NEWS FOR WOMEN CHRISTCHURCH GOLFER BACK FROM AUSTRALIA

Press, Volume XC, Issue 27442, 31 August 1954, Page 2

NEWS FOR WOMEN CHRISTCHURCH GOLFER BACK FROM AUSTRALIA

Miss Valmal Fleming (Papanjil road), a well-known golfer in Christchurch, returned home by air on Saturday after having spent a holiday of six and a half weeks in Australia, during which there were only two and a half wet days. Miss Fleming played in the Australian women's golf championship in Brisbane at the end at July and greatly enjoyed the experience. Golf courses in Australia, she said, were longer dnd more difficult than in New Zealand and she found that the Australian players who had visited Britain considered their home courses more testing than most of the British courses. In Queensland and New South Wales the courses on which Miss Fleming played were tightly bunkered and in Queensland the fairways had suffered from drought The greens were good—but tricky—with a good deal of borrow and many of the greens on the Queensland course at Yeerongpilly, where the championship was played,, were humpy, necessitating great accuracy in approaching. Here visiting players soon learnt that a running-up shot was vastly preferable to a pitch shot. Comparing New Zealand players with those of Australia, Miss Fleming said that, generally speaking, the Australians were longer drivers. Of those she had seen in action, Miss Maxine Bishop had the longest drive but Miss Kathleen Collier, the young player from Palmerston North, could hold her own with Miss Bishop and bad sometimes outdriven her. „ “Their top players are very good

indeed," said Miss Fleming, "but the standard of the next* group drops considerably. But they have so many to choose from,” she added, “where we have so few.” Miss Fleming spoke Warmly of Miss Doreen Blundell’s sterling play thftiughout the championship and her plucky fight in the final with Miss Judith Percy when Miss Blundell’s putting let her down. / Miss Percy, who won many admirers and friends in New Zealand when she was a member of the visiting Tasman Cup team, continued in winning vein, Miss Fleming said. Only about a week ago she won the Queensland closed championship for Queensland players only. The standard of play in this match of four rounds of stroke play was high, Miss Fleming said. Miss Percy’s , scores were 76 (which equalled the course record), 83, 82, 79. The scratch score is 75. Miss Percy was about 14 strokes ahead of her nearest opponent. The dress of members of the New Zealand Tasman Cup team was much admired. Miss Fleming said. It was a grey skirt, black pull-over with white fern leaf, and black beret In Queensland, Miss Fleming renewed acquaintance with Miss Myrtle Stramberg, formerly assistant lady editor of “The Press” and now Brisbane representative of the Australian publication ""Woman.” In Sydney, she met another former Christchurch resident Mrs J. Liddle, formerly Miss Betty Hobbs. With her, Miss Fleming had a very pleasant round of golf at the Killara course.