GOLF NOTES

Press, Volume LXXIV, Issue 22467, 30 July 1938, Page 8

GOLF NOTES

QUALIFYING ROUNDS AT RANGIORA

CHAMPIONSHIPS ON WEST COAST

VARIATIONS IN “DOG-LEG” HOLES

[By THE RABBIT.] Most club championships are likely to be held late this year because of the sodden state of the courses, but Rangiora has made a very early start, two qualifying rounds having already been played. J. D. Galloway, the present Canterbury champion, is, as can be expected, in the lead, and the barrier of seven strokes which he has placed between himself and his closest follower indicates, although of course the scores of the qualifying players will make no difference in the championship proper, that he will meet with little competition. His two steady rounds of 74 is good golf even for a Canterbury champion, as although it was fine when the rounds were played other conditions were by no means favourable. E. O. Heney, with an aggregate of 155, is the only other player below 160, and the next in the wel-strung-out field is R. G. Edwards, who is 17 strokes behind the leader. West Coast Championships

The West Coast championships were played on the course at Westport last week in almost perfect conditions. R. Hay McKenzie, of Westport, and P. Warnes, of Greymouth, played their way to the final with consistent performances. McKenzie beat G. Slee, who headed the list of those qualifying, and Warnes beat last year’s champion, B. Caulton, of Greymouth, in the semi-finals, Caulton having beaten A. G. Sime, of Dunedin, who is a former New Zealand amateur champion, in the first round. The youngest player in the tournament was Miss Jean Robertson, wno was defeated in the final of the

women's championship by Mrs B. Seyb, who is the Buffer district and Westport Club champion. Both the finalists baye taken a prominent part in Buffer sport. Miss Robertson having been a Buffer woman tennis champion for the letic representative, and Mrs Seyb the Buffer basketball, swimming, and athlast two years. Promising Left-Hander R. D. Glackin, who won the President’s Trophy at Avondale with cards of 70, 74, and 71, off a seven handicap, is regarded by the club, which has produced such young players as J. Jackson, J. L. Blair, J. W. Gibson, and R. T. Pither, as one of its most promising young players. Glackin, who is a hard-hitting, left-handed player, learnt his game at Richmond Hill. Being able to play so well to. his handicap during the wet weather means that with a normal course he will soon be on a lower figure. N. J. Swift, who had one round of 67, was runner-up. He has been steadily reducing his handicap since the beginning of the season. “Dog-Leg” Holes “Dog-leg” holes are a favourite device of the modern golf architect, both as a means of giving variety to the round and as a solution of the everpresent problem of obtaining extra length. Sometimes the introduction of a “dog-leg” hole may be necessary merely in order to conform with an. awkward bit of terrain or to fit in with the general lay-out. But even when this is so, an attempt should be made to take advantage of the strategic possibilities 'of the “dog-leg” formation. What is no less important is that where a course has several “dog-leg” holes the strategic problems should themselves be varied as much as possible. This last consideration is one which often does not receive sufficient attention from the green committee undertaking the alteration of its own course. The idea that always leaps to the mind of the amateur golf architect designing the “dog-leg” hole is the obvious one of rewarding the long driver who takes the risk of the carry over the angle. But this is not as admirable as it sounds. In fact, for this design to be a success the man who goes for the carry over the corner ought to have the chance of saving a whole stroke, being able to reach the . green with his second, while the more cautious man who plays safe cannot ' hope to get there in two. The type ! that is designed so that the “dog-leg” is nearer the tee than the green is i eminently suited to a long hitter. It is quite different at a hole of 380 ! yards with the “dog-leg” halfway to i the green. An attempt to cut the cor--1 ner would never be worth the risk, , and the best solution would be to en- > courage the long driver to keep out ■ from the angle, guarding the green : most closely on the boundary side but : leaving it open to a shot from the outer , side. Then the powerful player can , take the long way round and have a

straightforward shot to the green, while the man who hugs the corner will be confronted with bunkers guarding his approach. . , , ... Where there is a two-shot hole with the "dog-leg” corner well beyond the halfway mark, a well-hit drive should land opposite the angle, leaving a straight shot to the green. The moderate driver can still reach the green with his second, but has to face tne mental hazard of a shot over the angle. For the weak driver, the hole becomes an interesting and testing five, because he now has to place his second over the out-of-bounds angle on to the further line of fairway. At such a hole i the entry to the green should be clear to give the moderate hitter a fair chance to get home with his second. A type of hole which is fair to every class ot player is the hole at which the tee is placed off to one side of the fairway at an angle. The fourteenth hole at Shirley is such a one. In such a case, the longer carry the player cares to risk the shorter distance he has left to cover with his second shot. The common error in the construction of such a hole is to leave too much room on the outer side. The result is that every type of player has to select his line to suit the distance he can carry. The man who bites off more than he can chew is trapped in the nearer rough on the right. But the man who plays for safety and hits the ball better than he expected may find it running into the rough on the left. With new holes being formed all the time on Christchurch courses, especially at Waitikiri, where 22 more are promised, course construction is rapidly becoming more interesting to the ordinary golfer, who is now forming opinions of his own and finding fault with different holes on his own course. Match of Surprises Two remarkable events marked a Stableford match at Yarra Yarra recently between teams representing the Melbourne woolbuyers and the oversea shipping companies. Each. team consisted of 30 players, and at the end of # the day competitors were amazed to find that each team had scored 1019 points. The feat of the day was a hole-in-one, scored at the first hole, which is 217 yards long, by A, K. Yonge, who was playing for the woolbuyers. KAIAPOI LADIES’ CLUB BEATS AMBERLEY An inter-club match played at Kaiapoi on Thursday afternoon between the Kaiapoi and Amberley Ladies’ Golf Clubs resulted in a win for Kaiapoi by 6J games to IJ. The games resulted as follows (Kaiapoi players being mentioned first): — Mrs Eves beat Mrs Martyn, Mrs Wylie beat Mrs Schofield, Mrs Fisher halved with Mrs McDonald, Mrs Hirst beat Mrs Wornall, Miss Rinaldi lost to Miss Grierson, Mrs Hopkins beat Miss Frew, Mrs Hicks beat Miss Hislop, Mrs Aitken beat Miss Shier. ELLESMERE LADIES’ GOLF TOURNAMENT. The above tournament has BEEN POSTPONED UNTIL OCTOBER 11th, 1938. Golf equipment to suit players on all handicaps in stock. Use our net to help you select your clubs. Large range of caddy bags and all sundries. Balls from aU the leading makers. If unable to call, send for catalogue. The Canterbury Sports Depot, 113 Cashel street (next Whitcombe and Tombs). i