GOLF PROFESSIONAL AND AMATEUR FINALS

Press, Volume LXXXVI, Issue 26244, 16 October 1950, Page 8

GOLF PROFESSIONAL AND AMATEUR FINALS

Woon Brilliant Against Gibbs

MURRAY BEATEN BY SOUTHERDEN

One of the most brilliant amateurs during the last five years in New Zealand. D. L. Woon. a member of the Waitikiri Golf Club, won his first national title when he beat A. Gibbs (Otago) with ease, 9 up and 7 to play, in the final of the New Zealand amateur championship over 36 holes at Shirley on Saturday. Woon has had excellent opportunities in both the open and amateur championships at Dominion tournaments since the war, but has never managed to win a major titie. At no stage during the- five matches played did Woon appear likely to be beaten. In his last four matches he eliminated four titleholders. W. G. Horne. B. M. Silk, J. P. Hornabrook, and Gibbs. After nis bad start in the first round of the open championship last Monday, he improved with each round, and his performance on Saturday was outstanding. The professional final provided plenty of interest, with the former English professional, E. A. Southerden (Napier), beating Alex Murray, of Auckland, four times winner of the title and twice open champion. Murray started a good favourite in this final, but after being 1 up at lunch-time, he was unable to cope with Southerden’s brilliant 69 over the second 18 holes. The New Zealand Plate was won by H. W. Hattersley (Australia), and the Professional Plate by P. W. Thomson (Australia). Prizes were presented by Mrs M. H. Godby, wife of the president of the New Zealand Golf Association, after the finals had been played. The course, which was in excellent order throughout the tournament, was praised by several speakers at the prize-giving ceremony.

Woon’s win was probably one of the most convincing in the history of the amateur cnampionship. Not only did he beat four former title-holders, but he beat them comfortably. He had a slight advantage with his knowledge of the course, but this does not detract from his win. His play was of the highest standard, and his round of 68, with a 6 at the scratch 4 seventeenth, on Saturday morning, compared very favourably with the 65 he scored last Easter against C. W. Caldwell. He struck the ball with extreme confidence, tpnd an example of his confidence was at the sixteenth hole, at which stage he was seven strokes better than scratch. After a long drive, he used his driver from a tight lie in front of a slight rise. He hit the ball perfectly, and his second was just as long as his shot from the tee. The only blemish was at the seven- | teenth. where he took the 6. Requir- i ing two 4 s for a 66. he miss-hit his ! drive into the rough at the right of : the fairway. The ball was lying well, but he hit another rough pushed-out I shot into a wide sand trap guarding the first green. He was too strong with his recovery, and pitched back to take two putts. Brilliant Holes Woon had the same opportunity of winning the amateur title at Hastings last year, and if he had been the Woon of 1950 would undoubtedly have won. He had a weakness then of drawing the ball too frequently, and it was this shot which cost him the match against D. V. Sutherland (New Plymouth! On Saturday tnere was no sign of this weakness in Woon’s game, and most of his shots, from tee to I green, were straight. His round of 68 included some brilliant i notes. and could have been improved | upon with more accurate putting. With 1 the game well in hand however, Woon ' was content to play safely for halves when I he had two putts for a win, rather than i improve on his already excellent figures. . After leading by a margin of four holes • at lunch-time, he was again content to let Gibbs make the mistakes. He required I 39 strokes for the first nine holes of the second round, but still won comfortably. | Gibbs was far from disgraced in the morning round, which he completed in 71, two strokes beXter than scratch, but was still 4 down. It was onlv Woon’s brilliance that made Gibbs appear to be Playing indifferently. He had some excellent holes in the morning round, which included two 2’s at the short holes going out He completed the outward half in i 34. which was one stroke more than Woon’s score for the half. He was unable to cope with Woon’s homeward run. and was 4 down after the first three holes, at which Woon recorded birdies. Possibly his only weak shot in the second ha f was

at the shoit fifteenth, where he pusned his iron tee shot out into a sand trap. Woon’s card for the morning round, with the scratch figures for each hole in parenthesis. read as follows: Out—4 4). 3 (4). 3 (3). 4 (5). 4 (41. 4 (4). 4 <4>. 4 ( 5), 3 ( 31—33 ( 36). In—4 (5), 3 (4), 3 (4>, 3 (3). 4 (5). 3 (3), 5 ( 5), 6 ( 4), 4 ( 4)—35 ( 37). Total—6B ( 73). Outstanding Match Player Southerden proved himself an outstanding match-player in this tournament, and eliminated two great players in A. J. Shaw and Murray. In his semi-final match against Shaw, Southerden hung on grimly, and just managed to win on the thirtyeighth green. On Saturday against Murray, he did not get control of the match until the last half of the second 18 holes, but after starting back with a brilliant eagle 3, at the twenty-eighth hole, went ahead to win another hole at the thirtieth with a birdie 3, making him 2 up with six holes to play. He did not lose this advantage until the thirty-fourth, where Murray holed one of his few putts of the day for a birdie 4. Halves at each of the last two hoies. however, assured Southerden the championship. Southerden has been in New Zealand only a few months, but his Win on Saturday was certainly not a gesture of welcome by Murray. The former champion was outclassed in the second 18, and his two rounds of 71 would probably have been good enough against another competitor. Southerden will be a great asset to golf in New Zealand, and especially to the professional ranks. His. perfect course manners ajid general demeanour made his win a very popular one with the large gallery of more than 2000 which followed the match in the later stages. His tactics were good towards the end of the game, as he was content to position himself well at each hole in the last iiine particularly. On Friday he had been inclined to push out several drives, but on Saturday his drives were invariably hit towards the left-hand side of the fairway with a touch of fade He was still getting good length with this shot, but was more' often out-driven by Murray His putting, which was definitely weak during the open tournament at Waitikiri the previous week, and faulty in the open championship, showed a distinct improvement in the match-play rounds. Although he was putting well on Saturday. Southerden is still not a good putter. He has his hands too far in advance of the ball, and this fault causes a jabbing movement* a> he strikes it. This was noticeable with some of his short approaches. Southerden might not have scored so well in a high wind, as his iron shots were played with a very high trajectory, compared with the low-flighted shots played 5y Murray Murray’s Good Rounds Murray had two good rounds, but the ; game was definitely not going his way. | Usually very accurate from the tee. he i was o’ften nff the line with his drives , over the last few holes of the match. Where his long drive would have been of great assistance, he w’as off the fairway j at three of the last seven holes. At the thirtieth he pushed his drive into the rough, and had a difficult shot into the green. Southerden at this hole, which measures 315 yards, hit a magnificent drive of 300 vards, between the .guarding bunkers, and pitched in to hole his birdie 3 At the thirty-second. Murray hooked his drive slightly, but was again faced , with a difficult second The thickness of ' the rough makes it nearly impossible to ] get any “bite” on the ball, and to find ■ the green from some of the more rough

■ i SP £» S is - n itself an achievement. ' Putting was not to be compared wit.i Southerden’s. and he was seldom up to the hole with several 10 and 121 fmirtb Ut Sh nthe u ecOn l 18 At the thirtvfourth. where he reduced Southerden’s ; !i e Hhh?H h a bir ? ie 4 ’ his fiv e-footer barely ’ 2h\ b tc ,nt *°A be L lole ’ One of his finest shots was at the short thirty-third, where fit wKw a lr x? n shot beautifully up into ; w • was - how ever. unable to hole the putt of 10 feet for a win. Murray is a strong, forceful player with a terrific impact in a wristy movement. His length was much the same as Southerden’s, but . w-as more often in front from the tee. He i obtains- a very effective "bite” with his iron shots. He was inclined to be a little short with these on Saturday, and not i getting quite close enough to the hole. Murray was possibly the best bunker player in the tournament, and one of his 1 shots from a sand trap at the short twenty-seventh, hit on the side of a slope i and came back three or four feet. 1 i Results were as follows: Amateur Championship Final.—D. L. Woon (Waitikiri) beat A. Gibbs (Otago), 9 and 7. Professional Championship Final.—E. A. Southerden (Napier) beat A. Murray (unattached), 1 up. New Zealand Plate Semi-final —C. L. Cutfield (Whakatane) beat T. P. Jones (Taumarunui). 5 and 3. H. W. Hattersley (Australia) beat C. S. Bristol (Castlecliff), 2 and 1. Final.—Hattersley beat Cutfield, 2 and 1.. Professional Plate Final.—P. W. Thomson (Australia) beat James Galloway (Whangarei), 6 and 5. HAGLEY CLUB The following are the best scores in a Stablefoid bogey played by the Hagley • Golf Club on Saturday:— Senior.—H. R. Rendall (6), 35 points; ! W. A. Purdie (5). 34; D. T. Warner (5). 34; H. O. Dwan (13), 34; E. R. B. Hard- | ing (14), 34. I Junior—W. Halligan (17), 30 points; J. P. Hawke (14), 30; J. G. Johnston (15). ! 25: E. E. Creagh (18), 25. 1 Best scores for the J. G. Johnston Cup I (best five gross stroke scores) were:— R. D. Johnston. 389. W. A. Purdie. 400. Best scores for the Fordyce trophy for i the intermediate grade (best five gross stroke scores), were:— S. Stokes, 439; L. S. Eifield, 446. . Best scores for the Sheldon trophy for the junior grade were:— C. D. Wilson. 459: J. G. Johnston. 469. The following are the best scores in the Ringers competition:— Gross scores R D. Johnston, 59; W. A. Puroie. 64. Net scores: R. D. Johnston, 59. 2V a —5612; W. D. Strong. 66. BV2—s7»iMore than 60 took part in the closing day games of the mid-week players on Wednesday. Competitions were won by J. Cairns, F V. Turner, B. A. Miles, J. Spence. C. P. Bruere, D. Findlay, H. Falconer. A. M. West and A. L. B. Ross, and Mesdames W. Latham. H. Walton, C. L. Harper. H. T. Saunders, and V. Sheehy. WAITIKIRI CLUB The following are the results of a Stabieford match played yesterday:— S E. Boanas, 36 points; G. E. Benzie. 36; R. J. Pask, 36. Boanas won on the count-back. The afternoon medal round resulted:— W Collins, 78. 6—72; A. Freebome, 78. 6—72; J Potts, 79, 7—72; G. Jennings, 96. 24—72. Collins won on the count-back. RAWHITI CLUB A stroke handicap and teams’ match was played by the Rawhiti Golf Club yesterday. Following were the best scores:— A Grade.—N. Robertson, 75. 13—62; J. R. Davis, 67. 1—66; N. Johnson. 71, 5 —66; J. H. Sproston, 74, 8—66; G. C. Croy. 78. 12— 66: F. W. Hulme. 79, 13—66. B Grade.—R. Hepburn. 78, 16—62; R. Holmes, 84 , 21—63; G. Rich, 86. 22—64. The teams’ match was w'on by R. Allen, P. Talbot, N. Robertson, and R. Matthews with a score of 270. RUSSLEY CLUB A Stableford single match was played at Russley yesterday. The best scores were;— Seniors. —B. A. Mair (6) 34 points, D. C. Parker (7) 33, A. B. Cottee (2) 32. F. B. Thompson (7) 32, A. Davis (5) 32. Intermediate.—T. D. Glubb (11) 41. D. Forster (8) 39. A. Umbers (11) 37. Junior.—R. M. Stokes (14) 36 points, J. D. Camm (14) 34. C. Galbraith (18) 34.

In the final of the Tosswill Cup. D. C. Watson beat L. H. Fisher, 3 and 2. A match between the Russley and Tiinaru Clubs was played yesterday at Russley, Russley winning. Hole In One C. S. Gibbs holed his tee shot at the fifteenth hole. 180 yards, with a No. 3 iron. The final of the Lindsay Russell Cup. played on Saturday, was won by J. M. Crombie, who beat P. R. Hadley. The final of the Canadian foursome played yesterday was won by D. C. Watson and A. E. Whiteman, who beat R. M. Stokes and A. C. Harris. 1 up. WAIMAIRI BEACH CLUB A stroke handicap played by the Waimairi Beach Golf Club on Saturday resulted : Senior.—M. P. Hall. 82. 6—76; D. Smith. 88, n_77; J. A. McMaster, 83. 6—77. Junior.—A. J. Trevean, 87. 17—70; G. G Dixon, 92, 18—74; L. Pringle, 100, 24—76; K. Rollo. 100, 24—76. The closing day of the club was held yesterday. In the morning round there was a record entry of about 80. A fourball best-ball bogey over 18 holes resulted in a win for W. D. Gain and Mrs Gain, with a score of 8 up. Other good scores were:—A. R. and J. L. Henderson 6 up; L. J. Roy and Mrs Bridgens. 4 up; F. Bridgens and Mrs Roy. 4 up; P I Smith and Miss O’Daniels, 4 up. A simiI lar number of players took part in a 1 Canadian foursome over 12 holes in the I afternoon. It resulted in a win for C. A. i Priest and Mrs L. Rowe, 54. 9—45. Other good cards were:—J. A. Masterton apd . Miss C. Wood, 52. 6—46; L. J. Roy and i Mrs Roy, 56, 9—47; J. A. McMaster and i Mrs W. D. Gain. 56, 9—47. The long driving competition was won by N. Priest with a drive of 277 yards. The approaching competition was won by J. A. McMaster. TEMPLETON CLUB A Stableford bogey played by the . Templeton Golf Club yesterday resulted as follows: _ _ I Senior.—H. Pocock 35 points, E. Legge I 33, G P Anderson 33. ■ Junior—M. Atkinson 35 points. M. O. i Sinclair 32. D. Corrigan 32. CHARTERIS BAY CLUB The men’s Stableford played by the : Charteris Bay Golf Club yesterday resulted :-T. W Patterson 39. G. Riley 35, A. Jackson 28, J. Hore 28. On Saturday a women’s sealed hole was i won by Mrs C. Smith. HAGLEY LADIES’ CLUB Best scores in a Ladies’ Golf Union ! medal match played by the Hagley Ladies’ Golf Club were as follows: | Silver Division.—Mrs R. A. P. Fran- ! cis. 91. 18—73; Mrs H. G. Walton. 91. 16— 75Bronze Division.—Mrs C. L. Harper. 105, 34—71; Mrs C. Foote, 100, 26—74. j C Grade —Mrs Dunn. ' The eclectic match resulted:— Senior.—Mrs G. Pfankuch. 85, 16 —69; ! Mrs H. G. Walton. 86, 16—70. j Junior.—Mrs C. L. Harper, 97, 34—63; Mrs C. Foote. 93, 26—67. The consolation match-, for trophies ■ given by Mrs J. E. Gudgeon resulted:— Senior—Miss J. C. Macdonald, 94. 16— . 18. Junior. —Mrs H. Thompson, 101, 34—67. i C Gr?He —Miss D. Lewis. 112. 36—76.

RAWHITI LADIES’ CLUB A four-ball best-ball Stableford pairs played by the Rawhiti Ladies’ Club for Mr Alec Thompson’s trophy yesterday resulted : Miss June Agar and Mrs Parsonage, 38 points; Miss Z. Jack and Miss M. Foster. 37 points. The following are the results of a single Stableford competition:— A Grade.—Miss Z. Jack 30 points/ Mrs A. B L. Smith 30. Miss Jack won on the count-back. B Grade.—Mrs W. Norman and Mrs J. Priestley 30 points. Mrs Norman won on the count-back. A one-club match played last Wednesday resulted:— A Grade.—Mrs A. Philpott. 96. 16—80. B Grade.—Mrs E. Millard, 99. 29—70. WAITIKIRI LADIES’ CLUB The second round of the ladies’ championship resulted as follows: Senior.—Mrs R. Freeborne beat Mrs H. Dymond, Mrs F. Bridgens beat Mrs L. Hillis. Junior.—Miss D. Pool beat Mrs J. S. Royds, Mrs M. K. Boon beat Mrs J. Inglis, Mrs A. McKerrow beat Mrs A. Wilkins, Mrs J. Forbes beat Miss L. Harper. A stroke match played yesterday resulted : Mrs B. Booker, 109, 36—73: Miss L. Hillis, 90. 15—75.

Centennial Veterans’ Tournament The Canterbury Centennial Veterans’ Tournament. Avondale Golf Links, Sunday: 29th October, commencing at 9.30 a.m. Programme and entry forms from the Secretary, P.O. Box 446, Christchurch. —Advt.