LADIES' GOLF.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVIII, Issue 150, 26 June 1937, Page 21

LADIES' GOLF.

PENNANT GAMES.

A GRADE CONTEST.

MAUNGAKIEKIKS WITHDRAWAL.

The fact that only two teams are competing for the A grade pennant this year has robbed it of most of its interest. In 1935. the first year the pennant was competed for, five clubs entered teams, namely, Auckland, Titirangi, Maungakiekie. Akarana and North Shore, and competition was fairly keen. But both last year and this year Akarana and North Shore have withdrawn, leaving only three teams in the contest. This 'season Maungakiekie was unable to get a team together for the first two matches without robbing their B team, so defaulted to both Auckland and Titirangi, and. now has withdrawn altogether. Considering Maungakiekie has the second biggest membership in Xew Zealand, having onlv four less members than Auckland, the largest club, it seems extraordinary that it, and other clubs, too, in the metropolitan area cannot enter two teams. As there are only two matches to plav in the A grade they are being Jeft till the end of the season, when conditions are more pleasant.

In the B grade pennant matches played on Monday the Titirangi team had a surprisingly easy victory over the Auckland team, winning eight matches to two, two being all square. Local knowledge under the foggy conditions which prevailed early in the day may have been of some account. Both teams are now placed in equal positions, having scored two wins and one loss each. Last year these two teams tied with five wins, one loss and one draw each, and a play-off at Akarana resulted in a win for Auckland by seven games to three, two being all square. A separate match day for C grade players is an innovation at Middlemore that is proving popular. Hitherto the C grade plaj ers have been drawn to play together on club days and often found themselves playing among senior players, which was not a desirable state of affairs for anyone concerned and least of all for the beginner. There have been 22 entries for each of the two matches played, the first being won by Miss Z. Rhind and the second by Mrs. R. D. Horton. Miss Rhind was second to Mrs. Horton, being only two strokes behind, and won Mrs. J. B. Henrys' prize for the best score returned by a player under 21 years of age. This young player is often to be seen out practising, and her early successes are the just reward of her keenness.

Mrs. G. F. Ferguson appears to be getting back to her long game after losing it for a season or two, and continues to show goofl form. Her win against Miss H. Cutrield in the semi-final of the Hope Lewis Cup was a decisive one, when she carded bogey figures at several holes as well as a birdie 3at the fifth. No one <:ould better her score of 75 net in Tuesday's medal. Entries for the mixed foursomes handicap match play event at Middlemore close on July 4. Tin's event was first held two seasons ago, when Mr. and Mrs. K. B. Wilson were the winners, and last year Mr. and Mrs. W. A. Donald were the successful pair. At Akarana Mrs. Morison has done well to reach the final of the Koskill Cup and has to play Mrs. L. Kingsland, from whom she will receive eight strokes. She has w;on all her matches fairly easily, no one sivinjr her much opposition except Mrs. Lovell, who took her to the twenty-first. Miss I. McCready played a good round of 87 last week to reduce her handicap to 13- and as a result the Akarana Club has lost a valuable member ot its B grade pennant team, no player with a handicap of under 14 being eligible for play in B grade. Aucklanders may have an opportunity of seeing New Zealand's best players in action next year, as the Akarana Club has offered its course for the 1938 New Zealand championship meeting. Mrs. G. Hollis (formerly Miss Oliver Kay) is visiting Auckland and has been playing at Middlemore and Maungakiekie. The ex-New Zealand champion will compete at the national tournament at Napier next October. Her handicap is plus one nowadays, gained on her own course at Hawera. There her best round against the scratch score of 74 is 70. j