GOLF.

Press, Volume LXVI, Issue 19889, 28 March 1930, Page 20

GOLF.

FIXTURES. March 29th —First round of match play for Borthwick Vase at Shirley. March 29th —Opening day at Russley {ttzg ley players invited). , March 30th —Open day at Russley. (See programme given below.) April sth—Opening day at Hagley.

NOTES OF THE DAY.

(By "Flagstick.")

The Avondale Golf Club's official opening, formerly announced for tomorrow, has bwn postponed. The step has been decided upon with great reluctance, seeing that many guests had accepted the Club's invitation to participate in the opening day's programme, but the dry conditions prevailing have made it impossible to jet the fairways into reasonable p y' g form as would have been possible had norma] conditions of rainfall .burned. It is intended to fit in a day iater m the season, when visitors will be in vited to participate in a special pro gramme suited to the occasion. At Russley to-morrow the official opening of the season will take place at 2 p.m., when Mr F. W. Hobbs, president of the Club, will drive the first ball. He should be followed by a very large field of Hagley and Eussley players, the former being cordially invited to participate in the day's programme, viz., a mixed four-ball over 9 holes, starting at No. 1 and No. 10 alternately Afternoon tea will be provided by the Club. On the following day—an open day, when players of all clubs may be sure of a hearty welcome—the matches will be a men's four-bail in the morning, and a men's foursome stroke handicap in the afternoon.

The Hagley Golf Club will open the season on Saturday, April sth, when a mixed Canadian foursome match will be played, for the opening day cup; players to arrange partners, and opponents, and play to start at noon. On Tuesday afternoon, April Bth, the bogey match for handicap players will 1» held by the Hagley Ladies' Club, players to choose opponents.

Many Canterbury golfers must have been pleased to note the success of W. P. Anderson, whose score of 75 less 4 was "good enough to win tho se £ond medal handicap of the season at Shirley, though he failed to qualify for the Borthwick Vase. The same is true of the winner in the junior section, W. J. Watson, who also returned a net 71.

If the course plays on Saturday as fast as at present, there should be some interesting contests in the first round of' match play for the Borthwick Vase, for which the draw is: L. Hansen v. A. B. Blank, W. L. M. Dearsley v. H. B. Bussell, E. H. Smith v. E. W. Hasell, B. A. Wilson v. W. T. D. Harman.

The Otago Club's championship at Balmaeewan has reached the semi-final, stage. The four lowest scorers in the qualifying rounds, j. Spence .with 72, 79—151, N. G. Hay 72, 82—154, Dr. K. Boss 78, 76—154, and D. H. Butcher 7g } gQ_is6j survived the first round of match play, the last-named having accounted ; for Dr. G. Barnett, who was generally-fancied as one of the finalists.

Playing recently on his home course at Kensington, B. &. Lee-Brown, one of the New South Wales Kirk-Windeyer team, equalled the record of the course with a 71.

The championship'committee of the It. and A. will be generally commended for their promptness in reducing their first selection of sixteen players for the Walker Cup to the final eight, namely, Bobert Harris (captain), C. B. H. Tolley, Boger Wethered, Sir F* Holderness, Major Hezlett, Bex Hartley, T. A, Torrance, and John Wilson, with J. A. Stout (Birdlington) and W. Campbell (Glasgow) as reserves. Mr Eobert Harris is now in his 49th year. As long ago as 1022 he was appointed captain of the first British t.gnm that went to America, but fell, ill on arrival and was unable' to play. His soundness as a player, and his reputation for shrewdness, keenness of observation, and sound judgment, as well as his intimate knowledge of Boyal St. George's: (Sandwich), where the matches are to be played, have marked him out for the honour.

The, choiee of Mr John Wilson comes as .a surprise to most, because he has, been , so long out of first-class golf that people have forgotten! all about him. He is a schoolmaster m a little village near the Prestwick links on the Ayrshire coast. He won the Scottish championship at St. Andrews in 1922, played for Britain in the following yeary being one of two players to win in both foursomes and singles, and then suddenly disappeared, from the limelight of competitive golf. He is roputed to be an exceedingly a.ble exponent, of iron play. While greens are in their present '"skating-rink" condition-—often as fast to putt on ab anaverage carpetr—many players will feel, inclined to echo the opinion expressed by "Bobby" Jones in his book "Down the Fairway." He prefaces his remarks with a modest "I am not attempting to give any §ort of instruction, or to tell anybody how to play golf. I'm just trying honestly to describe the way I play certain shots. If anybody elects to. try out these methods, it will be at his own peril." He then continues: "I finally arrived at the conclusion which obtains as these lines are written—that the best system for me is to stroke the ball with as smooth a swing as I can manage, and try always to gauge ah approach putt, or any. pott except the short holing-out efforts, to reach the hole with a dying ball. This is especially true of keen greens. Too frequently, it seems to me, the famous old maxim of' 'Never up, never in' is made tie excuse for banging the ball hard at the. hole; and the player; seeing it run past three of four or hallf a dozen feet, consoles himself with the idea that at least he gave it a chance. And yet it isn't so much of a chance. A putt that is struck too hard has only one way into, the cup—through the middle of the front door ? and then the backstop mist be functioning. Also there is the matter of the second jjutt. not one precisely to be despised. There is nothing—l speak from experience-r-in a round of either match or medal competition that bears down with quite the pressure of having continually to hole out . putts of three and four feet, the Hnd left by overly enthusiastic approaches."

Discussing, deep-faced drivers in "The Field," MavA. C. M. Croome. remarks: . "Whereas the largest-headed driver of the ordinary kind has a measurement in depth of no "'more than If inches', the driver employed by Diegel, Espinosa, and other Americans is If inches deep. Mr T. P. Perkins, who was British amateur champion two years ago, bas lately contributed to 'American Golf Illustrated' his experience with one of • these deep-faced drivers. His first inrpression of _ it was at Muirfield, when be was playing a practice round with Espinosa and others of the Eyder Cup team. He found himself considerably out-driven, though apparently timing his shots well,

and hitting as hard, if not harder, than the Americans. Espinosa suggested that he should try a deep-faced driver—one of Espinosa's own. He did, standing according to Espinosa's direction? a little more behind the ball, swinging more easily, and letting the club do the work. He got the extra length, especially against the wind. Some of the English professionals, E. B. Whitcombe among them, were similarly impressed." As a commentary on this, hear "Bobby" Jones on his choice of irons when playing with the wind. "With the wind.off the right or. against, I like to take a club appreciably stronger than the range warrants. It is a curious fact that a slower hit causes the ball to bore better into a head-wind, perhaps by reason of carrying less back-spin."

A few words to complete the notes on The Linkß, by Robert Hunter:— The author has much to say from the point of view of the golf architect planning a course from the beginning, and his detailed and explicit directions may well be studied by clubs proposing to make or reconstruct greens with suitable bunkering, drainage, visibility of the flag, turning of the entrance to right or left of the fairway, moulding of the approach to encourage a certain type of shot, etc. Before leaving the subject, however, he acknowledges that in typical "links" country many greens are sited so as to violate one or more of his rules, and that nevertheless such blemishes do not noticeably detract from their playing quality. HAREWOOD CLUB. To enable members desirous of taking part in the Russley's Club's opening day competitions, the match previously set down for the 30th will now be held on Saturday afternoon, the 29th instant. . A stroke handicap match will be played, commencing at 1.30 p.m., for which post entries will be received at the club house. The ladies' opening day will be held on April 3rd. and not on March 27th, as previously stated.

RUSSLEY LADIES' CLUB. The Russley Ladies' Golf Club opened the season yesterday in fine weather. There was a large attendance. The members competed in a flag match, the prizes for which were presented by Mrs R. C. Symes. The winner was Mrs G. H. M. Walton, who reduced her handicap by five strokes. An eclectic match will be played on April 3rd and 10th, partners to be drawn on Monday, March 31st.