TWENTY YEARS OF GOLEING MEMORIES

Auckland Star, Volume LXXII, Issue 169, 19 July 1941, Page 6 (Supplement)

TWENTY YEARS OF GOLEING MEMORIES

Golfers Immortalised by Deeds Rather

Than Words

(By LOUIS T. STANLEY in "The Field' )

A FEW days ago I received an interesting letter in which the writer, a well-known golfer now approaching the three-score-and-ten mark, commented upon the fact that whilst there have been champions whose names will always be respected and honoured wherever the game is played, their fame is almost entirely based upon the bare historic fact that they won the title in a certain year, without any thought or mention of the many exciting incidents that must have led up to that victory.

Such a state of affairs, however, is almost inevitable. The ebb and flow of events associated with any championship are only remembered by eye-witnesses and their versions are liable to change, as Is always the way when oral tradition is handed on, until the text becomes so corrupted by later Interpolations that much of the wealth of detail has to be rejected as unreliable and only the bare facts accepted, namely that so-and-so was trie winner of such-an-such an event in a certain season. Whether my correspondent's experience is similar to our own can easily be seen by a simple test. Scan the list of winners of our championships and notice whether the names just remind us of distinguished golfers, or whether we immediately associate them with some outstanding incident or shot which influenced the final result and led to their names being thus immortalised. It is indeed a searching test and when 1 tried it myself I was amazed how vague were the recollections associated with some of the championships I have attended.

Cyril Tolley's Putt Singling out the Amateur Championship I found that on happenings leading up to Dr. Tweddell's win J over D. E. Landale at Hoylake in ' 1927 I was decidedly hazy, whereas ; the memory of his defeat by Lawson ' Little after a terrific struggle at J Royal Lytham St. Annes is still J tinged by innumerable little incidents : connected with that final dav; nor f can this be traced solely to the fact ' that we are eight years nearer the 1 latter. There was more of the divine fire of inspiration about Tweddell in t his defeat than there was in his vic- : tory. The first Amateur Championl ship after the last war will probably : always be remembered on account of i Cyril Tolley's courageous putt on the old nineteenth green at Muirfield, when, ignoring his opponent's ball, which lay dead, he sank a none-too-easy putt for a winning 2. But for sheer perrectlon of execution in delivering the decisive blow my eye strays to the entry against the 1936 Amateur at St. Andrews. Few, if any, of the thousands who lined the first and last fairways will ever forget the scene. The final contained the 1 correct touch of international flavouring, with Hector Thomson, Scotland's premier amateur golfer, and the muscular James Ferrier, the champion of Australia. Thomson was dormy two. but an over-cautious 5 at the Road Hole was one stroke too many against the Australian's bolder 4. On they came to the home hole, with the possibilitv of our amateur trophy being transported across the world by no means to be ignored. Ferrier's second shot finished some nine yards past the pin. A hush settled upon the huge crowd as Thomson sized up his shot. He was in no hurry, and to us who were anxiously waiting it seemed an eternity before he took his final stance, but the lengthy deliberations were more than repaid, for seldom have I seen a more decisive shot played at such a moment. We watched the ball soaring gracefully through the air, land upon that enormous green, and finish within six inches of the hole. Ferrier goodnaturedly shook his head, picked up the ball in token of defeat, and offered warm congratulations to his conqueror. Exasperating Suspense ! . The suspense or waiting for a decisive shot to be played reminds me of the 1931 and 1932 championships at Westward Ho! and Muirfield, when John de Forest reached the j final on both occasions. The recol- : lections of the actual shots played i have largely faded into the limbo of , forgotten things, but in their place ■ lingers a general impression of constant tension whilst we waited for' de Forest to make up his mind. In ] those days he was frightfully slow in < the execution of his shots, and whilst ] such deliberation was doubtless a i steadying factor, it must have proved { exasperating to his opponent. <

through a faultless exhibition of putting. If only Wothered had been endowed permanently with such a putting touch and could have kept his drives consistently down the straight and narrow path, his name would have been inscribed many times on the trophy, and at least once on the Open cup. The mention of Robert Harris recalls a golfer whom many thought should have won the Amateur title before the last war. but was forced to wait until 1925. Three seasons later and we watched T. P. Perkins, now a professional in America, dominate the play at Prestwick and overwhelm Roger Wethered by 6 and 4 in the final.

For Posterity In many of these instances, however. our memory has to be jolted by the consulting of records which start dormant trains of thought, although I can think of one golfer who was determined that the memory of his success should survive long after he was forgotten. The method he chose can be seen if we visit an unpretentious corner of Old Edinburgh and walk along the historic but gloomy C'anongate until we come to Xo. 77. There we notice, above what was once a doorway. a stone bearing the folk-wing inscription in Latin: "Cum victor ludo scot is qui proprius esset ter tres victores post redimitus avos patersonus humo tunc educebat in ahum banc qua? victores tot tulit una donnim": and then a single line in English: '"I hate no person." from which we find the man's name, as the letters of these words form an anagrammatical transposition of the letters of John Patersone. Higher up we see another stone bearing a coat of arms of three pelicans ayd three mullets, whilst the crest is a dexter hand grasping a golf club, the motto being "Far and sure."

The traditional story is that two English noblemen, during their attendance at the Scottish Court, entered into a discussion with James, the Duke of York, afterwards James 11.. as to whether golf was more English than Scottish in character. They were unable to reach an agreement, so it was decided that the best place to reach a decision was on the links, and the two Englishmen agreed to play the Duke and any other Scotsman whom he should choose as partner, for a large, stake of money. With this wide choice in mind the Duke instituted a search for the best golfer in the town irrespective of his social standing. and eventually decided upon a cobbler by name of John Patersone. The partnership proved successful and this house in the Canongate, one of the most interesting reminders of old-time golf, was built with the cobbler's share of the stake money, the Duke being instrumental in the escutcheon being added. If challenge matches are to be included then there are some which will long occupy a corner in the records, such as the great match of 1900 when Harry Vardon and J. H. Taylor representing England defeated James Braid and Sandv Herd, Scotland, over four greens for £400 a-side, the late Lord Riddell backing Scotland and the late Sir Edward Hulton supporting England. Even if we were not present on the occasion, many of us must surelv have heard the late Andrew Kirkaldv describe in glowiner terms how he defeated the great Willie Park bv 8 up and 7 to play in a match over four links. Musselburgh St Andrews. Prestwick and Troon, ami how four years later he accepted Taylor's challenge ' to play anybodv ir. the world" for £50 a-side the match being held at St. Andrews and secured the verdict by the odd hole.

The descriptions of these matches as told by Kirkaldy were sufficient in themselves to guarantee immortality. but it is difficult for an Englishman to understand the Fife tongue, let alone commit it to writing, and even if the attempt were made it would not be the same for the odds are that the "mot juste would have to be omitted as Kirkaldy'ss descriptions on occasions could be picturesquely racy!

The name of ft. T. Jones against the year 1930 revives memories of that wonderful season when he carried all before him, whilst the name of his opponent, R. H. [Wethered, takes us still further back Ito Deal in 1923 when he defeated Robert Harris by 7 and 6 largely