It was then that the fore caddie, long since forgotten, came into his own. In attendance at the spot where the- drive was likely to reach —according to the abilities of his employer—the fore caddie pressed a 6take into the ground alongside the ball and then moved forward to repeat the operation. There were other and more subtle means of overcoming, or abating the difficulty. • A number, possibly with Scotch blood in their reins, scorned the services of the fore caddie, and played with a'red ball. But grass is grass, and inevitably the enthusiasts were driven from the game in the early spring. Looking Backward. By. the. aid of mowers and many 6heep the old Auckland Club at One Tree Hill was able to maintain satisfactory conditions until the season's end, but that was all. It was a battle aimed more to check the trouble than effect the cure. At about this time the Haskell and other rubbercored balls had replaced the "Guttys," Silvertown, Obertown and the more recent pneumatic, which latter, when cut "went phut." There were in Auckland at the time onlj r two clubs, the Auckland Club, at One Tree Hill, and the then newlyconstituted Waitemata Club. Waitemata played over some of the most evil country imaginable, but boasted greens which were true and fast. To depart a little from the theme, the fubber-core ball upset calculations as regards distance, and it was comforting for those who had previously struggled for the bogey of six on such holes as the • old second, "ring rocks" (fourth), and "sheep pens" (eleventh) at One Tree Hill—and which are still in existence — to be able to occasionally hole out in the orthodox figure. Indeed, owing to the bad lies and difficulties, it was not until just before the war that the bogey of these holes was reduced to five. I recall the spectacle early in the present season at Maungakiekie of a youth with a handicap of 24 reaching the fifteenth (old. "sheep pens") green with a drive and Xo. 3 iron. His lamentations at missing the birdie four were eloquent testimony to the present age. My mind travelled back to the old "Gutty" days, when two grand shots would have left the player not over, but far short of the stone wall. Well might the incident have caused one of the old school, long since gone to liis golfing valhalla, to have turned in his grave. One wonders what type of shock absorbers the youth would have required had he been attacking a "Gutty" instead of the present-day ball. The old clubs with their liberal shaft and grip certainly tended towards softening the blow. But the purpose of these lines is being lost in the maze of conjecture. The Bad Old Days. The birth of the lengthening of the golfing season, or, as we now know it, summer golf, dates to about the year 1913. Middlemore >had been established in its new home for some four seasons, and had ■been kept in playing order almost throughout. Maungakiekie, as successor to the Auckland Club, numbered sufficient stalwarts to make their pleadings .heard, and 12 holes were kept, open at the hill. And what vile golf it was. Greens made bare by countless sheep and.opened into irregular cracks by: the relentless sun. Of the fairways—they were mainly tufts and dust —the least said the better. The scoffers came and looked on. The enthusiasts said little and accepted what was offering, even to the jeers, privilege of the prophet in his own land. It was from such small beginnings that the wedge of summer golf was driven. Progress in Auckland has, however, been relatively slow. Matters of finance have been a consideration so far a3 club executives were concerned, but the real cause lies deeper. Only three courses at most will allow of good conditions for summer play arid apart altogether this, our summer offers such widely varied interests that for the present golf must pay its toll. The position, of course, is different in the south and as far north as Wellington. Summer golf has, however, come to stay. At four of our main courses watering of the greens is undertaken and other clubs are contemplating' the step. At Shirley watering of the fairways .is an accomplished fact. It is no idle dream of the future that one or other of the local clubs will follow suit. This: will be the final step towards the emancipation of summer golf, 0; though it is idle to suggest but that for :h' n \ e time to come, golf must continue to t upon as a winter game. It is tVio A we derive pleasure from play in in >Aii Far from it. Summer linked I s ,' however, inseparably appeal °i utd °9 r Pastimes of greater gradually than K olf - We are is true hut't-i { vi? way f rom tradition " bUt tradition dies hard. glendowie club.

I j PROFESSIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP. i One hundred and fifteen players liave j entered for the open day tournament for amateurs and professionals to be played at -Middlemore next Sunday. The principal event will be the provincial professional championship over 36 holes for the Dunlop Cup. Following are the draw and order of starting, the names of professional players being preceded by an asterisk 0 a.m., J. McK. Wilson. S. H. Abel. K. M. Wilson, S. G. McCoy; iJ.4, *R. ISlake, H. Cullcn. \Y. Calderwood, W. It. Woolliouse; U.S. *F. llardman, C. N. Jacolisen, X. Salek. A. V. Shorter: 51.12, *E. .1. Moss. A. L. McLean. 11. Morpeth. F. Brown ; !).IG, *J. Mowatt, J. 11. Earle. 11. S. Bruce, G. Coltman ; 0.20, *F. Kutter. E. L. Bartleet, 11. D. Brinsden. T. Morpeth : 0'.24. *G. Melvin, 1!. G. Thomson, J. McCrystal, J. C. Mitchell ; "J.2S, *C. Woodroffe, W. Macindoe, A. Harvey, L. Bryant; 0.32. W. B. Colbeck, R. O. Gardner, T. E. Clark. G. H. Abel; *A. Murrav, \Y. A. Donald, I'. C. Savage. I. MacEwan ; 9.40, a R. D. Wright, R. B. Wilson, W. B. Souter, K. It. McCrystal ; 9.44, E. B. Brown. V. Masters. H. L. Rees, D. G. Macfarlane ; 9.45, *N. Bell, B. H. Menzies, P. G. Smith, H. Tidinarsh; 9.52, J. F. Brown, C. H. Archer, E. Hutchison. S. Livingston ; 9.56, *T. Galloway, A. Brown, C. H. Kniglit, R. G. Rainger. 10 a.m., *,T. Gibb, S. Bryant. C. G. Johnston, M. Fraser-Smith ; 10.4, *A. Girling. J. Swanston, R. Pacey, L. Martin : 10.S, *B. Smith, J. D. Slianley, J. Beatty, H. Moore ; 10.12, *A. Dyke, W. N. Abbott. A. H. Kirker, V. W. Wilson; 10.10, A. I. Johns, B. M. Hay, F. Macky, T. R. Brett ; 10.20, 11. L. Maeiiuloe, J. Farrell, K. A. Liddle, T. de Clive Lowe ; 10.24, H. ltoy, J. C. Grierson, M. Grierson, K. Shugar; J. 0.25, S. J. Bishop, C. M. King, S. Colegrove, A. C. Taine; 10.32, H. Preston, jun., I{. Phelan, A. Spraggon; 10.36, W. Blomfield, H. J. Preston, R. B. Clouston, H. Ibbertson ; 10.40, C. E. Howden, Sir H. Horton, I'. Howden, IJ. MacCormick ; 10.44, R. G. Tappenden, J. T. Tanner, G. 11. Pliilson. 11. W. Bennett ; 10.48. IS. Tonks, C. L: Hewson, P. D. Foster, 1!. G. Ross ; 10.52, R. J. Hamilton, A. .1. Carroll, C. Burgess; OTAHUHU LADIES'" CLUB. Result of bogey match played by members of the Otaliuhu Ladies' Golf Clul>: — A Grade.—Mrs. Kingslaud, 1 down ; Mrs. McNeely, 4 down. B Grade. —Miss M. Crawford, Mrs. Galloway, 5 down ; Miss Crawford won on a recount. A medal match will be played next Saturday iu conjunction with the second round of the Stableford bogey competition, players to choose partners.