Putter Patter

Auckland Star, Volume LXXV, Issue 262, 4 November 1944, Page 3 (Supplement)

Putter Patter

THE 30-odd pairs who went to Akarana last Sunday to compete in the Dewar Cup—an inter-club four-ball bogey competition over 36 holes—no doubt realised that they would nave to knock the colonel about a bit to win. But' not even the winners, A. N. Young and G. Lawson, from Titirangi, could have anticipated that the winning card would be 13 up. Some of the 9ther combinations did quite well with 5 and 6 up, performances which paled to insignificance •in comparison. What is more, after the first nine holes they were never in the hunt. Young and Lawson got into their stride immediately, the former winning the first hole with a 4, his partner the third, fifth (a two) and sixth, and Young the eighth and ninth. Thus at the turn they were six up, having halved the other three holes. It seemed just too easy when Young started home, 3, 4, 3, all birdies, to make it 9 up. So not to make too much of a welter of it, they halved the remainder. Young was round m 76 and Lawson in 7S.

Both players started off the second round with a 4 to make it 10 up; by the time the sixth was reached this had been increased to 13, Young having got the 2 at the fifth this time. The first reverse was at the seventh, where neither could obtain the 3 at the one-shotter. Two fours to Lawson, however (with a stroke at the ninth), produced the remarkable tally of 14 up in 27 holes. In the second half three holes were lost (two of them one-shotters), and two won. Young was in receipt of one stroke against bogey, and Lawson 5. It was a rare performance by two low-markers, particularly as the first round was played in the rain. Fortunes Vary In Middlemore Final The final of the senior match play competition at Middlemore between B. H. Menzies and E. L. Bartleet attracted a fairly large gallery and the spectators were rewarded by an exhibition of good golf. _ Naturally each player had an occasional lapse, but Menzies made no serious mistakes from the tee and this was probably the chief reason for his success. In the morning round Bartleet won the third hole to take the lead .and although he had the advantage at the next he failed to get down in two putts, his opponent holing a 12-footer for his 4. Another 4 at the fifth put Menzies in the lead and then followed a series of halves in par figures. Bartleet squared the game at the twelfth after playing a fine second to the green and the position was unchanged after the seventeenth, although Menzies missed three winning opportunities when he failed to hole putts of just over four feet. Both struck trouble at the last, Bartleet becoming 1 up with a 5 when his opponent took two shots to recover from a bunker. Details of their cards are:— Bartleet Out: 4, 4, 4, 5, 5, 4, 3, 4, 5—38 In: 3, 4, 4, 3, 4, 5, 5, 4, 5—37 75 Menzies Out: 4, 4 5, 4, 4, 4, 3, 4, 5—37 In: 3, 4, 5, 3, 4, 5, 4, 5, 6—39 76 With two holes played in the afternoon, Menzies had taken the lead, but Bartleet again played the better shot to the third green to win with a 4. Missed drives cost Bartleet the sixth and eighth and he also lost the short seventh when he failed to find the green with his tee shot, now being 3 down. The long ninth was halved in 6's, Menzies j three-putting from the edge of the green. He was out in 38 to be 3 up, his figures being 4, 4, 5, 4, 4, 4, 3, 4, 6. Coming home. Bartleet won the tenth (after being bunkered) and twelfth with 3's and he recovered well from a bunker at the next to obtain a half when Menzies missed his 10-footer for a 2. Menzies played a lucky second to the fourteenth, asj he slightly hooked a mashie-niblick shot and the ball kicked off the mound to finish within six inches of the hole. Bartleet replied with an excellent pitch, but was unfor- ■ tunate in being stymied with his four-yarder. At the two following : holes Bartleet pushed his drives into the trees and Menzies had no diffi--1 culty in winning both to settle the ; issue. For the 16 holes Menzies ; was approximately level 4's.

At The Last Hole After a fairly even match B. B. Armstrong made an excellent recovery at the thirty-sixth hole to defeat j. G. Gillett 1 up in the inter- ■ mediate final. Armstrong's second shot caught a bunker, while his • opponent's iron shot finished on the edge of the green. Although Armstrong was further from the hole a caddie stated that it was Gillett's shot. Gillett's approach putt finished about ten feet from the c-up. Armstrong played a good explosion and after his opponent missed his 4 he holed a putt of about eight feet for the match. The "Frinnies" At Rotorua 11. D. Brinsden has played little golf in recent seasons; he was not i hitting his shots with any confidence when he played half a round before I the mixed Canadian foursomes which j brought the Rotorua club's season to a close last Saturday. In the after- ! noon, however, with Mrs. Brinsdon I as his partner, he showed his usual 1 antitude to rise to the occasion, as j did his partner, and they returned I a gross card of 75. In receipt of | onlv seven strokes this disposed of i the necessity of a countback between i two pairs who had, at that stage, I returned the best card—6o net. The ! Brinsdens' net 68 was the best of the ! day. N.Z. Golf Fixtures "We have not yet resumed outfull activities, and we are all ; anxious to know when that will be | possible," said Sir Alexander Roberts (chairman), in moving the adoption lof the report and balance-sheet at j the annual meeting of the New Zea- ! land Golf Association. "We can say , we are substantially nearer to that I point than we w-vre this time last vear, and we look forward to being j able to resume our fixtures before very long."