GOLF AVONDALE LEADS IN WOODWARD CUP

Press, Volume XCI, Issue 27636, 18 April 1955, Page 13

GOLF AVONDALE LEADS IN WOODWARD CUP

Avondale, which won only two matches last season and finished fourth in the Woodward Cup interclub golf competition, has taken the lead in this year’s contest The second round of matches was played yesterday, and Avondale is the only one of the eight teams which has won both its matches.

Christchurch A, which won last season, was held to a draw by Christchurch B, and Russley and Waitikiri A, two teams which have taken prominent parts m the competition for several years, also finished on level terms. To complete a day notable for even matches, Templeton and Kaiapoi halved their match, and Avondale’s success was by one point only over Waitikiri B. All the courses showed the effects of the long dry spell, and although there was a lot of run on the fairways it was seldom possible to hit the ball into the green with confidence Waitikiri A’s match with Russley was expected to be a close one, but Christchurch B’s success was a clear case of lese majeste. Christchurch A. without C. J. Ward, failed to win any of the first three games, C. W Caldwell’s defeat by J. D. Bull being quite unexpected K. C. Kearns did extremely well to halve his match with N. M. Fowke, but the match of the day was between R. D. Kearns and J. B. Prendergast Both are young players, and Kearns has already achieved much in interprovincial golf Prendergast won on the last green after a splendid contest and his success over his better-performed opponent should offer him considerable

At Templeton, Waitikiri A had its under scratch at the turn. The match the day against Russley, which won the first three games. There was some splendid scoring by the first four— I* J. James and J. W. Jackson of Waitikin A, M. W. Stanley and W. D- Armstrong of Russley. James had the extraordinary experience of being only one stroke over scratch after playing eight holes, but being five down to Stanley, who was in tremendous form. While James played well, Stanley played superbly, his seconds to the green nearly always offering him a reasonable chance of the birdie. He had four successive birdies at one stage, and he was four under scratch at the turn. The match ended six holes from home. Armstrong’s form was also most impressive for the first half of the round. He, too, was five up and four under scratch after eight holes, and although J. W. Jackson made up some of the leeway, Armstrong’s devastating burst, which had left him six up at the turn, was too much of a hurdle for the Waitikiri player, who was having only his second game in many months. The match between D. C. Watson ’Russley) and M. R. Blank was <an interesting one, for Blank, although driving beautifully, met all manner of trouble with his seconds and shorter approaches. He was three down at the turn, but fought back welL Watson also played some bad had the a hility to produce the extremely good one when he needed it most. A typical example was the thirteenth, where he duffed his drive like a novice, but was down in four after a lovely long iron and a chip which left the ball three or four inches from the cup.

Close Match D. J. Ramsay (Waitikiri) had a thrilling tussle with K. D. Foxton before he won on the seventeenth green. In the early stages Foxton played splendidly. He hits the ball very well* with all his clubs, and it was to Ramsay’s credit that he was not swamped by Foxton’s figures early in the round—birdies at the third, fourth and seventh with an eagle at the fifth. Ramsay also had an eagle, at the seventh, and squared the match with a birdie at the eighth.

the n °- ted - lor his skiu about ok J OS > S of accuracy. He won the 8 shot w hich toft his ball two feet from the oin established a commancFing S Msi™ er ? e tu s>’ but F°X g « ““tag a tree with his second to°ftad t th® ?^ teenth and » tte . edge of the green, holed whi?h tt M vJ h . astonisl ung proportions thrtw nfittSt a » Wln when «amsay nSf hofo d ' Fo!rton also won the bta t a h ? ore orthod °x fashion. cSncfe P ‘ 8 laPSe Cost him his last Williamson played too jJS dlly I f or I . J - p - Devine, who did not W tt Tn= U ’ M ' J - MeNaUy and J Zfr«Jt«, an u <Russley) in what was in f no=l th v key ® ame had a stem tussle, on?\ J ’i? Ped only one stroke going th£ ? d .^ e y as two u ” alter playing but McNally won three hniU w row ‘ , Mc Nally is a strongly shoJl K Ol f e s and hit some long tee L 08 ? 11 stuck to him well. d ke only one down with four • Three of these holes were a chin™ * PaT figures - and Logan had „ to square the match on the last geen. He had a putt of five ot Kii feet yh'ch he hit firmly, but the ball went in and out again to rest just beyond the hole.

A w iri A v w ?? the tw o games. A. R. Blanw beating'p. R. Hadley and r £ 5^ say beatln g the 18-year-old nf hie K™Jr so » n - F^? ay sh owed much £„l^?x bro th er s skill in his short game, 2t aS ? n even m atch. Ramsay sevenleentta ’ fi “ e birdfe at the

n A ro?°.'i gh . Av O” da le beat Waitikiri d, ior the Avondale player, C. C. A. w / s the end of a considerable string of successes. Last season ne was the only player to win all ® an “ es » and he won in the first but yesterday went down to L. Rhodes 2 and 1. The points are:—Avondale 2, Christchurch A IJ, Russley 1, Waitikiri B l, Christchurch B i, Waitikiri A i, Kaiapoi J. In the northern section of the Blank t-up competition, the leading teams are Rangiora A and Rawhiti, Russley A, which won on the first day, having a bye yesterday. Points are:—Rangiora 2. Rawhiti 2, Kaiapoi 1, Russley A 1, Hagleyß 0, Templeton 0. Waitikiri leads in the southern sec--two Pomts, from Waimairi A U, Christchurch 1, Waimairi B 1, Hagley A }, Burwood 0, and Avondale Results of yesterday’s matches were:— WOODWARD CUP Waitikiri A v. Russley c \ Ja , me . s lost to M - w Stanley, 8 and 6; J. W. Jackson lost to W. D. Armstrong, 3 and 2; M. R. Blank lost to D. C. Watson, 2 down; D. J. Ramsay beat K. D. and 1: J - p - Devine lost to F. W. Williamson, 3 and 2; M. J. McNally Log? 1 1. 1 «P; A. R. Blank beat P. R. Hadley, 2 and 1; R. J. Ramsay beat R. K. Atkinson, 3 and 1. The match, which was played at Templeton, was halved. Avondale v. Waitikiri B H. W. Lawrence lost to C. Cliff, 2 and 1; A. EL Ison lost to C. H. Johnson, 1 down; W. McGavock beat W. Collins, 2 and 1; F. W. Roberts and J. Hartley, all square; C. C. A. Barnard lost to C. Rhodes, 2 and 1; G. Mclntosh beat I. Wiley, 1 up; M. Atkinson beat J. Potts, 1 up; L. V. Rhodes beat L. Chappell. 2 and 1. Avondale won by 4} games to 31. The match was played at Russley. Christchurch A v. Christchurch B C. W. Caldwell lost to J. D. Bull. 2 and 1; N. M. Fowke halved with K. C. Kearns; R. D. Kearns lost to J. B. Prendergast, 1 down; J. G. Scott beat H. A. Montgomery, 3 and 2; L. W. Fleetwood beat L. H. Marshall. 4 and 2; J. Rennie beat O. A. Y. Johnston, 1 up; G. R. Hunter lost to D. G. Hamilton, 2 and 1; R. E. Alexander halved with J. H. Scott. The match, which was played at the Christchurch Club, was halved, both teams winning four games.

Kaiapoi v. Templeton L. Morris lost to R. E. Clements, 5 and 3; A. F. Green beat P. Lewis, 2 up; J. H. Eathorne beat J. Teehan, 3 and 2; R. G. Rainey lost to A. M. Elliott, 2 down; D. G. McAllister beat E. G. Legge, 5 and 4; R. A. Grimshaw lost to F. Marshall, 4 and 2; T. Monk lost to S. Andrews, 3 and 2; R. Bruce-Smith beat E. G. Mitchell, 6 and 5. The match, which was halved, was played at Avondale. BLANK CUP NORTHERN SECTION Rawhiti v. Hagley B R. G. Arnold beat D. Glue, 5 and 3; J. R. Davis beat W. Weatherhead, 6 and 5; L. Russell beat C. D. Wilson, 1 up; F. Fo xbeat C. J. Fogarty, 5 and 4; G. Anderson beat K. G. Lomax, 3 and 2; C. O’Neill beat T. Waugh, 6 and 5; J. Sproston beat D. Jeffreys, 3 and 1; L. Muirson lost to L. H. Roper, 1 down. Rawhiti won by 7 games to 1. The match was played at Waitikiri. Templeton v. Kaiapoi A. Davis lost to J. Casserley, 3 and 2; F;- R. Bush lost to M. Duncan, 1 down; R. Dunn lost to G. Baker, 6 and 5; H. Langford lost to J. Dempster, 5 and 4; G. Anderson beat F. G. Hammer, 3 and 1; J. McGavock beat B. V. Glubb, 4 and 2; H. Drummond lost to B. McAllister, 6 and 5; L. Blumsky lost to W. Kane, 4 and 3. Kaiapoi won by 6 games to 2. The match was played at Waimairi. Rangiora v. Russley B G. Appleton beat A. B. Glubb, 3 and 2; R. J. Hagan lost to N. Forward, 2 down: D. Cochrane beat G. Sinclair, 1 up- H. Fowler beat W. Ellis, 3 and 1; A. C. Fraser beat D. Silvester, 2 and 1; S. Midgley lost to L. Fisher, 3 and 1; H. Whittington beat R. Lance, 3 and 1; A. Forward beat G. Chaney, 2 up. Rangiora won by 6 games to 2. The match was played at Kaiapoi. SOUTHERN SECTION Hagley A v. Waimairi A D. T. Warner lost to N. Johnson, 1 down; R. D. Johnston lost to G. V. Hood, 2 and 1; C. W. Foote lost to B. L. Clegg, 3 and 2; L. R. Stringer beat B. McGuire, 1 up; K. B. Burns beat I. J. Campbell, 2 and 1; EL EL Burgess beat P. W. O’Malley. 4 and 2; R. B. Nichols beat E. G. Thompson, 2 up; W. A. Purdie lost to M. P. Hall, 4 and 3. The match, which was played at Rangiora. was halved, each team winning four games. Waitikiri v Burwood E. G. Batstone beat T. R. Ware, 2 and

1; J. Pritchard beat E. Jones, 4 and 3; P. F. McNeilage beat P. M. Jacks, 7 and 6; C. R. Ogier lost to J. Paerata, 4 and 3; J. G. O'Gorman beat E. G. .Wood, 8 and 6; A. Hay beat C. C. Rhodes, 6 and 4; A. L. Castle beta C. W. Brodie, 3 and 2; D. Clarke beat W. Midgley, 3 and 2. Waitikiri beat Burwood by 7 games to 1. The match was played at Rawhiti. Waimairi B v. Christchurch R. O’Callaghan halved with W. A. Caldwell; R. J. Williams beat R. Lake, 3 and 2; J. Anderson lost to G. Owens, 2 and 1; T. E. Collier halved with D. Wood; C. A. Priest beat S. E. Boanas, 6 and 5; N. Priest beat H. V. Roffli, 2 and 1; C. Le Roi halved with R. G. H. Bullock; J. Macer lost to M. Kunzli, 2 down. At Hagley Waimairi B beat Christchurch by 4J games to 3J.