A. R. JONES BEATS PAX SMITH AT MIDDLEMORE.

Auckland Star, Volume LXXII, Issue 88, 15 April 1941, Page 11

A. R. JONES BEATS PAX SMITH AT MIDDLEMORE.

A'b'lit.y to steer a straight course, rather than outstanding brilliance, was the deciding lactor in A. R. Jones' win over Pax Smith in the final of the Middlemore championship. Fresh to the ordeal of an open championship final Jones, last season's champion at Otahuhu, acquitted himself well. The win was deserved, as had Jones lost it would have been onlv as the result of inexperience. This was exemplified at the eightih green, where had over-anxiousness not affected Jones to cause him to approach putt' weaklv, lie would have become 3 up, and almost eurely uu e , t! i« match. Thereafter, athough m common with Smith, ho played a number of weak shots, Jones held on stoutly to finally win. 1 up when at the eighteenth Smirh half-hit a putt of perhaps four feet lor the win.

Jones began excellently, playing a grand second to the green and holing a putt of four or five yards for a 3. Smith had mishit his second, but essayed a grand ru "" la , shot to be left with a lioleable putt for the four.

Smith <3 troubles were further accentui_a i second, where, after having the hole apparently won, he pulled his putt slightly and knocked .Tones' ball into Uae hole to gain only a half. At the third Jones again fluffed his approach, and Smith, whose second was bunkered, recovered well and holed 'his putt to win in 4 to 6.

At the fourtfli Smith's second waa in the bunker at the left of the green, but - Jones was again very short with his chip, enaibhng Smith to halve in 5. Jon«s again drew 1 u p with a brilliantly plaved 3at the difficult fiftfli hole, his putt "of some seven yards being in all the way. S m it'll, too, played the hole excellently, but a 3 was beyond him. Smith ought to have drawn level at the sixth, where Jones' tee shot was over the river bank. On in two, Smith was over-bold with his approach puct, and. finding himself half stymied finally had to watch Jones get a hard half in 5 The honours were all witih Jones at the short seventh, where Lin better tee shot assured him the win in 3. . ,r P and with the eighth practically in his pocket, Jones appeared to have the match as good as won. One expresses it so because Jones' impeccable direction as compared with Smith's mistiming suggested that at that stage the leeway would have been too much to make up. Yet it was to prove a case of the glorious uncertainty. Jones, as already stated, let 6lip the golden opportunity—as thousands of others have done and will continue to do—and before he knew quite what had happened the match was square at the tenth. Shanking his mashie approach Jones lost the ninth with a six. Here Smith was in front of the green with hie second, but so jeopodised his own chances that he finally had to hole a putt erf a couple Of yards for a hard win in 5. On the tenth, however, he nonchalantly rolled down a glorious putt for a 2 to square the match.

Both approached weakly to tflie eleventh, neither of the seconds findinji the green. Eventually Jones holed yet another good putt for a 4 to become 1 Up. Smith, however, had little or no chance with his approach as his ball lay in a forest of tall paspalum at the green s edge. A half in five followed at the twelfth, after each had been in trouble with his second shot—Jones in the tall gum tree guarding the approach to the green, and Smith in a bunker.

Holding to his slender lead of 1 up, Jones won the thirteenth in extraordinary circumstances. Playing much the better tee ehot his ball just failed to land on the green and finished in the right hand •bunker. Smith's shot was half-smothered, finishing far to Bhe left of the green, but his approach left him only aibout four yards 'below the flag. Jones, on the other hand, was much too strong with his second, 'but then ran the ball down well from the top of the bank. Going boldly for the win in 3, Smith stymied himself and then required three more to hole out, thus presenting Jones with a vital hole.

Smith rallied to win the fifteenth in 5 after Jones had three-putted. At the sixteenth, .after hooking his drive into troUible, Smith finally chipped brilliantly over tilie mounds for a hard half in 4. Jones had played a shot of almost equal brilliance to Smith's, the ball sailing sweetly over the mounds, biting the turf and hitting tihe pin to lay dead. Smith's shot to save, however, was a masterly effort.

But the thrills were not yet over. Outplaying Smith at the seventeenth, Jones might well have envisaged victory as two splendid shots had left a four beyond doubt. But Smith was far from done. Walking boldly into the bunker, where his second 'had finished, lie played a gem of an explosion shot and halved the hole in 4. Dormy one down. Smith hooked his second to the eighteenth, but" Jones, who could be excused at feeling the strain, hit his mashie straight along the ground. Fortunately for him the ball stopped short of the cross bunkers, and he was enabled to put? his third on the green. How Smith missed the vital putt to keep the match alive has already been told. All will congratulate Jones on his win, as apart from all other considerations he was beset with a heavy task in opposing the ex-amateur champion. As for Pax, though we saw only flashes of the brilliance tli.it is his, even they were sufficient teward for the day's march.

Too Brilliant for Duncan. The semi-finals In the morning saw Smith play brilliantly to defeat the Remuera player, O. I. Duncan, 6 and 5, and Jones in a very steady mood to account for A. N. Young, 5 and 4. Smith reeled oft 5 fours on end often having a reasonable putt for 3. His opponent three putted on the front green when nearer the hole, and after this mistake became 2 down at the third, where he was through the green with his second, and 4 down at the fifth. Duncan was fortunate to get a half in 5 at the sixth, where his drive found the Tamakl. Smith played an erratic approach putt and any chance of holing the return was frustrated by a stymie. Smith's 3 at the seventh put him 5 up, but Duncan got a hole back with a birdie 4 at the ninth. He also won the tenth, when In exploding from thei bunker his ball struck Smith's caddie. smith? retaliated with a splendid second shot at the eleventh and holed a four-footer for a birdie 3. Another good putt on the 12th green for a four put him 5 up again, and he finished the match by chipping dead over the mounds at the 13th, when Duncan was bunkered. Duncan usually outdrove Smith, but was not as sound with his irons "or his putter. Smith was out in 37. ■ Jones, after making a good recovery from the rough at the first hole to win it from Young, had the advantage throughout the game. He played the first 9 in 39 and then had a substantial lead Results of other matches were:— Middlemore Handicap.—Semi-finals: W. S. G. Paton beat W. Wilson, 5 and 4; lan Wilson beat N. Mackenzie, 4 and 3. Pinal: Wilson beat Paton, 3 and 2. L Tamakl Handicap.—Final: R. E. Smith beat R. Davie. 5 and 3. . _ . _ . Middlemore Championship Flight.—Semi-finals: H. Plumley beat W. P. Ralph. S and B; S. Booth heat J. P. Aldred, 1 up. Final: Plumley beat Booth, 3 and 9. _ Middlemore Handicap Flight.—Semi-finals: D. A. Burt won from R. B. Carr by default: J. Enwright beat O. Hartshorn. 1 op. Final: Burt beat Knwrlght, 4 and 3. Stableford.—A. R. Jones won after a tie with J. P. Aldred. both 34. Four-ball Stableford: C. E. Howden and C. P. Howden (39) won after a tie with A. N. Young and E. Haggle.