AUSTRALIA KEEPS TASMAN CUP

Press, Volume XCIV, Issue 28099, 15 October 1956, Page 13

AUSTRALIA KEEPS TASMAN CUP

Annual Contest With N.Z. Women’s Team EACH SIDE WINS 3i MATCHES

(New Zeaiana Press Association) NEW PLYMOUTH, October 14. The Tasman Cup, for competition between Australian and New Zealand

women’s golf teams, has been retained by Australia. At the Mew Plymouth Club’s Ngamotu course on Saturday, the annual contest resulted in a tie. Each team won three matches, and one was squared. Results were:—

Foursomes: Miss J. Fletcher and Miss M. Masters (Australia) beat Miss A. C. Nash and Mrs L. Juno, 6 and 4; Mrs D. Steel and Mrs J. R. Morris (New Zealand) beat Miss M. Mair and Mrs R. Watson, 1 up. Singles: Miss U. Wickham (New Zealand) and Miss Fletcher, all square; Miss Masters beat Miss C. Collier (New Zealand), 4 and 3; Mrs Steel beat Miss Mair, 3 and 2; Mrs Juno beat Miss B. Cheney (Australia), ! up; Mrs Watson beat Miss Nash, 2 up. There was some particularly keen and tense golf. At one stage in the afternoon, Australia seemed likely to lose the cup. Adverse Weather There was rain in the morning, when the foursomes were played, and the weather was worse during the afternoon. The first nine holes of the singles were played in continuous rain, some of it very heavy. A big crowd of spectators followed the players.

In the foursomes Miss Masters and Miss Fletcher played such high-quality golf that the result of their match was almost a foregone conclusion. It was an immaculate display. Mrs Juno missed a putt on the first green, and her game fell far from its usual high standard. She was not up with her ironS or putts, and generally was not timing her shots well. Miss Nash, apart from two poor shots, played splendidly. Some of her recovery shots were magnificent, especially when she had twice to explode out of bunkers. However, the Australians’ game was crisper than the New Zealanders’.

In the early stages of the second foursomes between Miss Nair and Mrs Watson (Australia) and Mrs Steel and Mrs Morris, the Australians seemed to have the edge on their opponents because of greater length off the tees and with the long irons. The New Zealand pair, however, showed great tenacity and gained valuable strokes on the greens with their superior putting. Mrs Morris, in particular, was exceptionally reliable with any putt from sft to 10ft long. The Singles The top singles, between Miss Wickham and Miss Fletcher, produced some extremely good golf ’inder adverse conditions. Miss Masters and Miss Collier were both out in 40—three over par. Under the conditions, this was very fine golf. The match was won at the tenth and eleventh holes. At the tenth. Miss Masters holed a sft putt for her par 5 but Miss Collier missed a putt of about the same length. At the eleventh, I\liss Masters laid her approach chip dead to give her a par 4, but Miss Collier caught a bunker with her second, was through the green with her third, and could not do better than a 5. Mrs Steel, after her sterling performance in the foursomes in the morning, took a little time to settle down against Miss Mair, the lowest handicapped player in either team. She was 3 down after four holes. Miss Mair could well have halved two of the holes which she later lost, if her putting had been up to standard. Mi?s Nash and Mrs Watson had a battle royal. Over the first nine, although they turned all square, it was Miss Nash who looked likely to win. Miss Nash showed a slight tendency to hook her putts, but she early gave the impression that her short game was the more accurate. Mrs Watson overcame her deficiencies and made r: good recovery. Miss Cheney, the captain-manager of the Australian team, and Mrs Juno played very steady golf in their singles match. The result of most holes depended on the short putts. ‘