NOTES ON THE PLAY

Press, Volume LXXXV, Issue 25954, 7 November 1949, Page 8

NOTES ON THE PLAY

From Cui Own Reporter INVERCARGILL, Nov. 5. A strong, cold south-westerly wind swept the Otatara golf links to-day, making conditions very testing for the second round of the New Zealand golf championships. the first round of the New Zealand plate and the Coronation medal competition. Even the most experienced players found it hard to gauge the strength of the wind, and all were tired at the end of the day, after being buffeted in the two rounds. Hats and even berets were tied on. and a few players resorted to their childhood way of wearing their hat, with elastic under their chins. One seeded player. Miss Josephine Duncan, and one former champion, Mrs G. W. Hollis, were beaten in the second round. The sensation of the day’s play was the defeat of Mrs Hollis by Miss M. Elliott, of Dunedin, 2 and 1. Mrs Hollis failed in her short approaching and her putting, while Miss Elliott, who is good with her irons, was steady on the greens.

Miss Fleming’s control Miss V. Fleming did very well to beat Miss Josephine Duncan, of Wanganui, the only player in the Dominion who has earned a handicap of 2, and she owed her win to her better control of her shots in the high wind. Playing her irons well, she was 3 up at the turn, and increased her lead at the eleventh. Playing her tee shot within a few feet of the pin at the short twelfth, she obtained a birdie 2 and another win. Then Miss Duncan re--gained the initiative. She won the thirteenth and fourteenth, halved the fifteenth, where Miss Fleming failed with an easy putt. * Miss Fleming was then dormie 3. Miss Duncan won the sixteenth where her drive found the rough and her recovery shot finished a few inches from the pin. With Miss Fleming dormie 2, the seventeenth was halved, giving her the match. Miss Hudson and Miss Fleming meet in the third round on Monday. Miss Hudson was driving well in her match against Mrs Harris, of Wanaka, but like nearly all the competitors to-day, she found that the wind made putting difficult. She was frequently short, and three-putted several greens. Mrs Salisbury (Invercargill) was in trouble time and again in her match against Mrs W. E. Henley, who won 3 and 2. At one hole her ball was embedded in the rough, at another she lost a ball, and she visited many bunkers, making Mrs Henley’s task unexpectedly easy. Mrs J. Ball and Mrs R. F. Hutchinson were the first pair to finish. Mrs Ball won 4 and 3. Mrs Hutchinson, who is a prominent Gisborne player, has for health reasons played little golf this season. Mrs Ball had the better of the game, and was 3 up at the turn. The next five holes were halved. At the fifteenth Mrs Hutchinson was out of bounds, the only occasion on which either had been off the fairway, and she conceded the hole, giving Mrs Ball the match.

Long Driving Miss K. O’Sullivan, the long-hitting Taranaki player, offered sound resistance to Miss J. Percy, of Queensland. Their drives were of almost equal length. Miss Percy began uncertainly, and Miss O’Sullivan won the first two holes and was 1 up at the turn. Miss Percy squared the match at the eleventh. The twelfth and fourteenth were halved. Miss Percy won the thirteenth and fifteenth, and finished the match with an eagle at the sixteenth. On the round she scored four birdies and an eagle. Mrs P. R. Glanville (Hamilton) beat Mrs H. Topliss (Nelson), who had played well on the two previous days. She failed with her chipping and putting, generally her strong points, and Mrs Glanville was out in 39, including a 6 at the first. Mrs R. E. Tait (Christchurch) met the steady, stylish player, Mrs H. A. Murray, of Miramar, and suffered defeat at her hands. Mrs R. Fullerton Smith disposed of Mrs J. K. Dolan, the Otago champion, 3 and I. Mrs Fullerton Smith was 2 up after playing the ninth. At the thirteenth she knocked Mrs Dolan’s ball into the hole, giving Mrs Dolan a win. Mrs Dolan gave a taste of her best style at the sixteenth, which she won with an excellent four, making her 2 down. The match ended 3 and 1 when Mrs Fullerton Smith won the seventeenth. Miss M. Bishop (West Australia) had an easy win over Miss K. Shand, of Dunedin. The match ended 8 and 6,

and for the 12 holes Miss Bishop was one over the scratch score. She went out in 37, equal to the scratch score. Miss P. Borthwick slipped a putt on each of three greens on the outward journey of her match against Mrs Mcßae (Wellington), and still returned a score of 39. She scored a birdie at the eleventh and again at the twelfth, where the match ended.

Miss Fletcher (Queensland) beat Miss Claire Smith (now of Auckland, formerly of Invercargill), 5 and 4. Her score for the 14 holes was one over the scratch score, and included a six at the ninth, where she under-clubbed, three putts on the tenth green, and three birdies.

Miss B. Cheney (Victoria) showed her best form so far in the tournament m her match against Mrs D. Steel, the Dominion champion in 1947, who began well and was 3 up at the turn. Then she struck trouble. She socketed at the tenth, found a ditch at the eleventh, and. failed to get out of a bunker at the twelfth. Miss 'Cheney was now in a relentless mood. She scored a birdie two at the twelfth and a birdie four at the thirteenth, and on each of the five greens on the homeward journey she had only one putt. The match ended at the seventeenth, and for the last eight holes she was two under the scratch score.

The Christchurch players left in the championship are Misses Hudson and. Fleming.

The first round of the New Zealand Plate was played in the morning. This trophy, a* silver salver, was given to the New Zealand Ladies’ Golf Union in 1939 by Mrs Guy Williams, formerly Dominion champion, many time president of the union, and at present its patroness. It is for competition amongst the 32 players eliminated in the first round of the championship. Because of the intervention of the war the plate was not played for until 1946, when the championship meeting was held at Shirley. Its first winner was Mrs W. Toomey, of Christchurch. In 1947 it went to Auckland, the winner being Miss Cassels Brown, and last year it was won by Mrs D. Crombie (Wellington). Canterbury players left in the New Zealand Plate competition are Misses E. Parsons (Hanmer), H. Buchanan, Mrs B. E. Andrewes, Christchurch.

The winner of the Coronation medal for the best net medal score was Mrs Steel, whose gross score was 78. Her net 74 was a fine achievement on the day. Miss Steel’s gross score was also the best returned, but as one player cannot receive both awards the prize for the best gross score goes to Miss Claire Smith, whose score was 79. The junior prize was won by Miss N. Gilkison, 86, 11—75. Other good scores were:— Miss P. Guest, 85, 10—75; Miss Elliott, 85, 9—76; Mrs Dolan, 80, 4—76; Mrs Ball, 80, 3 Miss Fletcher, 80, 3—77; Miss Bishop, 80, 3—77; Miss Hodges, 82, 4 Miss Nutt, 85, 6—79; Miss Kernot, 84, 5—79; Miss Cheney, 81, 2—79.