GOLFER'S TRAVELS

Press, Volume LXX, Issue 21356, 26 December 1934, Page 14

GOLFER'S TRAVELS

TOUR THROUGH NEW ZEALAND DOMINION PLAYERS' FAULTS [By GENE SARAZEN. Copyright.] • No. I. Before leaving New Zealand, after a very enjoyable tour, which embraced practically every city and district of any importance, I should like in this and following articles to give my impressions of your beautiful country. There are certainly many things about New Zealand that I did not know and that other people do not know and in future I will be an unofficial ambassador for New Zealand. For a country of such limited size and population you certainly have done wonderfully well in developing the two islands in such a short space of time. To be perfectly truthful, this is the only country outside America in which I should like to live. I was greatly impressed by the natural beauty of the countryside. In most other countries they have all the roads plastered with bill-boards and other forms of advertising. The hotels are of a very high standard, which makes New Zealand more attractive for the tourist than some other countries I have visited. I think this country has wonderful possibilities in this respect. When I left Sydney for Wellington I did not know what to think. All I could visualise was that it was the place from which Byrd hopped off for the South Pole, but after arriving I was surprised to see such beautiful cities so far south.

The Masterton Course The opening match of the tour at Masterton was a very pleasant surprise indeed, although I rq>ust confess that I was a little nervous when motoring over the Rimutakas. There is a great course there for a country town and an enthusiastic golfing population. Horton and Hornabrook, who played against Shaw and myself, really surprised me, but they still have room for improvement in the finer points of the game. . On the third tee in this match the surrounding farm country impressed me so much that I felt as if I would like to stay there for ever. I have a farm of my own in Connecticut and I certainly felt homesick that day.

My next match at Miramar was one of the best exhibitions we gave and the weather gods were surely with me, for we played on this seaside course before a large gallery on a beautiful calm day. Upon asking my caddie, who had played over this course regularly, what club I should use for a second shot to the green, he replied that he could not say, as it had always been blowing when he had played there. So I was certainly lucky. The view across Cook Strait was something I shall remember for some time.

Arrival in South Island That night I i~'t for the Soutli Island, accompanied by Shaw and my manager, and we thoroughly enjoyed the trip across. The rugged beauty of Lyttelton Harbour, shown to advantage in the early morning, was a great treat. I thought to myself that the people of New Zealand really do not know how lucky they are to have such peaceful surroundings. It was so unlike many of the countries I have just visited, where the atmosphere is so electric and warlike.

New Zealanders should never think of travelling overseas on sightseeing tours until they have first seen their own country.

On arrival in Christchurch, 1 thought I was in old England again. It is certainly a beautiful city. That day we motored to Timaru and was I pleased with those trout streams? The Timaru people were fortunate that they saw me that day, because, if I had had my fishing gear with me, I would have pulled up alongside one of those streams and cast for trout. The course there was interesting, but it was suffering from lack of water. I was greatly taken with the hospitality extended to me by the people of this and other smaller towns.

At Shirley The day I played at Shirley, which I consider one of the finest courses I have ever played on, I was very pleased to see that this club has taken the initiative and installed a watering system for the fairways. This is a lead which other clubs in this country should follow. I cannot understand where New Zealanders get the idea that golf is a winter sport, as the game can never go ahead as it should when golfers put their clubs in a corner for six months of the year and let their courses burn up during the summer months.

The money required to put them into shape again for the season could be used in installing watering systems—as a matter of fact, in my opinion, American tourists would never be attracted in large numbers if the golf courses are not in good shape during our tourist season, which is your summer here. This is a very important point, and should not be neglected by the authorities concerned. We had the same situation in California for many years until we realised how absurd it really was. California does not begin to compare with any part of New Zealand, and yet it is the Mecca of all American golfers as, through its irrigation systems, its courses are in the pink of condition all the year round.

Importance of Grip My next match was at Duendin, where Shaw and myself were beaten by Ross and Wright, who combined excellefttly and proved themselves very fine exponents of the game. This match confirmed my contentions that amateur golf in this country was much higher than that in Australia, but the greatest fault among all your players in this country is that they have not learned to grip the club correctly, and I strongly advise them to overcome this trouble, because the hands are the generals in this gam§, and all the greatest players to-day and in the past have been great gripped.